Even the major news magazines are taking Bush to task for “living in a bubble”, surrounding himself with cronies and sycophants tell him just what he wants to hear. He needs to break out of this, the pundits opine, and put more challenging people around him. As some say, you know, like Lincoln did during the Civil War.The Lincoln comparison comes out of Doris Kearns Goodwin’s recent book “Team of Rivals”, a brilliant look at the political genuis of Abraham Lincoln as seen through his selection and use of his Cabinet. I can recommend the book even more, it's a great Christmas gift, but what gets me is that so many can look at this story and expect George Bush, Jr. of all people to rise to this level.
George Bush, Jr. is a very small man who has succeeded at nothing except serving as amiable front man for corporate raids on the national treasury and neoconservative international dreams. If left to his own devices he’d hardly be able to run the local butcher shop. There’s absolutely nothing in his personal or political resume which would lead a reasonable person to think he’d come close to some Lincoln-esque gesture. He’s risen to the Oval Office through the “undying loyalty” of people who seem his as a convenient figure, knowing that they would always be able to pull the strings.
Our popular image of Lincoln is of a simple “western” man from small-town Illinois who rose to the occasion. The truth is, people around Lincoln at the time of his ascendancy recognized him for a clever lawyer and shrewd politician. He was extremely well read. The “rube” image came out of the East, in particular from William Seward (a Republican presidential candidate from New York) loyalists and New Englanders, who shared the big city’s sneer of the backcountry yokels. Lincoln’s peculiar talent for communication came from being able to translate big ideas into words and phrases the common man and woman could relate to.
Bush speaks in all-too-common language but nothing in his life shows that he’s turning Aristotle into plain English. Unlike Lincoln, he is what he is. This means he’ll be surrounding himself with people whispering sweet political nothings into his ear and kissing his presidential rump until 2009.
“Stay the course.” Why would or could he do anything else?
2 comments:
Hi Terry,
You describe the sum of George Bush's political and business life so far. He succeeded (anyone can be a governor of Texas) only in helping to get Texas Stadium built (using Eminent Domain, BTW) from which he made his million$. Nice return on an investment of a few thousand dollars he originally got from some of his father's friends.
I'll have to get that book. Nice to be reminded we've had competent politicians running this country once in awhile.
Frank,
As Goodwin's book helps demonstrate, we've been peculiarly fortunate in having the best people in place when we've needed it. Washington, Lincoln and FDR lead the way in providing inspired leadership when the nation had to have it. Chester A. Arthur is fine when nothing's going on, but when it was time to rise to the occasion, our leadership has generally been there.
The fact that we have George W. Bush means that either we're not in as much trouble as we think we are or the system's running of out steam. I'd hate to think it's the latter.
Goodwin's book is great reading, good fun while learning something. I get into with some folks over Lincoln professing to be willing to save the Union before saving slavery, but I have to remind him that saving the Union was the -only- to save slavery, since the Confederates had gone to war to save it. In the end, Lincoln was proven right.
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