DOCSLIB.ORG

George W. Bush Changing Course

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
George W. Bush Changing Course George W. Bush Changing course EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Listen to Presidential at http://wapo.st/presidential This transcript was run through an automated transcription service and then lightly edited for clarity. There may be typos or small discrepancies from the podcast audio. LILLIAN CUNNINGHAM: It's the dawn of the 21st century, and the dawn of a new millennium. And when hijacked planes crash into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, it also becomes the dawn of a new chapter in American history. It's the chapter we're still living in right now. I'm Lillian Cunningham with The Washington Post, and this is the 42nd episode of “Presidential.” GEORGE W. BUSH CLIP: Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom, came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts. The victims were in airplanes or in their offices -- secretaries, businessmen and women, military and federal workers, moms and dads, friends and neighbors. Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror. The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness, quiet and unyielding anger. These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation -- PRESIDENTIAL THEME MUSIC LILLIAN CUNNINGHAM: Early on in his presidency, George W. Bush used the phrase 'to stay the course in Iraq,' and Bush got a lot of criticism for that resolute, stubborn commitment to his own decisions. But in this episode, we're going to look at the places where the opposite manifested itself -- that is, where Bush changed course. We'll look at the way that he defined himself differently than his father; the way that he redefined his own sense of self after confronting some of what he saw as his personal failings; the way that he tried to redefine his presidency after he saw its failings, too. And then, we'll look at the way that he forever redefined the questions that America must grapple with in a new age. I have two guests this week. Later in the episode, I'm going to be talking with Peter Baker, the journalist who's chronicled Bush's presidency in more detail and more comprehensively than just about anyone out there. Presidential podcast wapo.st/presidential 1 And first up, I'm talking with Mark Updegrove, who was on our Lyndon Johnson episode because he's the director of the LBJ Library, but he is an expert in some other Texas politicians. He's finishing up a book on the presidencies and the lives and the relationship between George H.W. Bush and his son George W. Bush. Mark, welcome back. And why don't we just start with: Tell me what you think are some of the most important aspects of George W's early life that really define him. MARK UPDEGROVE: First and foremost that he's a product of West Texas. While George W. Bush is born in New Haven, Connecticut, while his father is attending Yale after serving in World War II, he moves at a very young age to Midland, Texas, and is very much a product of that part of the world. So, that shapes him. That also distinguishes him from his father and mother in many respects, who were products of the northeast. The other thing I think is that he loses his sister at a very young age. He's only six years old when his sister Robin dies just after her third birthday. And I think that he sees the toll in particular that that takes on his parents. I think he's a great comfort to his mother, but he sees through that experience the fragility of life. And I think he's determined thereafter through the course of his life to make the most of it. He uses the phrase often 'I've always tried to live life to the fullest.' And his parents encouraged him to do this. LILLIAN CUNNINGHAM: When you say that he's a product of Texas, what do you mean by that? What are some of the ways that that shows itself? MARK UPDEGROVE: Well, I think manifestly in the swagger that we know from George W. Bush, which is very Texan -- very folksy, he's very no-nonsense. I think he's very open. These are all traits of West Texans. They are definitely no-nonsense people. Laura Bush writes very eloquently about how West Texas shaped her. She was young, and she says, 'You know, the landscape is so barren. There's no room for artifice. You have to be who you are.' And that's George W. Bush in a nutshell. He is who he is. LILLIAN CUNNINGHAM: Well, I asked you this with LBJ -- if you were to imagine that I'm going on a blind date with George W. Bush, how would you start to describe the person I'd meet? MARK UPDEGROVE: Well, I might start with the Bush family, and then talk about the fact that he went to Andover for high school and then went on to Yale and then to Harvard Business School. And you might think from from that description that you're about to meet this New England preppy, but you're not. He'd be wearing jeans and cowboy boots. He may or may not have tobacco in his cheek. He'll be listening to country music, and I think he'll be charming and intelligent. But you're going to be disarmed by the difference in what you thought you'd get versus what you actually get. LILLIAN CUNNINGHAM: In contrast to his father, George