September 06, 2004
Ronald Kessler's book looks beyond the Bush cariactures
Author Ronald Kessler's A Matter Of Character: Inside The White House Of George W. Bush looks at Bush, the man, not Bush the "cartoon character" that everyone from commentators to comedians have turned him into.
NRO's Q&A with Kessler points out the continued contradictions behind the "comic book picture" that the left continues to paint regarding Bush.
National Review Online: So President Bush isn't dumb, you say?Kessler admits that he voted for Al Gore in 2000 due to a perception, based on the debates, of Bush as a "less informed" individual.Ronald Kessler: Most of what the public knows of Bush is filtered through the liberal bias of the media. He wears cowboy boots, so he's a hick. He has unconventional ways of dealing with the twin threats of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, so he must not know what he's doing. He says exactly what he thinks, so he must be unsophisticated.
The caricatures are conflicting: Bush has a short attention span, yet from the day he took office he was obsessed with attacking Iraq. He is a puppet of Dick Cheney or Karl Rove, but he does not listen to anyone's advice. His decisions are made for him by warring factions within his administration, but he stubbornly clings to his own views. He graduated from Yale and Harvard Business School, but is a dimwit.
What I found was that, contrary to the caricatures, Bush solicits differing views, then makes up his own mind.
NRO: And he doesn't have dyslexia, contrary to some disingenuous reporting?
Kessler: The claim that Bush has dyslexia was in a Vanity Fair article by Gail Sheehy, and she has since repeated that claim on TV. In fact, Nancy LaFevers, one of the two experts Sheehy quoted to support her conclusion, told me she told Sheehy that Bush was not dyslexic.
NRO: What's the most persistent and damaging myth about President Bush?
Kessler: That he is a Nazi because he deposed someone who killed 300,000 people. A large number of people actually believe that.
Kessler has changed that opinion as a result of his research for this book. He plans to vote for Bush in November.
Posted by mhking at September 6, 2004 11:40 AMThe pressure of speaking to the global media would surely cause most mortal men to blunder every once in a while. Bush should not be critisized for that.
For a candid view of Bush's character, go out and find "Journeys With George". It's an HBO documentary that follows Bush on his bid for the presedency in 2000. Non partisan and since it was made before anyone really knew anything about Bush, it's worth it's weight in gold.
There are two conflicting POV of what makes for a great leader which I think is epitomized by Bush Jr. and Clinton. One is guided by his faith and his convictions and one is guided by his knowledge and his experience.
It was a tad unsetling that Bush had seldom left the US before becoming president and had very little interest in foreign policy. Everyone remembers the "Who is the president of Pakistan" question in 2000. Going from 0 to global war on terror would leave most people with the impression that his hand is being held since it would take a lifetime to fully understand the complexities of global geopolitics.
As for puppetry, I think both men surrounded themselves with advisors who obviously influence their descisions.
In the end it's brains vs. braun.
Posted by: cire at September 7, 2004 04:23 PMGoing from 0 to global war on terror would leave most people with the impression that his hand is being held since it would take a lifetime to fully understand the complexities of global geopolitics.
You'd think, wouldn't you? The international-relations professors at my alma mater definitely believed that geopolitics is too complex for just anyone to grasp -- you must be carefully taught, you must be carefully taught.
But there's a dirty little secret that they either couldn't grasp themselves, or concealed lest their franchise be invaded by, say, some untraveled Texas yahoo: human nature is not a cultural thing. If someone is an astute judge of his fellow man in his own hometown, and can avoid being buffaloed by cultural differences, he has a chance to connect with anyone, no matter where they come from.
I think both men surrounded themselves with advisors who obviously influence their decisions.
And an astute leader will choose the best advisors, ask the right questions, get the right answers, and hence make the right decisions. Even if he does mispronounce "nuclear."
Posted by: McGehee at September 7, 2004 09:45 PMi believe it's pronounced "nu-cu-lar". HA!
Posted by: cire at September 8, 2004 09:13 AM