Bush Loyalty Test-The unpopular president who inspired deep devotion among those closest to him

National Review ^ | 12-30-08 | Byron York

[STARWISE]

George W. Bush leaves office with a job-approval rating that once soared to historic highs, then fell slowly but steadily for five years before settling, in the last couple of years, into lows that no president has ever experienced for so long.

The president’s final Gallup approval rating of 2008 is 28 percent; a number like that means some core Republicans don’t approve of Bush’s performance, and even among the many in the GOP who still approve, there are a number who are ready to see the president go.

Bush knows that.

The White House staff knows it.

But the president’s political fortunes haven’t affected the intense loyalty that those who know him best feel for him.

The people who have worked with George W. Bush in the White House for many of these past eight years have seen a different man from the one reflected in so much negative press coverage.

And as they prepare to leave on January 20, their feelings for him are, if anything, stronger than when they arrived.

In the long ago, pre-9/11 days of January 2001, Bush came to office determined to run the White House in a careful, orderly way — a complete change from the disorder of the Clinton White House.

When I recently asked former top political adviser Karl Rove about Bush’s approach to managing the White House, Rove never mentioned Clinton, but the point seemed clear:

“If a president is personally disorganized and late and inattentive and meanders intellectually across the landscape,” Rove told me, “that’s what is going to happen inside the White House.”

Bush was determined to avoid that.

And he did.

There’s no doubt that in the early months of the Bush administration, the White House was tightly run, with extraordinary discipline running through all levels of the organization.

There were, for example, virtually no leaks — which was itself a story. I wrote an article, just before September 11, about the “remarkable cohesiveness” of Bush’s staff and the inner workings of the “smooth-running White House message machine.”

That stood in stark contrast not just to the Clinton years, but to the Bush I and Reagan administrations, as well.

Then George W. Bush became a war president. Planning retaliation in Afghanistan and working 24/7 to prevent another attack here in the United States — remember when there was a near-consensus among experts that another would come soon? — the White House ran with even more extraordinary discipline.

That discipline remained intact in the months leading up to the March, 2003 beginning of the war in Iraq.

But then, by Fall 2003, Bush the war president became Bush the long-war president.

U.S. forces did not find the expected stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The American post-invasion handling of the country was disorganized and inadequate. A hyper-violent insurgency developed. The White House came under daily attack from a political opposition that had previously supported the president, or at least stood by as he prosecuted the war on terrorism.

Bush’s job-approval rating, which stood at 70 percent when the war began, fell 20 points in the course of a few months.

Inside the White House, Bush’s job changed.

Fully aware of the criticism coming from the outside — those reports that Bush didn’t read the papers were never correct — he became even more mindful than before of the effect his own moods had on other people.

If the president got down about things, if he panicked, if he was angry — if any of that happened, then the bad feelings would trickle down to the White House staff, and malaise, or worse, would set in.

Bush was determined not to let that happen. “I think he believes that if he lost faith and became downcast, that would radiate to the rest of his staff and administration and other Americans,” Peter Wehner, a former Rove deputy, told me.

“He believes the man at the top sets the tone; and he was determined to set an upbeat tone. If he was seized by doubt, others would be, too — both in his administration and in the country.”

Of course, the worst days lay ahead, as the war stretched into its third and fourth years and the violence increased.

“In 2006, even the end of 2005, it was pretty grim,” William McGurn, former chief White House speechwriter, told me. “He always thought, ‘These guys on the front line don’t need the commander-in-chief wringing his hands and saying, oh, this is harder than we thought.’

For me, I just admired the fact that everyone tried to give him an out on Iraq and he wouldn’t take it. He would comment on that a lot in meetings, in the sense that, ‘I’m not going to withdraw until we win.’

In 2006, there were a lot of people who didn’t want us to lose, but boy, they would have liked to be done with Iraq.”

Beyond that steadfastness, another thing the White House staff admired about Bush was his loyalty.

They felt their loyalty to him was returned in full measure, and it gave them confidence when the White House seemed engulfed in criticism. The president’s loyalty usually paid off, but occasionally it didn’t.

For example, Bush and others at the top level of the White House had some doubts about whether Scott McClellan was up to the job of spokesman.

When the time came to promote him, or not promote him, Bush went along with those to whom he had delegated the decision-making authority. McClellan turned out to be an ineffective spokesman — at a time the White House desperately needed an effective one — and later turned on the president with a highly critical kiss-and-tell book.

In that case, at least, Bush’s loyalty was misplaced.

But most of the time, it paid real dividends.

