George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography - Get a Free Blog

anything to do with it, lead we will...I'm not going to let liberal Democratic carping keep
me from leading.
When Bush said "carping," he seemed to spit and hiss at the same time. Then, with his
bile and andrenaline building to a crescendo of rage, Bush recalled the Gulf war and how
far Schwarzkopf would have gotten if Congress had been in command. "Thank God I
didn't have to listen to these carpers telling me how to run that war," Bush exploded in a
paroxysm of fury. The implication was also clear: to checkmate Congress, go to war.
It was during this trip to Texas that Bush began spouting his favorite anticyclical line,
that it was a great time to buy a house and to buy a car. Many people across America
thought that they were having enough trouble buying groceries.
Bush's outburst this time reflected the rising tide of public awareness of the economic
depression, and demands that he change his policy. Senator Mitchell had assailed Bush
with unusual energy, noting that "President Bush's record for economic growth and job
creation is worse than for any other president since Herbert Hoover. During Bush's
presidency, our country has grown at a slower rate, with fewer jobs created than during
any other presidency in the past 60 years." That hurt. Secretary Brady was later sent out
to complain that he could not "understand why it is a function of leadership to try and
remind the people in this country of the recession and Herbert Hoover." [fn 64] Brady
was afraid even of the word, "depression." Earlier the same day Bush had taken part in a
"virtual political brawl" in the cabinet room over the impact of the depression on politics,
with predictions of the defeat of Bush's candidate, administrative fascist Richard
Thornburgh, in the all-important Pennsylvania senate race. Bush's response had been
primarily one of recrimination, judging from published accounts: he excoriated
Republican congressional leaders for not toeing his line in the October, 1990 budget
battles. Bush told these leaders that he did not think he could depend on Congressional
Republicans voting with him if an economic package also contained new taxes. The
meeting had been tense and acrimonious. [fn 65]
A comment in Newsweek noted that "at a Houston fund-raising banquet last week, the
president sounded downright petulant discussing the economy, as if he'd been forced to
eat broccoli for dinner." [fn 66]
November 2: Bush's psychological stability was further impacted by the devastation of
his home at Walker's Point, in Kennebunkport, Maine, by a severe Atlantic storm.
Because he was under fire for representing only the wealthy, he flew to Maine on a small
executive jet, the military equivalent of a Grumman Gulfstream, rather than using Air
Force One, a Boeing 747. The furniture and some walls on the ground floor were
destroyed, and there was a considerable loss of family memorabilia. Bush found a
photograph of father Prescott in a swampy area several hundred feet from the house. "It's
devastating." "I can't believe it," said Bush. "A lot of this [was] stuff that you would call
dear, not valuable, but things we bought in China or different trips. It's personal. You'll
see 'em floating around out here." Bush also referred mystically to the importance of
rebuilding and keeping a home by the ocean: "We'll be here. It means something to us.