George W. Bush should be president

Wed, 02 Aug 2000 22:37:00 +0000

Boyden Gray told an interesting story this week. Gray is an old friend of the Bush family who served as general counsel for President Bush during his White House years. Gray was asked about the firing of John Sununu, the former New Hampshire governor Bush named chief of staff when he came into office in 1989. Within a few years, Sununu had alienated most of Washington, and it was clear he had to go, but old man Bush didn't want to lower the boom himself. (Generally, presidents keep their distance from such nasty tasks.) So he called in his son, George W. Bush, to give Sununu the bad news.

This fabled episode is frequently brought up these days to illustrate that George W. can be a hard-ass. He can undertake the tough assignments. George W. did indeed go in and meet with Sununu, but somehow during the meeting, Sununu didn't get the message that it was time for him to submit his resignation. I bet Bush never actually laid it out in unmistakable terms. So Boyden Gray, along with two other Bush administration officials, had to go see Sununu after the meeting with George W., and convey the message that Bush the younger had somehow failed to deliver. Finally, Gray himself told Sununu it was time to go.

Salon.com > David Brooks

George W. Bush should be president