When I sent Dana Perino, the current White House spokeswoman, an e-mail asking for her thoughts on this topic, her enthusiasm jumped off the screen.

“It’s always amazed me that he’s constantly trying to buck us up,” she told me. “For example, during the election cycle, the president said that I should not rise to the bait when he was attacked, that I should let it go and not get caught up in the election.

For a while there, it was really difficult — after all, over $125 million in negative ads against him were run the last several months.

One day the president called me and said he’d heard I’d had a tough briefing, and that no one wants to stand up there and be a piñata — but that I was doing the right thing and he was proud of me. I have a ton of examples just like that.”

So do lots of others in the Bush White House. And now, as they prepare to leave, those stories are what they’ll remember most about the president.

[STARWISE]

I'll always be proud and grateful that you've been President. Always country and others first, even on the darkest days of the war, and when you silently bore the constant vicious and despicable personal attacks with grace to preserve the honor of the office you so highly respect, though we know it hurts you.

Even though you're first President with an MBA and obviously highly educated and intelligent, you humbly bore all the mean jokes, mocking and belittling and used self-deprecation yourself rather than react with hostility or revenge. That takes a secure individual, and is a tribute to your grace and upbringing (by great parents).

Your love and respect of our fantastic military and their families and the private time you spent with them will always be a standout of your terms, and they know it and feel it.

You're not perfect .. none of us on earth are, but your optimism, good will, personal decency and integrity always shine through. It's obvious that you've worked diligently at becoming the good person God wants us all to be, and you truly do walk the talk, with a Christian heart and ethic.

May you and Laura be blessed with decades of the peace and joy you've so richly earned. You truly restored honor and dignity to the White House, and worked 24/7 to keep us safe from another attack here, against all odds. We will not soon see your likes again.

God bless and protect you always, George and Laura Bush ... exemplary role models for a long-standing beautiful love and marriage and for an incredibly gracious, compassionate and dignified President and First Lady of the USA. You will be so missed .. and I predict that will be so in a relatively brief time, even by those who think they're so ready to see you go.

[STARWISE]

~~PING!

[swmobuffalo]

Gallop polls, who listens to them anyway!

[television is just wrong]

he will be missed as we enter the anarchy coming to us because of an illegal administration.

[SMCC1]

I don’t agree with everything he did in regards to spending (although I think what he did was to sacrifice on domestic spending in order to maintain support for the war), but the way he has been villified is pretty disgraceful.

[dr_lew]

But the president’s political fortunes haven’t affected the intense loyalty that those who know him best feel for him.

... nor mine neither.

[Wonderama Mama]

Well said. I'm proud to say I'm one of the 28% that approves of this President. I believe history will prove me right.

My only complaint is his inability to sell himself and defend himself, but in reading the piece I noticed a comment to Dana Perino where he said she shouldn't "rise to the bait."

His thinking is too noble for politics unfortunately, because there were many times when someone should have been defending him and his policies (the stupid bailout not withstanding) stronger and louder.

[woofie]

I just saw “Nixon Frost” the movie...the left and the press(maybe one and the same ) have tried to turn Bush into Nixon and Iraq into Vietnam ...they may have succeeded with a lot of folks but not all

Good article

[RobbyS]

What is striking is that the success of the surge was never allowed to get out. amd somewhat amazing that when the number of service members dropped almost to nothing, that the public seems unaware or uncaring. I am reminded, perhaps excentrically, of the post-civil war period when after the Panic of the early 1870s that the North totally lost interest in the fate of the people of the South, so that after the indeterminate election of 1876, the whole matter was dropped. Or again, the administration of Harding where the country was eager to get beyond Wilson’s policies, to just “forget it.” We may have just elected our counterpart to Harding, another man who “looks lile” a president.

[jws3sticks]

Great posting and a lovely photograph.

Thank you.

Once the Kenyan takes office, we will all be in a world of hurt, for sure.

[RobbyS]

The movie is another effort by Hollywood to re-write history. Those of us who saw the actual interviews found nothing exceptionally interesting in them, except to raise Nixon in our estimation.

[Eagles6]

Good post STARWISE, I agree.

[Navy Patriot]

Bush has the right to choose not to defend himself from the vilification and lies of the leftist traitor Rats, but he has the obligation to dispute the lies and broadcast the truth regarding his loyal subordinates. It’s the least he could do.

