‘41’ had decency ill-suited to today’s political climate
He was an avid golfer, so it was no surprise when the call came out to the press pool that President George H.W. Bush was ready to hit the links that late summer day in 1991. On his home course — a modest, rustic club in Kennebunkport, Maine — Bush was preparing to tee off when a pager sounded, interrupting him on his backswing. It was my pager. Horrified, I waited to see Bush’s reaction. But instead of anger, Bush showed his sense of humor, chuckling and cracking a joke. He then preceded to hit his ball — a wobbly knuckler down the fairway — and started his round of what he jokingly called “speed golf.” Bush was not a great golfer, but he didn’t waste time, rushing in his cart to hit his next shot. It was vintage Bush, understated and above all, decent. George H.W. Bush was a classic gentleman, whose personality would be ill-suited to today’s politics of anger and bitterness. Bush’s one-term presidency was marked by his call for a “kinder, gentler” world, even a world in which he declared war against Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Bush’s international coalition of forces easily ejected Saddam’s army from Kuwait, but the president never finished the job. Instead of following Saddam to Baghdad, Bush declared victory and got out. He was later vilified for that decision, but today it seems ahead of its time. Bush didn’t want a prolonged war, one that could leave American forces locked in a never-ending battle against Iraq. Bush feared exactly the kind of war that America is now engaged in Afghanistan. When it came to domestic politics, Bush ruled with the same kind of caution, and it didn’t always work out. When America was locked in a stubborn recession, Bush was too slow to react. With anger building over unemployment, Bush finally agreed to make a trip to the important presidential battleground of New Hampshire. Speaking to voters, many of whom had lost their jobs, Bush read off a cue card, “Message: I care.” He was promptly ridiculed for the gaffe. The president never seemed to recover. In the 1992 New Hampshire primary, economic populist Pat Buchanan racked up 38 percent of the vote, embarrassing the incumbent president. Bush defeated Buchanan, but he was weakened. In the general election, Bush lost to Democrat Bill Clinton, ensuring he would go down in history as a one-term president. But Bush’s presidency looks not so bad now, in the age of Donald Trump. He was about as opposite as you can get from Trump. His style would never work today, but maybe that’s a good thing.