W. Bush was not really on the straight and narrow for the first three, four decades of his life. His grades weren't all that great. He had a couple small brush-ins with the law. Presidential podcast wapo.st/presidential 2 He had kind of mixed results when he went back to Texas and worked in the oil industry. So, if living life to the fullest meant being successful and having a larger impact on the world, then George W. Bush hadn't quite figured that part of it out just yet. MARK UPDEGROVE: I think the big change for George Bush came when he was in his 40th year and decided to stop drinking and found great comfort in spirituality. Bush drank a lot, by his own admission. Drinking had become a problem. He looked forward to drinking every day. It became a bit of a crutch in his life. And he saw that it was getting in the way of being a better husband and a better father. And so, he resolved to put drinking behind him, and George Bush was extraordinarily disciplined. And he does so cold turkey -- without 12 steps, without meetings in church basements. LILLIAN CUNNINGHAM: But it is around the same time -- in 1985, 1986 -- that he does also go through a spiritual transformation. MARK UPDEGROVE: It speaks to George W. Bush's privileged life that he is really introduced to the Scripture by Billy Graham, who was a friend of his parents. And he and Graham bonded during a visit both of them had to Kennebunkport to visit his parents. And they talked -- Billy Graham and George W. Bush -- and Billy Graham asked if he could send George W. Bush a Bible, which he did. And Bush began reading that Bible and took great comfort in the scripture. He was compelled by that Biblical admission that has really guided his life, which is, 'To whom much is given, much is required.' And I think, in so many ways, he tried to model his life after that Biblical verse. LILLIAN CUNNINGHAM: So, it's here in his story that he pretty abruptly and bluntly confronts what he sees as his personal failings and redefines the terms of his own life. Meanwhile, his father has been serving as vice president to Ronald Reagan since 1981 and is now preparing to launch his own bid for the presidency. MARK UPDEGROVE: Bush leaves west Texas -- leaves the oil industry in 1987 -- to move to Washington to enlist in his father's campaign. He takes on the role of being an emissary between those in the campaign and his father. His father relies on his judgment, and I think that their bond is enhanced by that experience. So, George W. Bush knows a lot of the players around his father when his father takes the presidency in 1989. So, when his father becomes president, George W. Bush goes back to Texas. He's left the oil business and becomes part owner of the Texas Rangers, which becomes a very lucrative proposition for him. While he's there though, his father asks him to come back to Washington just to take a look at his adminis tration. It's a big honor for George W. Bush because his father is again trusting his judgment to assess his administration and to make recommendations for where things can be improved. And one of the things that he does in that role is suggest to John Sununu, who is George H.W. Bush's chief of staff and wasn't quite working out, that he considered resigning. And that leads to a conversation between the elder Bush and Sununu, in which Sununu indeed tenders his resignation. So, that's a big moment for George W. Bush. It shows that he has his father's full faith and confidence.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Frederick Thomas Bush
    order, WHS collections; (14) WHS collections; (15) The Civil War by Ken Burns (website); (16)(17) WHS collections; (18) Report of Recruiting Committee, 1865 Town Report, 18; (19) 1889 Baptist church history, 14; (20) (21) WHS collec- tions; (22) WHS military enlistment lists; (23) Sears, 14; (24) Lamson, 140; (25) WHS collections, Alonzo Fiske to William Schouler, Adj. General of the Com- monwealth of Massachusetts, August 30, 1862; (26) WHS collections; Drake was one of Weston’s nine-months men; (27) (28) (29) (30) (31) WHS collections; (32) Sears, 7; (33) Hastings, “Re....Toplift” (sic), 1; (34) Sears, 11; (35) Faust, 85; (36) Encyclopedia of Death and Dying, Civil War, U.S (website); (37) Hastings, “Re....Rev. Toplift” (sic), 2; (38) Town Report Year ending March 31, 1864, 10; (39) Lamson, 143; (40) Letter courtesy Eloise Kenney, descendent of Stimpson; (41) Information provided by Eloise Kenney; (42) Faust, 236; (43) WHS collec- tions; (44) Report of the Selectmen, Town Report fort Year ending March 1863, 4 (45) Lamson, 140, and WHS collection handwritten “List of men drafted from the Town of Weston at Concord, July 18, 1863” containing 33 names; (46) Report of the Recruiting Committee, 19; (47) (48) WHS collections; (49 Lamson, 143; (50) (51) Report of the Recruiting Committee, 19-20. Weston’s China Trader: Frederick Thomas Bush By Isabella Jancourtz China trader and diplomat Frederick Thomas Bush (1815 – 1887) arrived in Weston in 1856 with his wife Elizabeth DeBlois and their five young children: Charles, Frederick, Amelia, Fannie, and Sophia. The young family had lived in China for nine years, and the three girls were born there.