[CitizenUSA]

He's increased government in ways that liberal Democrats can only dream of. Except for a couple decent SCOTUS picks (2 out of 3) and his marginal handling of the war on terror, he's mucked things up pretty badly. Obama will certainly undo what little Bush achieved, and we can thank Bush for that, too. That fact that President Bush is a decent, loyal guy is pretty much irrelevant to his performance as president. I can't wait for him to retire.

[AmericanInTokyo]

In an objective sense, with no bearing on what follows which is an entirely different matter and will deserve its own criticisms, I must join you--and for the reasons you articulated--in offering a hearty, and well deserved

GOOD RIDDANCE.

This from a lifelong Conservative Republican who knows what Conservatism is. History will show he was moderate at best, and incompetent at the worst.

[CitizenUSA]

I respect his office but President Bush is no conservative. He is a large part of what’s wrong with this country right now. I’m not saying Obama is going to be any better, but at least we expect Obama to act liberal. With Bush, the sellouts came from within our own ranks.

[gwilhelm56]

GW Bush leaves office with 28% approval rating, yet Congress only gets 9%, making GW3 times more popular than the idiot LIBERALS in Congress!!

[AmericanInTokyo]

One can tell by the dramatic drops of "Freep the White House" for eight years, although there was plenty to Freep it over. If a Democrat had done some of those things, we would have been out there on a weekly basis.

But no, since it is a Republican, all internal Republican and "Conservative" opposition is evaportated.

Now watch all the "Freep the White House" events start again. This is the danger of Trojan Horse-ism. It neutralizes opposition.

[Christian4Bush]

Bumping the article, with my brief comments:

George W. Bush is the first president for whom I voted, who actually won. Dole, Bush 41, and (thankfully) Dukakis did not.

I’ll never forget him standing on that rubble pile, after his moving words at the Cathedral service earlier in the day, proclaiming that he was about to open a can of whup-arse on the folks who attacked us. I appreciated his love for the Lord, even to the point that he answered the question about his “greatest philosopher” with Jesus Christ, because “He changed my heart”.

For all else I could say, and have said, I hope that Mr. President will someday soon have a new title - Papaw for one of his daughters, and Father of the Bride (again) for the other.

Godspeed, Mr. President and Mrs. Bush, and also to Mr. Vice President and Mrs. Cheney.

[AmericanInTokyo]

you take what you can get I guess!! ;-)

[smoothsailing]

Excellent post, STARWISE.

I believe alot of folks who've bashed W all these years may soon realize just how much they miss him and will wish he were still in charge.

I've stuck with him and I know I'll miss him.

[AmericanGirlRising]

In spite of it all, I am also proud of him and Laura. Thank you for this much needed reminder (post) about the safety we’ve been blessed with over the last 7 years.

He and others seem to be part of a BIGGER plan.

[CitizenUSA]

I’m amazed that anyone who claims to be conservative could still support the man. And to think some people still believe he handled the war well... That’s laughable! Truth be told, Democrat opposition probably played a significant role in forcing Bush to adopt the surge. “Stay the course” wasn’t cutting it, nor was Bush’s PR campaign in support of the war. All in all, it’s been a terrible 8 years for anyone who actually wants less government.

[JennysCool]

Those of us who haven’t bought into the obvious, insipid, MSM take on President Bush over the past four years haven’t wavered in our respect for him.

Katrina was Nagin and Blanco’s fault, both Democrats. President Bush warned BOTH of them, days before the hurricane hit, that they should evacuate. They diddled until it was too late.

His proposal for stemming illegal immigration was universally panned around here, but guess what: he was the FIRST President to have even advanced a proposal to deal with it.

Iraq is a success. We have a beachhead in the Middle East and a dictator who supported terrorism (thousands of bucks to the family of any suicide bomber) is dead. Our troops triumphed.

The mortgage crisis, and as a result the financial meltdown, is ALMOST ENTIRELY the fault of Democrat “Congresspeople” pandering to their low-income constituencies.

I would say Mr. Bush has handled the Executive Branch very well, which is his job. The other branches have a, shall we say, less than stellar record.

Add to that his keeping America safe since 9/11, while dealing with all the domestic idiots amassed against him who favor terrorist rights versus our safety here at home, and I think you have a President for the ages.

[JennysCool]

I don’t agree with everything he did in regards to spending

Remember, please, that much of that spending was to counteract the meltdown after 9/11 ... America had to be strong, both locally and globally, or the terrorists would have claimed victory.

[CitizenUSA]

AmericanInTokyo: “This is the danger of Trojan Horse-ism. It neutralizes opposition.”

