"Typing" the George W. Bush Presidency
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Steven E Schier
Controversy characterizes the George W. Bush presidency. Amid the clamor, just what type of president has George W. Bush been in practice? This paper inventories the presidential literature to come to a tentative assessment of Bushs type. This paper examines the historical and institutional context of his presidency, his response to institutional challenges he has confronted, his governing style and personality type. Bush's efforts at conservative regime construction have been hampered by the intense partisan polarization resulting from his conduct of office. His managerial emphasis and aggressive assertion of Constitutional prerogatives has increased the institutional power of the presidency. His relations with Congress resemble party government found in parliamentary systems. Temperamentally, Bush resembles several of his most colorful and consequential predecessors, including Andrew Jackson, Lyndon Johnson, Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. It is not too early to label Bush's presidency a quite consequential one.
©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
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Articles in the same Issue
- Article
- The Politics of Katrina in New Orleans: A View from Ground Zero
- The Death of a Presidency
- "Typing" the George W. Bush Presidency
- Where the Votes Are: The Electoral Geography of the Coming Democratic Majority
- Primary Instability Paradox: The Ethics of Media Coverage in Presidential Nominations
- Campaign Finance Reform Reconsidered: New York City's Public Finance Program After Fifteen Years
- Legislating from the Oval Office: Why Sam Alito Really Matters
- Review
- Off Base: A Review Essay of Off Center: The Republican Revolution and the Erosion of American Democracy
- Review of Off Center
- Response or Comment
- Off Topic: A Reply to Our Critics