President George H. W. Bush, who passed away last week, achieved a number of important accomplishments in public life: He signed into law both the Americans With Disabilities Act and Clean Air Act, and negotiated for the North American Free Trade Agreement. But his political career is also marked by […] Read more »
George H.W. Bush was the accidental catalyst that built the new Republican Party
The statement in the name of then-President George H.W. Bush was posted quietly in the White House pressroom on the morning of June 26, 1990, but there was nothing innocuous about its contents. It was a political thunderclap, the beginning of the remaking of the Republican Party and part of […] Read more »
What George H.W. Bush’s Theology Teaches Us About the UCLA Theory of Parties
When biographers are interviewed about George H.W. Bush, they often emphasize that he was more interested in governing than in campaigning. In the 1992 debates, he famously looked at his watch as if he would rather be somewhere else. In First to the Party, I show that he made a […] Read more »
George H.W. Bush was the most popular living president
President George H.W. Bush was one of a kind. This uniqueness extended to his electoral history, which continues to stand out even after his death. He was, for instance, the most popular former president at the time of his death. That fact and four others are five of the many […] Read more »
The Republican Party Has Changed Dramatically Since George H.W. Bush Ran It
George H.W. Bush, whose death at 94 was announced on Friday by his family, was a hugely influential figure in the Republican Party: chairman of the Republican National Committee, vice president, president and father of another GOP president. But the GOP has changed dramatically since it nominated Bush for the […] Read more »
It’s Now Donald Trump’s America. But George Bush’s Stamp Endures.
… If ever there was a moment when it was clear that Mr. Bush’s America has given way to Mr. Trump’s America, this is it. Mr. Bush’s death at age 94 is the end of an era, the passing of the last of the World War II and Cold War […] Read more »