When I first heard Gov. Sarah Palin say, in the vice-presidential debate, that she would not “attribute every activity of man to the changes in the climate,” I wanted to believe it was a mere verbal gaffe. I assumed she meant that she didn’t attribute every change in the climate to the activities of men. … Read more
A departure from Reagan’s conservatism By Jonathan Hawley ’10 and Allison Swidriski ‘11 As the presidency of George W. Bush comes to an end, unavoidable comparisons will be made between the outgoing commander in chief and the hero of the modern conservative movement, Ronald Reagan. Jennifer Donahue, political director of the New Hampshire Institute of … Read more
Bush, Evangelicals, and the Republican PartyBy Ray Duer ‘11 Coming on the heels of President Clinton’s scandal-ridden second term, and campaigning in 2000 as a “compassionate conservative” with the promise of a return of moral fortitude to the Oval Office, George W. Bush won the heart of one of America’s most powerful voting blocs, Protestant … Read more
Congress resists a decline in executive transparencyBy Warren Loegering ‘12 Embedded in both the Constitution and history, transparent government is one of the core principles of American democracy. Yet during the last eight years, the Bush administration has consistently acted to make government more secretive; laws promoting public disclosure have contracted while laws promoting secrecy … Read more
Taking stock of the future vice presidencyBy Laura G. Mirviss ‘12 The days when the vice presidency was worth “no more than a bucket of spit” are long over. Though the office has almost no formal powers under the Constitution, the power sharing dynamic between the president and vice president is a malleable, case-by-case determination. … Read more
The everyday values of George W. BushBy Ian Merrifield ’12 Much of George W. Bush’s success in the 2000 and 2004 elections came from his remarkable ability to connect with American voters. Compared to Al Gore and John Kerry, President Bush looked and sounded much more like someone whom the typical American voter would “like … Read more
How President Bush Won Latino Voters and His Party Lost Them AgainBy Kenzie Bok ‘11 “George W. Bush’s first foreign trip as President was not to a traditional European ally but to a ranch in a remote region of Mexico, where he met with another newly-elected cowboy president: Vicente Fox.” As Marcelo Suarez-Orozco, University Professor … Read more
How faith based charities are changing governanceBy Peyton R. Miller History will likely remember George W. Bush as a “war president” who responded to 9/11 with increased domestic security and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Yet his initial campaign for the presidency had little to do with terrorism. In a 2000 article for the Hoover … Read more
The impracticality of preventive war By Eric Paternot ‘09 and Richard Coffin ‘11 George W. Bush is still in office, but discussions of his legacy have already captured the attention of the country. Surprisingly, it isn’t so much the countless scandals that plagued his presidency that provoke debates or general unease; it is rather what … Read more
Bush fought for unprecedented expansion of presidential power – and failed By Gabriella Anderson ’12 and Elise Liu ‘11 Executive fiat. Secret orders. Martial law. These are the trademarks of authoritarian regimes, and yet they also rank among powers presumed by the Bush administration in the past eight years. Begun in the wake of Sept. … Read more