    [Show full text]
  • 2021 Event Author Line-Up
    2021 Event Author Line-Up Peter Baker and Susan Glasser Peter Baker and Susan Glasser are longtime Washington journalists who have written for years about the intersection of politics and the world. They are co-authors of Kremlin Rising, and most recently New York Times bestseller and award-winning book The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III. Baker is the chief White House correspondent for The New York Times and an MSNBC political analyst. He has covered the last five presidents for The Times and The Washington Post and is the author or co-author of six books. Glasser is a staff writer for The New Yorker and author of the weekly “Letter from Biden’s Washington” as well as a global affairs analyst for CNN. She previously was the editor of POLITICO, founder of POLITICO Magazine, and editor-in- chief of Foreign Policy magazine following a long stint at The Post. Baker and Glasser live in Washington with their son and are currently at work on a book on the Trump presidency. George W. Bush George W. Bush served as the forty-third President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. He had previously served as Governor of Texas. He and his wife, Laura, live in Dallas, where they founded the George W. Bush Presidential Center at Southern Methodist University. President Bush is the author of three #1 bestsellers: Decision Points, his presidential memoir; 41, a biography of his father, President George H. W. Bush; and Portraits of Courage, a collection of oil paintings and stories honoring the sacrifice of America’s military veterans.
    [Show full text]
  • Federal Election Commission 1 2 First General Counsel's
    MUR759900019 1 FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION 2 3 FIRST GENERAL COUNSEL’S REPORT 4 5 MUR 7304 6 DATE COMPLAINT FILED: December 15, 2017 7 DATE OF NOTIFICATIONS: December 21, 2017 8 DATE LAST RESPONSE RECEIVED September 4, 2018 9 DATE ACTIVATED: May 3, 2018 10 11 EARLIEST SOL: September 10, 2020 12 LATEST SOL: December 31, 2021 13 ELECTION CYCLE: 2016 14 15 COMPLAINANT: Committee to Defend the President 16 17 RESPONDENTS: Hillary Victory Fund and Elizabeth Jones in her official capacity as 18 treasurer 19 Hillary Rodham Clinton 20 Hillary for America and Elizabeth Jones in her official capacity as 21 treasurer 22 DNC Services Corporation/Democratic National Committee and 23 William Q. Derrough in his official capacity as treasurer 24 Alaska Democratic Party and Carolyn Covington in her official 25 capacity as treasurer 26 Democratic Party of Arkansas and Dawne Vandiver in her official 27 capacity as treasurer 28 Colorado Democratic Party and Rita Simas in her official capacity 29 as treasurer 30 Democratic State Committee (Delaware) and Helene Keeley in her 31 official capacity as treasurer 32 Democratic Executive Committee of Florida and Francesca Menes 33 in her official capacity as treasurer 34 Georgia Federal Elections Committee and Kip Carr in his official 35 capacity as treasurer 36 Idaho State Democratic Party and Leroy Hayes in his official 37 capacity as treasurer 38 Indiana Democratic Congressional Victory Committee and Henry 39 Fernandez in his official capacity as treasurer 40 Iowa Democratic Party and Ken Sagar in his official capacity as 41 treasurer 42 Kansas Democratic Party and Bill Hutton in his official capacity as 43 treasurer 44 Kentucky State Democratic Central Executive Committee and M.