Well stated. Bush has expanded government in ways the Democrats never could, at least not without an extreme fight with Republicans. Bush effectively governed with a coalition of liberal Republicans and Democrats. From what I understand, he actually strong armed conservative Republicans to vote against their interests on such things as the prescription drug benefit.

[CitizenUSA]

Yeah, 28% approval is definitely something to be proud of...

(do I really need an extreme sarcasm tag on the above statement?)

[Chgogal]

Starwise, thank you for an excellent post.

CitizneUSA and AmericaninTokyo, I would like to remind you that your other choices at the time were Gore and Kerry. I am sure you would have been much happier with either of them as POTUS. Hopefully Obama will NOT have the calamities that Bush had to face. I cannot not imagine Obama protecting the homeland as efficiently as Bush has done. May be that is why Obama is keeping Bush's Defense team in place. Also, I am sure you will jump for joy as Obama and Company will allow the “Bush Tax Credits” to expire in 2010. That will do wonders for the stock market. Ahhh, so much to look forward to in the upcoming four years.

[JennysCool]

And to think some people still believe he handled the war well... That’s laughable!

Hey, Junior -- have you looked at a map of the Middle East lately? We have a beachhead there, which we never had before. Oh, and by the way, Saddam Hussein isn't able to provide his thousands of bucks anymore to the family of a successful suicide bomber, and he is no longer funneling cash to Al Queda for their little happy adventures.

The "war" you talk about was won in a month. The years since have been a reconstruction unprecedented in world history which has resulted in Iraq having a robust (if contentious!) government, and a people who are beginning to realize what it is like to be free. "CitizenUSA" -- ha! You're just a pawn of the idiot mainstream media which seeks America's failure everywhere, most particularly when a Republican is in charge.

I've pegged Allegra, in case she wants to put you straight with some on-the-ground commentary. Sheep like you are hardly worth responding to, but, I mean, you asked for it.

[Malesherbes]

It’s hard to value a negative, but Bush’s greatest accomplishment was a negative = there has been no successful attack on the homeland since 9-11. That’s rather amazing, and I fear that his successor will leave office without that distinction.

[CitizenUSA]

Sure, Bush was the better choice than Gore or Kerry, but it hardly makes the point he was a good president. You see, I’d actually like a conservative president, one who actually works to reduce government, not one who expands it as fast if not faster than the competition.

[NinoFan]

Bush has been a significant disappointment.

This doesn’t mean that Obama is going to be any better. No doubt he’ll be far worse.

However, eight years ago, I had hope that this country would get rid of its love of collectivism, start having more respect for life and the dignity of the individual, and tell the rest of the world to piss off. In some senses, President Bush has helped with the last two, but he’s done nothing about the first and has probably made the parasites even hungrier.

For social conservatives, he helped get the PBA through and took a strong position on stem cell research, but he seriously undermined all of that by supporting Harriet Miers. Thank God for the conservative revolt on that one.

For fiscal conservatives... well, he cut some taxes, so... yippee?

I guess if you’re a defense-only conservative, then maybe you’re happy. Too bad Bush’s ineptitude helped get the most leftist and anti-American President elected, so all of those gains will be wiped away.

Sorry, but I’m very frustrated. Hopes and dreams have been crushed.

[CitizenUSA]

If you would review my previous post, you’ll find I never said the war turned out bad. Like yourself, I hope it turns out well, and it appears to have done so.

I only wrote that Bush’s handling of the war was terrible. We almost lost it politically. That’s my opinion. Yours may be different. I respect yours, even though I don’t care for your nasty way of responding to those you disagree with.

In my opinion, Bush failed to inspire support for the war, nor did he vigorously pursue it until political opposition grew so strong he was forced to take bolder action. That’s how I see it.

I don’t claim to be an expert, but I have spent no small amount of time deployed to the Middle East.

[celtic gal]

I wish my military career had come to an end under the Bush administration rather than Clinton, a man for whom I had not one iota of respect. Bush was not perfect, no one is. But he kept the nations safe from further attack during his stewardship of state and that is saying a lot. He loved the military and showed his respect for the men and women serving and they in kind responded to him.
My biggest frustration for him is the fact that he could not get his points across more effectively. Then again, had he done so, the press would have found another way to crucify him. He was never going to win under any circumstance.
Now we have this fraud following in his place and I think the country will be a lot less safe. I don't think the military will trust him either. I think all those who heaped scorn on President Bush will sooner rather than later, look back and rue the day they were so cruel and further, elected this slicker than Slick Willie into the office..a man who has brought back so many of the old Clinton people..here we go again..Let's hope and pray that as we begin a new year, that this person does not destroy this country and that he is a one termer. God help us.

