Bush's way: a taker of big, bold risks

In 1993, on the day before George W. Bush announced his candidacy for governor of Texas, the Houston Chronicle ran the wrong picture with a story about him. Over a short piece detailing his address to a group of Republican women, the paper printed a photo of - you guessed it - his father.

Mr. Bush brushed the mistake off. But throughout the campaign he kept worrying that Texans wouldn't see him as a person in his own right, according to Bill Minutaglio's biography "First Son." He thought that when voters heard his name, the patrician George H.W. Bush was indeed the image that flashed in their minds.

Eleven years later that's one thing that Bush probably doesn't have to worry about. He takes the stage at Madison Square Garden Thursday night as a politician in full - a president who, for better or worse, has demonstrated an extraordinary ability to wield the powers of office.

From fiscal to foreign policy, Bush's four years have been marked by bold - some would say foolhardy - initiatives. If reelection campaigns are usually about the incumbent, then the 2004 vote may hinge on how Americans feel about this Texas gambler style of leadership.

It's ironic, in a way. By becoming an un-Yankee, he's positioned himself to surpass the achievements of his aristocratic Yankee forebears.

"Bush's most important asset is his very focused and distinct personality," says Stephen Cimbala, a political science professor at Penn State University in Media, Pa. "You may agree or disagree with his positions on various public- policy matters, but you know where he stands."

The highlights of Bush's biography are now well known, given the scrutiny turned on any US president. The quick version is this: He was a cutup frat boy, the dervish of family gatherings, a middling oilman and baseball executive whose life turned around when he gave up drinking at age 40.

But within this general story are small revelations that voters may still find surprising. His brother Jeb ("Mr. Perfect," according to the nickname bestowed by George W.) was indeed the child his parents thought might follow the father into the Oval Office. But that was simply because he was the serious one in the family.

Bush relatives judged George W. to be wild, but also "the smart one," according to historian Herbert S. Parmet, a George H.W. Bush biographer. And it was George W. as a young adult who served a political apprenticeship under his dad. He was assigned to keep an eye on the mercurial, aggressive political consultant Lee Atwater, for instance. And as the elder Bush's term in office wound down, it was George W. who noticed the strain in his father's face and discussed with him whether he should stand for reelection.

"I don't know that he will run again," George W. told associates at the time, according to Mr. Parmet. "There's a good chance that he won't."

Ultimately the father did run, of course. Now the son is too - and to all accounts he didn't inherit that reluctance to try for a second term.

In fact, one word experts use over and over again to describe Bush's political leadership style is "aggressive." Just look at the timeline: Barely elected to office in 2000, Bush would have to govern from the center, said pundits. He didn't. Faced with predictions that his tax cut would unleash a flood of red ink, he would have to trim it, according to many commentators. Scratch that - it passed largely intact. He'd never be able to invade Iraq in the face of international opposition, judged some experts. Then he did - despite hints that his own father thought it a bad idea.

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