The Mind of George W. Bush

The Atlantic Monthly ^ | March 2003 | Richard Brookhiser

[Publius]

The powers of the presidency have changed almost beyond recognition since the infancy of the office, when foreign relations were handled by a dozen clerks and diplomats, the armed forces consisted of several thousand soldiers and sailors, and the President himself took months-long summer vacations from the yellow-fever-ravaged capital of Philadelphia or Washington, D.C.

One pattern of presidential decision-making was established early on, however. The process is determined not by the office but by who holds it. The first President, George Washington, a veteran officer and a lifelong performer, led from the front; his decisions, clear and direct, were announced—if not made—in public. Thomas Jefferson, the third President, had a different style; a century and a half before the political scientist Fred I. Greenstein coined the phrase "hidden-hand presidency" to describe Dwight D. Eisenhower's time in office, Jefferson operated behind a screen of reticence, dinner-table charm, and the feints of congressional front men. The first Presidents also pioneered different ways of taking advice before making decisions. Washington weighed the counsel of often quarrelsome advisers, chiefly Jefferson, his Secretary of State, and Alexander Hamilton, his Treasury Secretary; John Adams, the second President, dealt with a Cabinet that was positively mutinous by firing half its members in his last year in office. In this area, too, Jefferson introduced a new model: the men around him all sang from the same page. His most important advisers—James Madison, at the State Department, and Albert Gallatin, at the Treasury—had worked with him and each other for years, and harmonized in ideology and temperament.

[Publius]

This is a remarkably balanced view -- coming from one of the major outlets of the Establishment Media. It's long but worthwhile.

[Publius]

What Makes W. Tick is an interview with Brookhiser in which he expounds of this article. The introduction is by John Stossel.

[MJY1288]

Thanks, It was a good read

[m1911]

read later

[MEG33]

Great read.Thanks for the post.

[Publius]

I was pleased to see the liberal press take a closer look at the man and come away with some semblence of respect.

It was about time.

[norraad]

It's about time &It's their only hope to save face!

They finally pulled their heads out, woke up & smelled coffee.

[Publius]

Well, the place where they had their heads certainly smelled, but not of coffee.

[MEG33]

Here's the article I recommended.