Tag: George Bush

Commentary: ‘Get Out Now – Inside the White House on 9/11, According to the Staffers Who Were There

Florida Capital Star Staff
George Bush

On Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, I anticipated a busy but relatively calm day at the White House.

I was the special assistant to the president for management and administration, and President George W. Bush was in Sarasota, Florida, promoting the No Child Left Behind legislation. The senior official in the White House was Vice President Dick Cheney. First lady Laura Bush was scheduled to travel to Capitol Hill to brief senators on early childhood education. On the South Lawn, tables were being set up for that evening’s congressional barbecue.

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Commentary: America First and the Role of Unions

Florida Capital Star Staff
Sean O'Brien

The fact that the Republican National Committee invited Teamsters President Sean O’Brien to speak at their convention last week, and the fact that he showed up and delivered an impassioned address to a mostly supportive audience, is yet another example of a historic political realignment.

O’Brien’s presence at the convention was his acknowledgement that support for Donald Trump is higher among union households than among the general public. An ABC News poll conducted earlier this year had Trump beating Biden 50 percent to 41 percent, whereas overall, Biden had 47 percent support to Trump’s 43 percent.

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Commentary: Signs of America’s Declining Power and the Emerging Multipolar World

Florida Capital Star Staff
President Biden walking in front of a line of international flags

During Bush’s years as president, Democrats frequently criticized his foreign policy, complaining that he acted like a cowboy, pursuing wars unilaterally without the imprimatur of the “international community.” Internationalism was a particular obsession of 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, who lambasted the Bush administration for snubbing the United Nations and upsetting France with its Iraq policy.

Obama was mostly a darling of foreign leaders, as he ceded American power and prestige in a bid to right what he considered the historic wrongs of colonialism and western chauvinism. This was evident in his obsession with completing the Iran deal, participating in the Kyoto accords, assisting NATO attacks on Libya and Syria, and in the general tone of public diplomacy during the Arab Spring.

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