[JennysCool]

We almost lost it politically.

Yes. And reading your post, we almost lost it politically because of sheeple like you.

Your post that I responded to had you almost gloating about how the war was handled. As I pointed out, the "war" lasted a month at most. Reconstruction has lasted years.

"Reconstruction" is not a word as glitzy to your MSM faves as "war" is.

Our troops have done well there; their commanders have made that possible; their Commander-In-Chief has given them the tools to do it, in the face of an unprecedented onslaught from his legislative enemies and their media. By all "on the ground" accounts, the reconstruction of Iraq has gone spectacularly well, but you wouldn't know it by whatever your sources are. I'm pinging Allegra again, in the hope she might set you straight.

[woofie]

Id love to hear from critics such as you what GW should have done to inspire support for the war. Concrete examples please...

As to the criticism that he was a big government guy, GW put himself on the dreaded third rail, Social Security Reform...Yep he got no where but not even Ronald Reagan put himself out there trying to so radically change the biggest of the big government programs.

The biggest critics of GW are disillusioned that he wasnt GOD and mad that GOD is GOD....

So blame GOD for a while and see how far it gets you.

[WackySam]

George W. Bush leaves office with a job-approval rating that once soared to historic highs, then fell slowly but steadily for five years before settling, in the last couple of years, into lows that no president has ever experienced for so long.

Why the low ratings? Because he's a moron with no leadership skills who relied on other morons as his advisers.

[Allegra]

Greetings from a free and sovereign nation that was a brutal dictatorship less than ten years ago. :)

I only wrote that Bush’s handling of the war was terrible.

I agree that he didn't handle the propaganda war very well, but I think the actual war was managed better than most people realize. Paul Bremer did a lot of things wrong in the early days, but the overall strategies ended up working.

We almost lost it politically.

We never were close to losing, but the media consistently made it out to be much more a disaster than it ever was. One thing this war did was pull the al Qaeda heavies into one location, thereby making it easier for the coalition to wipe them out. The media portrayed this as a failure on the coalition's part because it vastly increased the violence for a couple of years, but when you look at it, it was a rather brilliant tactic, whether it was intended or not. Al Qaeda is crippled, but the media probably doesn't agree with that.

I arrived here in January 2004 and have seen the worst of the escalations and am now seeing the peace. Things have changed dramatically since the early days and the Iraqis are beginning to resume a normal life.

We do expect an uptick in activity over the next month, due to the provincial elections on January 31, but that will be the terrorists having another temper tantrum because things are working here and will likely tamp down again when the election is done.

[woofie]

accurate screen name

[WackySam]

Maybe your mom gave it to me.

[woofie]

This is the mantra of the press and the left:

The war caused terrorism

The Iraq war distracted us from the real war (Obams says it should have been in Afghanistan).

Neither of these things are true but they have been sold to the gullible.

[woofie]

more Wack?

[Allegra]

Neither of these things are true but they have been sold to the gullible.

Yes, and the gullible spoke at the ballot box in 2006 and 2008, much to our dismay. The media is evil and despicable and have blood on their hands, IMO.

[WackySam]

Idiotic comments directed towards me are are responded with equally idiotic (or worse) comments.

Deal with it.

[notdownwidems]

I am not a huge fan of GWB mainly because of his stance on two issues: illegal immigration, which he apparently feels is all right because, well, just because; and his spending habits, which rival those of the most leftist democrat.
But if I was George Bush, before I left office I would go on TV and tell Americans that they are childish, immature and ungrateful, and if they expect this country to last much longer, they better change their ways. Alas, it is probably too late!

[Deetes]

Great Post !

[OldArmy52]

Nice that Bush’s aides are loyal to him.
A pity Bush has spent his years alternately angering both Repubs and Dems to the point the majority of both Parties are unhappy with him.
President McGoo.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Bush has not protected the homeland. Our borders have been OVERRUN. Thousands of Americans on American soil itself, have actually died of this gaping national security hole; it cannot be disputed.

How can you come to a different conclusion?

Do I have my facts incorrect?

[KC_Conspirator]

Thats what I always said; one of his biggest faults was his unwillingness to defend himself. Over the course of 4 years, its had a lousy party wide affect.

[KC_Conspirator]

You paid money to see “Nixon Frost” movie? I knew that was a liberal revisionist stinker from the ads. Much like “Good Night and Good Luck”, where liberal press triumphs over evil Republicans.