The Reagen and Bush Presidencies

INTRODUCTION

It is widely accepted that George Bush Snr. was forced to play out his presidency in the mighty shadow of Ronald Reagan. Reagan's charm and personality was one of his greatest strengths and, even now, is widely revered for his time as President. Bush was reportedly always conscious of people's expectations of him in view of his predecessor and this burden seemed to weigh heavily. Reagan's achievements in Washington were considerable, if not in number then in impact. His political and strategic skills were impressive and Bush cannot be said to have equalled his achievements at home, and this is borne out by Bush's failure to win re-election.

Nevertheless Bush made some staggeringly important contributions to the international arena and is deeply respected for his part in world events where there is every reason to suspect that Reagan would not have been.

The huge differences between the two are even more interesting given that Bush was a dutiful Vice President to Reagan for eight years and sought on gaining office only to take over where he left off. Bush did not set out to ring the changes between Reagan and himself; quite the opposite. He purported to be the archetypal guardian president; consolidating Reagan's good work and continuing to steer America on the same path. So why then did they turn out to be such almost polar opposites?

This essay explores the realms of domestic politics, vision and leadership and international issues with the focus on drawing comparison between the two men and their styles of leadership and analysing in each instance who may have been the more effective president. I will conclude that, regardless of actual achievements real success in presidential terms depends on successful handling of the media, an area Reagan understood and Bush never would.

IMAGE, PERSONALITY, AND MEDIA RELATIONS

It is almost universally agreed that Ronald Reagan's greatest strength, certainly early in his first term and arguably until he left office was his ability to communicate with the American people. He won the presidency not only on his package of radical reforms at a time when the current policy orthodoxies had failed the Americans (along with most of the rest of the western world), but on his winsome personality, his awesome eloquence and his considerable charisma. A direct comparison with Margaret Thatcher can ...

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...symbolism than the vast disconnect between

what people close to Bush perceive about the man and what much of the

public ultimately believed"

Reagan, on the other hand, is remembered not only for his reforms in policy, but overwhelmingly for the connection he managed to achieve with the American voting public. This not only secures him a place in fond memory but was ultimately what allowed him to achieve that which he did whilst in office; "In the modern era, the presidential image is tantamount to reality" . Where Bush might easily have been the better President given the requisite media talents and a little more political sophistication, in fact Reagan came out of his term of office the more successful of the two.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

· Kellerman, B., 'The Political Presidency', Ch. 11; (1984)

· Light, P., 'The President's Agenda' Chs. 10, 11, 12; (1999)

· Mervin, D., 'George Bush and the Guardianship Presidency', Chs. 2, 9; (1996)

· Rose, R., 'The Post-Modern Presidency', Ch. 15; (1991)

· Rozell, M. J., 'In Reagan's Shadow: Bush's Antirhetorical Presidency', Presidential Studies Quarterly; (Winter 1998)

· Wildavsky, A., 'The Beleaguered Presidency', ch. 12; (1994)