Explaining President George W. Bush

President George W. Bush is a fascinating challenge for any political analyst. Many analysts, including myself, have attempted to analyze his presidency and discover what made him tick, how did he analyze our nation's problems, propose solutions, and then govern the country.

President George W. Bush is perplexing as he is unlike any politician I have ever seen. He was a two-term Republican President who did not govern like a traditional conservative Republican, and very often took the opposite approach and governed like a wild, risk taking, and adventuresome politician. In domestic policy, Republicans believe in human freedom, limited government, and limited taxes. So when a Republican is elected President, we expect him to go over the government with a fine tooth comb, and cut as many programs and as much spending as possible. President George W. Bush never did this. As a matter of fact, he did the exact opposite, and significantly increased the size, scope, and cost of government.

In foreign policy, we expect a Republican President to be prudent, cautious, realistic and pragmatic. He is expected to consider, analyze, and weigh every decision, and then act in the national interests. President Bush was the exact opposite, as he invaded Iraq without convincing evidence that Iraq was a serious threat to the United States. Then he turned it into a wild crusade to establish democracy in Iraq and across the Middle East. The perplexing issue is trying to explain how this possibly could happen.

As recent events are demonstrating, democracy cannot be forced on a people and imposed through the barrel of a gun. Now that the people of the Middle East are ready for democracy, they are demonstrating and demanding freedom from their dictators and nothing can stop them. Invading Iraq was not necessary.

After reading my articles on George W. and reading an excellent book, the Bush Tragedy by Jacob Weisberg, I found my answer. I now can explain his domestic as well as his foreign policy.

Domestic Policy

His domestic policy can be explained by the gimmick he used to get elected. Bush said he was a compassionate conservative and not a traditional conservative. He used the term compassionate conservative to get the support of right wing evangelicals without becoming too closely identified with them. To non-evangelicals he was saying I'm not too conservative, and to evangelicals he was saying I'm one of you, so trust and support me. He was elected by being all things to all people, and as president that is how he governed. He could not cut government programs and spending, as this would offend millions of Americans. So he took the easy way out and he made no attempt to cut government spending and simply went along with all of the pork barrel spending in Congress.

Foreign Policy

Instead of being cautious and prudent in foreign policy, President Bush went on a crusade to establish democracy in Iraq and across the Middle East. This can be explained by his competitive relationship with his father, President George H. W. Bush. George W. wanted to overshadow and accomplish more than his father, and so he wanted to do more in the Persian Gulf. When the first President Bush, liberated Kuwait, and annihilated the Iraqi Army, he did not march into Baghdad and liberate Iraq. President George W. Bush invaded Iraq to finish the job his father started and get rid of Saddam Hussein and eliminate the Iraqi threat once and for all. By doing this, he would overcome and overshadow his father's legacy in the Middle East.

The casualties that this war produced and the wisdom of this decision has been a major concern of Associated Content for some time. Simply click here to view the collection of articles on this theme.

Source: Jacob Weisberg, the Bush Tragedy, Random House, New York, 2008.