Transformed by Crisis: The Presidency of George W. Bush and American Politics PDF
Preview Transformed by Crisis: The Presidency of George W. Bush and American Politics
TRANSFORMED BY CRISIS TRANSFORMED BY CRISIS THE PRESIDENCY OF GEORGE W. BUSH AND AMERICAN POLITICS Edited by Jon ](raus) ](evin J. McMahon) and David M. Rankin TRANSFORMED BY CRISIS © Jon Kraus, Kevin J. McMahon, and David M. Rankin, 2004 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2004 978-1-4039-6592-9 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any * manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published 2004 by PALGRAVE MACMILLANTM 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin's Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-0-230-60221-2 ISBN 978-1-137-06449-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-137-06449-3 library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Transformed by crisis: the presidency of George W. Bush and American politics I edited by Jon Kraus, Kevin J. McMahon, and David M. Rankin. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. United States-Politics and government-2001-Congresses. 2. Bush, George W. (George Walker), 1946-Congresses.1. Kraus, Jon. II. McMahon, Kevin J. III. Rankin, David M. E902.T7 2004 973.931 '092-dc22 2004040008 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: August 2004 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Transferred to Digital Printing 2006 CONTENTS Preface Vll Contributors IX l. September 11 th and Bush's Presidency 1 Jon Kraus 2. The 2000 Presidential Election of George W. Bush: The Difficult Birth of a Presidency 9 James E. Campbell 3. Ordinary Events and Extraordinary Times: The 2002 Congressional Elections 29 Donald Beachler 4. The Press, the Public, and the Two Presidencies of George W. Bush 51 David M. Rankin 5. Changing the Tone? Congressional-Presidential Relations in the Second Bush Administration 73 Colton C. Campbell and Robert P. Watson 6. Mastering Presidential Government: Executive Power and the Bush Administration 101 Shirley Anne Warshaw 7. Crisis and the Pursuit of Conservatism: Liberty, Security, and the Bush Justice Department 119 Kevin J. McMahon 8. Gun Rights for Terrorists? Gun Control and the Bush Presidency 141 Robert J. Spitzer vi CONTENTS 9. Acting Like a Colossus: Bush's Foreign Policy, U nilateralism, and the Pursuit of Primacy 167 Jon Kraus 10. The Challenges Ahead: George W. Bush and the 2004 Election 199 Kevin J. McMahon and David M. Rankin Index 209 PREFACE It began on an unusual note. To be sure, like most president-elects before him, George W. Bush took the oath of office in the open air of a Washington winter, repeating the words of the chief justice of the United States standing before him. But unlike other presidential inaugurations, this chief justice bore an uncommon responsibility for the event that now unfolded. Just weeks earlier, Chief Justice William Rehnquist had authored a 5-4 majority opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court that officially concluded the historic 2000 election, guaranteeing that the man he now stood before would become the next president of the United States. From that awkward beginning, the presidency of George W. Bush became something of a roller coaster ride, reaching unprecedented heights and expe- riencing jarringly sharp turns. Most dramatically, the event that shaped this minority president-a status he earned by losing the popular vote to Al Gore- was not the razor thin election that brought George W. Bush to the White House. Rather, it was something few could have fathomed on the January afternoon of his inauguration, the terrorist attack on America eight months later. Transformed By Crisis tells the story of the two presidencies of George W. Bush, from his election to the altered nature of his presidency and of American politics following the defining events of that September morning. This book began around a table at the State University of New York (SUNY), Fredonia. There, several members of the SUNY Fredonia Political Science Department and invited guests participated in a two-day long con- ference on the first two years of the George W. Bush administration. That conference took place in October 2002. In the year that passed, the contributors to this volume had a chance to reflect on, revise, and update their individual chapters. In the introductory chapter, Jon Kraus pays particular attention to the profound effects of 9/11 on the Bush presidency and describes how the authors' diverse contributions are woven together within the book's overar- ching theme. The chapters in the book explore the pre- and post-9/11 implications of the 2000 and 2002 elections, media coverage and public opinion, presidential and congressional relations, presidential appointments and executive department politics, and domestic and foreign policy. Kevin McMahon and David Rankin conclude the book by considering the next set of challenges President Bush faces as he seeks reelection. In all, the editors viii PREFACE hope the book will offer students of politics a broad overview of the state of the presidency of George W. Bush as American voters consider whether he will repeat the fate of his father and serve only one term, or whether he will occupy the Oval Office for another four years. In putting this collection together, many debts were incurred. To begin, a SUNY "Conversations in the Disciplines" grant and a Carnahan-Jackson Foundation grant funded the conference. SUNY Fredonia President Dennis Hefner and then Interim Vice President for Academic Mfairs, Leonard Faulk, were both very supportive of the conference and the book project. Tracy Collingwood deserves praise for her