USA TODAY International Edition
Father-son dynamic: Love, a bit of rivalry
Complicated relationship extended to the Oval Office
WASHINGTON – Something was nagging then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush two decades ago before his bid for the White House – the inevitable news stories that would compare him with his presidential father.
George H.W. Bush responded with a letter of advice: Be your own person,even if it means distancing yourself from your old man.
“Chart your own course, not just on the issues but on defining yourselves. No one will ever question your love of family – your devotion to your parents,” the elder Bush wrote in a letter in 1998 to George and brother Jeb, then seeking his first term as governor of Florida.
George W. Bush largely followed his father’s advice when he moved into the White House. Even as the two Presidents Bush developed separate and competing legacies, they frequently expressed their love for each other and served as each other’s biggest cheerleader.
The younger Bush will almost certainly discuss his unique and historic filial relationship Wednesday when he delivers a eulogy at a funeral service for his father, who died Friday at age 94.
“I think it’s a very complicated relationship,” said Doug Wead, who cowrote a book with the elder Bush and wrote “The Raising of a President: The
Mothers and Fathers of Our Nation’s
Leaders.”
“It was,” he said, “both love and a bit of a rivalry.”
Though many of the Bushes and their supporters deride what they call the “psychobabble” that surrounds stories of their relationship, it has been part of their public life for four decades. Early in his political career, the son wanted to flourish without relying on his father’s successes or being hampered by his mistakes.
“He didn’t want to have to carry the burden of defending his dad’s campaign – it was his campaign for president,” said Andrew Card, who was secretary of transportation for George H.W. Bush and chief of staff for George W. Bush.
For the senior Bush, Card said, there were never hurt feelings about decisions his son made that deviated from his father’s path.
“George Bush lost re-election, and it was hard to get over, and the truth is he never really got over it until his son was successful in winning a second term,” Card said. “President Bush 41 had unbelievable recognition that the person in the battle was more understanding of that battle than someone outside of it.”
Jim McGrath, a spokesman for the family of George H.W. Bush, said the reality of their relationship was simpler “than a lot of the speculation and intrigue make it out to be.” The truth, he said, is that “they loved each other unconditionally; they were never competitive.”
That doesn’t mean their relationship was free from complication. George H.W. Bush told a biographer in 2015 that he thought two of his son’s confidants – Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld – did not serve the president well because they were “hard-line” and “arrogant.”
The younger Bush denied that his authorization of the invasion of Iraq in 2003 stemmed from a desire for revenge against Saddam Hussein, who had plotted to assassinate his father.
For decades, Bush family members downplayed tales of how much influence father and son had on each other’s presidencies.
The two Presidents Bush seized every opportunity to defend each other.
Card relayed the story of standing in the Oval Office on George W. Bush’s first day in office, when the new president was silent for several minutes. In walked the senior Bush.
“Mr. President,” he said to his son. “Mr. President,” George W. Bush responded.
“They had tears in their eyes,” Card said. “It was just a moment when they felt tremendous mutual respect.”