Evaluating the Bush Presidency: The Travails of a Tory
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2374-7781.1993.14.0.183-195Abstract
The president is in a constant state of dependency on his environment for creating favorable strategic positions from which he can exercise leadership at the margins to turn opportunities into accomplishments. Given his weak strategic position in regards to his leadership resources, his leeway in public policy, and his political coalition, President Bush had fewer opportunities to exploit than most presidents. Under these circumstances, he turned to foreign policy, where his inclinations and expertise lay and where he had greater flexibility and more opportunities to leave his mark on history. In general, the Bush presidency was a term devoted to consolidating the changes of the Reagan administration and dealing with the problems it left behind rather than mobilizing a coalition behind bold new enterprises. It was a term of prudent stewardship, practicing a politics of moderation, but not one that was oriented toward laying the groundwork for significant changes in domestic policy or explaining itself to the American people.References
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