invaluable assistance in setting up the conference website. All of the contributors benefited greatly from the scholars who partici- pated in the conference and assisted in the development of the book. Those serving as conference discussants included: Thomas Brunell, John Robert Greene, Mark Hurwitz, William Keech, Sean Kelly, Stephen Kershnar, and Katina Stapleton. John Robert Greene and Richard Jankowski also provided thoughtful presentations on the public and political perception of George W. Bush, and the Bush administration's tax policy, respectively. The following individuals graciously served as panel chairs during the conference: Raymond Belliotti, Linda Brigance, Nicholas Hayward, Christina Jarvis, Bruce Simon, Joyce Stevens, and Jacqueline Swansinger. Finally, David Pervin, the politi- cal science editor at Palgrave Macmillan, and his assistant Melissa Nosal, deserve a special note of gratitude for their significant support and assistance. CONTRIBUTORS Donald Beachler (Ph.D. Cornell, 1992) is an Assistant Professor of Politics at Ithaca College. He has authored articles in American Review of Politics (1993, 1998), Journal of Political Science (1995), Politics and Policy (2001), Polity (2003), Presidential Studies Quarterly (1996), Southeastern Political Science Review (1993,1996,2000), and Working USA (2001). Colton C. Campbell (Ph.D. University of California, Santa Barbara, 1996) is a Congressional Research Service Analyst and was an Associate Professor of Political Science at Florida International University. He is author of Discha1;ging Congress: Government by Commission (Praeger, 2001), coauthor of Impeaching Clinton (University Press of Kansas, 2003), and coeditor of several books on Congress, including Congress and the Internet (2003), New Majority or Old Minority? The Impact of Republicans on Congress (1999), The Myth of «Cool" Judgment: Partisanship and Ideology in the Contemporary Senate (2000), Congress Confronts the Court: The Struggle for Legitimacy and Authority in Lawmaking (2000), and War Stories From the Hill (2000). His articles have appeared in Congress & the Presidency, Journal of Legislative Studies Quarterly, White House Studies, and Talking Politics. James E. Campbell (Ph.D. Syracuse, 1980) is a Professor of Political Science at SUNY Buffalo. He is author of The American Campaign: U.S. Presidential Campaigns and the National Vote (2000), The Presidential Pulse of Congressional Elections, 2nd edition (1997), and Cheap Seats: The Democratic Party's Advantage in U.S. House Elections (1996). He also coedited Before the Vote: Forecasting American National Elections (2000). He has published more than forty book chapters and articles in journals such as the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, The Journal of Politics, Western Political Quarterly, Legislative Studies Quarterly, American Politics Research, and The Brookings Review. He served as program director for political science at the National Science Foundation. Jon Kraus (Ph.D. Johns Hopkins, 1971) is an Emeritus Professor of Political Science at SUNY Fredonia. He is a past consultant to the U.S. Department of State and AID, and Associate Editor of the Canadian Journal of African Studies. He has contributed to some twenty books and published widely in professional and public affairs journals such as African Studies Review, Journal of Modern African Studies (1969, 2002), Development and Change, Current History (11), Problems of Communism, Africa Report, & Labor, Capital & Society. x CONTRIBUTORS Kevin J. McMahon (Ph.D. Brandeis, 1997) is an Associate Professor of Political Science at SUNY Fredonia. He is the author of Reconsidering Roosevelt on Race: How the Presidency Paved the Road to Brown (University of Chicago Press, 2004). His other publications include an article in Studies in American Political Development and several book chapters. David M. Rankin (Ph.D. University of California, Santa Barbara, 1999) is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at SUNY Fredonia. He has con- tributed to several edited books and published articles in Political Behavior and Comparative Politics. Robert J. Spitzer (Ph.D. Cornell, 1980) is Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at SUNY Cortland. Currently he is president of the Presidency Research Group of APSA. His books include The Presidency and Public Policy (1983), The Right to Life Movement and Third Party Politics (1987), The Presidential Veto (1988), The Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution (1990), Presidency and Congress (1993), Media and Public Policy (1993), The Politics of Gun Control (1995; 2nd edition 1998), Politics and Constitutionalism (2000), The Right to Bear Arms (2001), and Essentials ofA merican Government (coauthored, 2001). Shirley Anne Warshaw (Ph.D. Johns Hopkins, 1985) is a Professor of Political Science at Gettysburg College. Her books include Power-Sharing: White House-Cabinet Relations in the Modern Presidency (1996), The Domestic Presidency: Policy Making in the White House (1996), Re-Examining the Eisenhower Presidency (1993), and The Eisenhower Legacy (1990). Robert P. Watson is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Florida Atlantic University and the Founder and Editor of the journal White House Studies. He is author or editor of twenty books and over a hundred scholarly articles, chapters, and essays. A frequent commentator on the presidency, he has been interviewed by NBC, MSNBC, CNN, and USA Today, and numer- ous other media outlets, appeared on C-SPAN's Book TV program, and has been a visiting scholar/fellow at many universities and presidential libraries/foundations.
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