Learning from Reagan

It was apparent to me in the course of the 2000 presidential campaign that George W. Bush was a sophisticated student of Ronald Reagan who had learned much more from Reagan than his father had. In his 1988 acceptance speech at the Republican convention, President Bush (41) showed that he seemed to have thought more about how he might distinguish himself from Reagan to his own advantage than how he might claim Reagan’s legacy as his own. When he casually broke faith with his supporters and supported a tax increase in the fall of 1990, I thought that he deserved to lose to whoever his eventual opponent would be.
Today’s Washington Times features Bill Sammon’s summary of President Bush’s interview with Brian Lamb for C-SPAN: “Bush calls Reagan mentor, Lincoln greatest.” The president’s comments during this interview provide additional evidence that Bush has thought hard and long about how he might benefit from the example of Reagan’s leadership.