    [Show full text]
  • Taliban Fragmentation FACT, FICTION, and FUTURE by Andrew Watkins
    PEACEWORKS Taliban Fragmentation FACT, FICTION, AND FUTURE By Andrew Watkins NO. 160 | MARCH 2020 Making Peace Possible NO. 160 | MARCH 2020 ABOUT THE REPORT This report examines the phenomenon of insurgent fragmentation within Afghanistan’s Tali- ban and implications for the Afghan peace process. This study, which the author undertook PEACE PROCESSES as an independent researcher supported by the Asia Center at the US Institute of Peace, is based on a survey of the academic literature on insurgency, civil war, and negotiated peace, as well as on interviews the author conducted in Afghanistan in 2019 and 2020. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Andrew Watkins has worked in more than ten provinces of Afghanistan, most recently as a political affairs officer with the United Nations. He has also worked as an indepen- dent researcher, a conflict analyst and adviser to the humanitarian community, and a liaison based with Afghan security forces. Cover photo: A soldier walks among a group of alleged Taliban fighters at a National Directorate of Security facility in Faizabad in September 2019. The status of prisoners will be a critical issue in future negotiations with the Taliban. (Photo by Jim Huylebroek/New York Times) The views expressed in this report are those of the author alone. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Institute of Peace. An online edition of this and related reports can be found on our website (www.usip.org), together with additional information on the subject. © 2020 by the United States Institute of Peace United States Institute of Peace 2301 Constitution Avenue NW Washington, DC 20037 Phone: 202.457.1700 Fax: 202.429.6063 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.usip.org Peaceworks No.
    [Show full text]
  • Picking the Vice President
    Picking the Vice President Elaine C. Kamarck Brookings Institution Press Washington, D.C. Contents Introduction 4 1 The Balancing Model 6 The Vice Presidency as an “Arranged Marriage” 2 Breaking the Mold 14 From Arranged Marriages to Love Matches 3 The Partnership Model in Action 20 Al Gore Dick Cheney Joe Biden 4 Conclusion 33 Copyright 36 Introduction Throughout history, the vice president has been a pretty forlorn character, not unlike the fictional vice president Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays in the HBO seriesVEEP . In the first episode, Vice President Selina Meyer keeps asking her secretary whether the president has called. He hasn’t. She then walks into a U.S. senator’s office and asks of her old colleague, “What have I been missing here?” Without looking up from her computer, the senator responds, “Power.” Until recently, vice presidents were not very interesting nor was the relationship between presidents and their vice presidents very consequential—and for good reason. Historically, vice presidents have been understudies, have often been disliked or even despised by the president they served, and have been used by political parties, derided by journalists, and ridiculed by the public. The job of vice president has been so peripheral that VPs themselves have even made fun of the office. That’s because from the beginning of the nineteenth century until the last decade of the twentieth century, most vice presidents were chosen to “balance” the ticket. The balance in question could be geographic—a northern presidential candidate like John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts picked a southerner like Lyndon B.
