George H. W. Bush was always being underestimated.
Peter Flanigan, the Nixon aide who dangled in front of Bush a senior job in the Nixon White House, seemed to typify this uncharitable and inaccurate view when he told him, "Well, you know, George, you'd have to work hard if you took this job." Bush, ever gracious, held his tongue at the insult, prompting his impressed wife Barbara to marvel, "How George kept his temper, I'll never know." Bush went on to serve in a multitude of high-level positions in the Nixon and Ford administrations, including head of the Republican National Committee, UN ambassador, liaison to China, and CIA director.
One of my favorite Bush stories is the time that he took on CBS's Dan Rather-another underestimator, then at the top of his game as anchor of the most important news show on the most important network In January 1988, Bush appeared on a five-minute segment with Rather, who had planned to ambush the vice president regarding how much he knew about the Iran-Contra affair.
Bush's media tormentors loved the possibilities: either Bush was involved, which would mean he had lied, or he was not involved, which would mean that he was out of the loop as vice president.
The entire exchange was part of a concerted-and successful-effort by the Bush team to shed the "Wimp" label that Newsweek had hung on Bush.
Bush campaign manager Lee Atwater explained the thinking: "If somebody hits him, Bush is going to try to hit back harder." The Rather duel was helpful to Bush in several ways.
With his humor, his grace, and his ease with people, George H. W. Bush embodied the phrase, "Never let them see you sweat." But the lack of visible perspiration didn't mean that Bush wasn't sweating-or hadn't worked extraordinarily hard.
https://www.city-journal.org/remembering-george-hw-bush
Peter Flanigan, the Nixon aide who dangled in front of Bush a senior job in the Nixon White House, seemed to typify this uncharitable and inaccurate view when he told him, "Well, you know, George, you'd have to work hard if you took this job." Bush, ever gracious, held his tongue at the insult, prompting his impressed wife Barbara to marvel, "How George kept his temper, I'll never know." Bush went on to serve in a multitude of high-level positions in the Nixon and Ford administrations, including head of the Republican National Committee, UN ambassador, liaison to China, and CIA director.
One of my favorite Bush stories is the time that he took on CBS's Dan Rather-another underestimator, then at the top of his game as anchor of the most important news show on the most important network In January 1988, Bush appeared on a five-minute segment with Rather, who had planned to ambush the vice president regarding how much he knew about the Iran-Contra affair.
Bush's media tormentors loved the possibilities: either Bush was involved, which would mean he had lied, or he was not involved, which would mean that he was out of the loop as vice president.
The entire exchange was part of a concerted-and successful-effort by the Bush team to shed the "Wimp" label that Newsweek had hung on Bush.
Bush campaign manager Lee Atwater explained the thinking: "If somebody hits him, Bush is going to try to hit back harder." The Rather duel was helpful to Bush in several ways.
With his humor, his grace, and his ease with people, George H. W. Bush embodied the phrase, "Never let them see you sweat." But the lack of visible perspiration didn't mean that Bush wasn't sweating-or hadn't worked extraordinarily hard.
https://www.city-journal.org/remembering-george-hw-bush
No comments:
Post a Comment