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George Bush: What Kind of Leader?
| Article
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18945 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
Date : |
2 / 1991 |
2,518 Words |
| Author
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Stephen J. Wayne
Stephen J. Wayne is professor of government at Georgetown
University in Washington, D.C. He is the author several books
on the American presidency, including The Road to the White
House and Presidential Leadership, both published by St.
Martin's Press.
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George Bush has almost completed half of his first elected term in office. How has he done? That is the question I asked students in my course on the American Presidency at Georgetown University.
Their responses varied, influenced in part by their own political views. A rather clean-cut, preppy young man volunteered, "I'd give him an A. He hasn't made a lot of mistakes." Another student, a woman, wasn't so sure. "But what has he done other than send thousands of troops to Panama and the Persian Gulf? I'd give him a D." A third student tried to mediate the dispute. "It is true, he hasn't made a lot of mistakes and hasn't many accomplishments, but his principal failure has been his inability to translate his electoral mandate into a governing plan and communicate it to the American people. A president must inform and educate if he is to lead. George Bush has not done that effectively. I'd give him a C+ or a B-." Each of the students has a point. They have given the president different grades because they are grading him on the basis of different criteria. What you want, where you sit, what you believe all affect what you see and how you evaluate it.
Most people tend to evaluate a president on the basis of conditions and to a lesser extent, his style and manner. If conditions are perceived as good, then the president is evaluated positively. People assume that he must be doing a good job. Ronald Reagan benefited from such an assumption. Six and one half years of economic growth that included low inflation and high employment and four years of a decreasing Soviet threat enhanced his prestige much as a stagnant economy that included high inflation, Soviet aggression in Afghanistan, and the Iranian hostage crisis hurt Carter's.
George Bush came to office during good times. In fact, he was elected primarily because of those times and the perception that he, not Michael Dukakis, would be better able to continue them. His mandate, if he had one, was maintenance, not a major overhaul. "Read my lips, no new taxes," was his much quoted promise not to reverse the most popular policy of the Reagan years.
Unlike his predecessor whose powers expanded because the times were bad, when he came into office Bush's powers were constrained because times were good. If the public sees no need for change, then they and their representatives are less apt to give the president as much room to maneuver.
The political environment in which Bush was elected
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