    [Show full text]
  • National Press Club Luncheon with Marc Morial, President, National Urban League
    NATIONAL PRESS CLUB LUNCHEON WITH MARC MORIAL, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE MODERATOR: JONATHAN SALANT, NPC PRESIDENT LOCATION: NATIONAL PRESS CLUB BALLROOM, WASHINGTON, D.C. TIME: 1:00 P.M. EST DATE: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2006 (C) COPYRIGHT 2005, FEDERAL NEWS SERVICE, INC., 1000 VERMONT AVE. NW; 5TH FLOOR; WASHINGTON, DC - 20005, USA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ANY REPRODUCTION, REDISTRIBUTION OR RETRANSMISSION IS EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED. UNAUTHORIZED REPRODUCTION, REDISTRIBUTION OR RETRANSMISSION CONSTITUTES A MISAPPROPRIATION UNDER APPLICABLE UNFAIR COMPETITION LAW, AND FEDERAL NEWS SERVICE, INC. RESERVES THE RIGHT TO PURSUE ALL REMEDIES AVAILABLE TO IT IN RESPECT TO SUCH MISAPPROPRIATION. FEDERAL NEWS SERVICE, INC. IS A PRIVATE FIRM AND IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. NO COPYRIGHT IS CLAIMED AS TO ANY PART OF THE ORIGINAL WORK PREPARED BY A UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT OFFICER OR EMPLOYEE AS PART OF THAT PERSON'S OFFICIAL DUTIES. FOR INFORMATION ON SUBSCRIBING TO FNS, PLEASE CALL JACK GRAEME AT 202-347-1400. ------------------------- MR. SALANT: Good afternoon, and welcome to the National Press Club. My name is Jonathan Salant, a reporter for Bloomberg News and president of the club. I'd like to welcome club members and their guests in the audience, as well as those of you watching on C-SPAN. Please hold your applause during the speech so we have time for as many questions as possible. For our broadcast audience, I'd like to explain that if you hear applause, it is from the guests and the members of the general public who attend our luncheons, not from the working press. The video archive of today's luncheon is provided by ConnectLive and is available to members only through the National Press Club website at www.press.org.
    [Show full text]
  • Ford Broadcasts, 1967-1968” of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R
    The original documents are located in Box D37, folder “Ford Broadcasts, 1967-1968” of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. Copyright Notice The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections. Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. ~ REPUBliCAN GONGRES.SIONAl NEWS BUREAU 312 CONGRESSIONAL HOTEL • WASHINGTON, D. C. 20003 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE LINCOLN 4-301 0 Monday, F\!bruary 27, 1967 Acting on the heels of a House Special Committee racommcndation of censure and other penaltbs for Rep. Adem Clayton Powell (D. of N.Y.), some 30 freshmen House Re- publicans today proposed legislation to set up permanent House machinery to deal with unethical conduct of tvbmbers, officers and employees. Led by Rep. George Bush of Taxes, the R,3publican Congressmen sponsored Hous3 Resolutions to establish o Select Committee on Standards and Conduct and to provide, among other things, 11 full disclosura of assets, liabilities, honorariums, etc., by Members, their spouses and staff members whose salaries exceed $15,000 gross annually ..
    [Show full text]
  • George W Bush Childhood Home Reconnaissance Survey.Pdf
    Intermountain Region National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior August 2015 GEORGE W. BUSH CHILDHOOD HOME Reconnaissance Survey Midland, Texas Front cover: President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush speak to the media after touring the President’s childhood home at 1421 West Ohio Avenue, Midland, Texas, on October 4, 2008. President Bush traveled to attend a Republican fundraiser in the town where he grew up. Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images CONTENTS BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE — i SUMMARY OF FINDINGS — iii RECONNAISSANCE SURVEY PROCESS — v NPS CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION OF NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE — vii National Historic Landmark Criterion 2 – viii NPS Theme Studies on Presidential Sites – ix GEORGE W. BUSH: A CHILDHOOD IN MIDLAND — 1 SUITABILITY — 17 Childhood Homes of George W. Bush – 18 Adult Homes of George W. Bush – 24 Preliminary Determination of Suitability – 27 HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF THE GEORGE W. BUSH CHILDHOOD HOME, MIDLAND TEXAS — 29 Architectural Description – 29 Building History – 33 FEASABILITY AND NEED FOR NPS MANAGEMENT — 35 Preliminary Determination of Feasability – 37 Preliminary Determination of Need for NPS Management – 37 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS — 39 APPENDIX: THE 41ST AND 43RD PRESIDENTS AND FIRST LADIES OF THE UNITED STATES — 43 George H.W. Bush – 43 Barbara Pierce Bush – 44 George W. Bush – 45 Laura Welch Bush – 47 BIBLIOGRAPHY — 49 SURVEY TEAM MEMBERS — 51 George W. Bush Childhood Home Reconnaissance Survey George W. Bush’s childhood bedroom at the George W. Bush Childhood Home museum at 1421 West Ohio Avenue, Midland, Texas, 2012. The knotty-pine-paneled bedroom has been restored to appear as it did during the time that the Bush family lived in the home, from 1951 to 1955.
