Abstract
In domestic policy guardian presidents are unambitious if not passive. They are reluctant to take initiatives and are keenly conscious of the limits of the power of government. In dealing with foreign and national security issues, by contrast, they adopt a more activist stance, as Richard Rose has noted: ‘A guardian President wants to be more influential abroad than at home.’1 This was certainly true in the case of George Bush, yet for all that there were parallels between his style of leadership on the domestic front and in international affairs.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
Richard Rose, The Postmodern President, 2nd edn ( Chatham, NJ: Chatham House, 1991 ), p. 308.
K. Thompson (ed.), Presidential Transitions: The Reagan to Bush Experience ( Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1993 ), p. 19.
Michael Beschloss and Strobe Talbott, At the Highest Levels: The Inside Story of the End of the Cold War ( Boston: Little Brown, 1993 ), pp. 7071.
David Hoffman, ‘The Politics of Timidity’, Washington Post National Weekly Edition, 23–29 October 1989, p. 67.
John Newhouse, ‘Profiles: The Tactician’, New Yorker, 7 May 1990, pp. 5082.
Henry Allen, ‘The Quintessential Establishmentarian’, Washington Post National Weekly Edition, 9–15 January 1989.
The first quotation is from John Yang, ‘Who is George Bush?’, Washington Post National Weekly Edition, 24 Febuary-1 March 1991, pp. 910; the second quotation is from Newhouse, op. cit.
Don Oberdorfer, ‘It Helps to Have a Buddy in the White House’, Washington Post National Weekly Edition, 14–20 November 1988, p. 15.
Christopher Ogden, ‘Vision Problems at State…’ Time (International Edition), 25 September 1989 p. 36.
Richard Lacayo, Time (International Edition, 9) March 1992 pp. 34–35.
George Bush, Looking Forward ( London: The Bodley Head, 1987 ), p. 174.
See also Bradley Patterson, The Ring of Power (New York: Basic Books, 1988), Chapter 7, for the various functions of the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs.
Christopher Madison, ‘No Sharp Elbows’, National Journal, 26 May 1990, pp. 1277–1281
and Andrew Rosenthal, ‘National Security Adviser Redefines the Role, Drawing Barrage of Criticism’, New York Times, 3 November 1989 p. A16.
Roger Porter, Presidential Decision Making: The Economic Policy Board ( New York: Cambridge University Press, 1980 ), p. 216.
David Hoffman, ‘James Baker’s Determination To Put the New World in Order,’ Washington Post National Weekly Edition, 24–30 August 1992, p. 31.
Don Oberdorfer, ‘Behind a Bipartisan Announcement, a Long Trail of Secret Meetings’, Washington Post National Weekly Edition, 3–9 April 1989, p. 14.
Rochelle Stanfield, ‘Cutting Deals’, National Journal, 8 April 1989 p. 889.
Robert Pear, ‘Unease Is Voiced On Contra Accord’, New York Times, 26 March 1989, p. 1.
Jeremy Rabkin, ‘At the President’s Side: The Role of the White House Counsel in Constitutional Policy’, Law and Contemporary Problems, Vol. 56, No. 4, Autumn 1993, pp. 63–98.
Bernard Weinraub, ‘White House Rebukes Counsel on Pact’, New York Times, 28 March 1989, p. A6.
Bob Woodward, The Commanders ( New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991 ), p. 164.
Bush’s already high standing in the polls - 68 per cent approval according to Gallup - rose to 80 per cent after the invasion and the surrender of Noriega. Paul Brace and Barbara Hinckley, Follow the Leader: Opinion Polls and the Modern Presidents ( New York: Basic Books, 1992 ), p. 110.
George McGovern, ‘A Betrayal of American Principles’, Washington Post National Weekly Edition,22–28 January 1990, p. 29.
David Hoffman and Bob Woodward, ‘This Guy Is Not Going to Lay Off,’ Washington Post National Weekly Edition, 25–31 December 1989, p. 6.
David Hoffman, ‘The President’s New Stand Towards Gorbachev: No More Wait and See’, Washington Post National Weekly Edition, 19–25 March 1990, p. 11.
Lou Cannon, ‘Reagan Is Concerned About Bush’s Indecision’, Washington Post National Weekly Edition, 15–21 May 1989, p. 28.
Don Oberdorfer, The Turn: From the Cold War to a New Era ( New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992 ), p. 346.
Editorial, Christian Science Monitor, ‘What’s Bush’s Vision?’, 11–17 May 1989, p. 20.
Dan Quayle, Standing Firm ( New York: Harper Collins, 1994 ) p. 175.
Kim Holmes, ‘In Search of a Strategy’, Policy Review, Winter 1991, pp. 72–75.
See, for example, Michael Mandelbaum, ‘The Bush Foreign Policy’, Foreign Affairs, Spring 1991, Vol. 70 pp. 5–22.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1998 David Mervin
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mervin, D. (1998). Guardianship and Foreign Policy. In: George Bush and the Guardianship Presidency. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-26719-4_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-26719-4_8
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-73865-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-26719-4
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)