    [Show full text]
  • Petersburgh Tax Roll
    Town of Petersburgh Tax Roll STATE OF NEW YORK 2017 COUNTY TAX ROLL COUNTY - RENSSELAER Town PETERSBURGH SWIS 3834 TAX MAP PARCEL NUMBER PROPERTY LOCATION CLASS CURRENT OWNER NAME SCHOOL DISTRICT CURRENT OWNER ADDRESS PARCEL SIZE 68.-2-5 68.-2-5 528 NY 346 620 620 Bill 0 HOOSICK FALLS CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 382801 NORTH PETERSBURG TOTAL TAX $0.00 PETERSBURG NY 12138 FRNT 70 DUE DATE 01/31/2017 ACRES1.81 DPTH 0 PAYMENT DATE TOTAL PAID $0.00 109.-1-12.11 109.-1-12.11 EAST HOLLOW RD 695 695 Bill 0 673 TACONIC TRL BERLIN CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 382001 ALDERMAN DOROTHY TOTAL TAX $0.00 PETERSBURGH NY 12138 FRNT 0 DUE DATE 01/31/2017 ACRES0.65 DPTH 0 PAYMENT DATE TOTAL PAID $0.00 97.4-1-5 97.4-1-5 NY 22 620 620 Bill 0 BERLIN CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 382001 BAPTIST CHURCH TOTAL TAX $0.00 PETERSBURG NY 12138 FRNT 0 DUE DATE 01/31/2017 ACRES3.79 DPTH 0 PAYMENT DATE TOTAL PAID $0.00 97.4-1-1 97.4-1-1 NY 2 311 311 Bill 0 1600 7TH AVE BERLIN CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 382001 COUNTY OF RENSSELAER TOTAL TAX $0.00 TROY NY 12180 FRNT 0 DUE DATE 01/31/2017 ACRES1.63 DPTH 0 PAYMENT DATE TOTAL PAID $0.00 Page 1 of 260 STATE OF NEW YORK 2017 COUNTY TAX ROLL COUNTY - RENSSELAER Town PETERSBURGH SWIS 3834 TAX MAP PARCEL NUMBER PROPERTY LOCATION CLASS CURRENT OWNER NAME SCHOOL DISTRICT CURRENT OWNER ADDRESS PARCEL SIZE 97.2-2-3.1 97.2-2-3.1 12 HEAD OF THE LN 620 620 Bill 0 BERLIN CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 382001 METHODIST CHURCH TOTAL TAX $0.00 PETERSBURG NY 12138 FRNT 110 DUE DATE 01/31/2017 ACRES0.52 DPTH 100 PAYMENT DATE TOTAL PAID $0.00 97.2-3-2 97.2-3-2 90 MAIN
    [Show full text]
  • Verified Complaint
    Case 1:18-cv-00888-RDM Document 1 Filed 04/16/18 Page 1 of 20 U.S. DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ) COMMITTEE TO DEFEND THE ) PRESIDENT, ) 203 South Union Street, Suite 300 ) Alexandria, VA 22314 ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION, ) 1050 First Street NE ) Washington, DC 20463, ) ) Defendant, ) _______________________________________) VERIFIED COMPLAINT Plaintiff COMMITTEE TO DEFEND THE PRESIDENT brings this action for injunctive and declaratory relief and alleges as follows: INTRODUCTION 1. This lawsuit seeks to compel the Federal Election Commission (“FEC”) to take action on an administrative complaint the Committee to Defend the President (“CDP”) filed with the FEC four months ago disclosing the existence of an unprecedented nationwide scheme to violate federal campaign finance law in which $84 million was effectively laundered over more than a year by the Hillary Victory Fund (“HVF”) through dozens of state political party committees to the Democratic National Committee (“DNC”) and, ultimately, to Hillary for America (“HFA”). 2. The 2016 Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton; Hillary Victory Fund, Clinton’s joint fundraising committee; Hillary for America, Clinton’s campaign committee; the DNC; and dozens of Democratic state parties across the country entered 1 Case 1:18-cv-00888-RDM Document 1 Filed 04/16/18 Page 2 of 20 into the exact type of arrangement the Supreme Court declared in McCutcheon v. FEC would so flagrantly violate campaign finance law that it was “unlikely” to occur. The Court was unable to anticipate the extent and sheer audacity with which Democrats would conspire to circumvent, evade, and effectively nullify candidate contribution limits.
    [Show full text]
  • Transcript by Rev.Com Page 1 of 13 Former U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker, III, Whose 30-Year Legacy of Public Service In
    Former U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker, III, whose 30-year legacy of public service includes senior positions under three U.S. presidents, was interviewed at the 2020 Starr Federalist Lecture at Baylor Law on Monday, October 13 at noon CDT. Secretary Baker was interviewed by accomplished author and distinguished trial lawyer Talmage Boston, as they discussed Secretary Baker’s remarkable career, the leadership lessons learned from his years of experience in public service, and the skills and capabilities of lawyers that contribute to success as effective leaders and problem-solvers. Baker and Boston also discussed Baker’s newly released biography, The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III, by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser. The Wall Street Journal calls The Man Who Ran Washington “an illuminating biographical portrait of Mr. Baker, one that describes the arc of his career and, along the way, tells us something about how executive power is wielded in the nation’s capital.” In Talmage Boston’s review of The Man Who Ran Washington, published in the Washington Independent Review of Books, Boston states, “[This] book provides a complete, persuasive explanation of how this 45-year-old prominent but politically inexperienced Houston transactional lawyer arrived in the nation’s capital as undersecretary of commerce in July 1975, and within six months, began his meteoric rise to the peak of the DC power pyramid…” The New York Times calls it “enthralling,” and states that, “The former Secretary of State’s experiences as a public servant offer timeless lessons in how to use personal relationships, broad-based coalitions and tireless negotiating to advance United States interests.” The Federalist Papers are a collection of 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay between 1787 and 1788.
    [Show full text]
  • The Bush Revolution: the Remaking of America's Foreign Policy
    The Bush Revolution: The Remaking of America’s Foreign Policy Ivo H. Daalder and James M. Lindsay The Brookings Institution April 2003 George W. Bush campaigned for the presidency on the promise of a “humble” foreign policy that would avoid his predecessor’s mistake in “overcommitting our military around the world.”1 During his first seven months as president he focused his attention primarily on domestic affairs. That all changed over the succeeding twenty months. The United States waged wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. U.S. troops went to Georgia, the Philippines, and Yemen to help those governments defeat terrorist groups operating on their soil. Rather than cheering American humility, people and governments around the world denounced American arrogance. Critics complained that the motto of the United States had become oderint dum metuant—Let them hate as long as they fear. September 11 explains why foreign policy became the consuming passion of Bush’s presidency. Once commercial jetliners plowed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, it is unimaginable that foreign policy wouldn’t have become the overriding priority of any American president. Still, the terrorist attacks by themselves don’t explain why Bush chose to respond as he did. Few Americans and even fewer foreigners thought in the fall of 2001 that attacks organized by Islamic extremists seeking to restore the caliphate would culminate in a war to overthrow the secular tyrant Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Yet the path from the smoking ruins in New York City and Northern Virginia to the battle of Baghdad was not the case of a White House cynically manipulating a historic catastrophe to carry out a pre-planned agenda.
    [Show full text]