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A Profile in Lack of Leadership

Dubya takes cover.

Steven L. Taylor
32

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Via NBC News: Former President George W. Bush has no plans to endorse in the election.

Former President George W. Bush does not plan to endorse a candidate for president, his office told NBC News on Saturday.

When asked whether the former president or his wife, Laura, would endorse a candidate or make public how they will vote, Bush’s office said “no.”

“President Bush retired from presidential politics years ago,” the office added.

Yes, his not endorsing Trump is a signal, but it is pretty quiet. Bush is acting, in my view, cowardly (and in contrast to his Vice President and his daughter-especially the daughter).

“In our nation’s 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” Cheney said in a statement. “He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He can never be trusted with power again.”

As a former two-term president, who clearly is not a fan of Donald “That was some weird shit” Trump, I believe the he owes the country far more than he has been willing to give.

Both former Bush presidents’ teams said in 2016 that the father and son would avoid commenting on Trump. Instead, the younger Bush worked to support Republican senators. Neither Bush nor his wife voted for either major party presidential nominee in 2016, a spokesperson said that year. 

The elder Bush president died in 2018, but the younger said in 2021 that he wrote in former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for president in 2020.

It strikes me as his duty to help keep the man out of office, not engage in small-ball write-ins and mealy-mouth avoidance. But I thought that in 2016 and 2020 and was likewise disappointed (especially 2020). But, as has been noted, it is hard to have any excuses in 2024 as to who and what Trump is. And it would be nice, even if someone who has little to lose would use some personal political capital to protect the Constitution he once swore an oath to protect.

File this under “Disappointing but not Surprising.” See, also, “Political Cowardice.”

Update: Speaking of Cheney:

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32 responses to “A Profile in Lack of Leadership”

  1. Pylon Avatar
    Pylon

    Are there any Bush offspring still in office/planning on running? If so, there’s your reason.

    4
  2. James Joyner Avatar
    James Joyner

    It’s disappointing, to be sure. It’s not like he owes Trump anything.

    3
  3. Sleeping Dog Avatar
    Sleeping Dog

    After Cheney per, came out for Harris, I wondered what GWB would do. Certainly not a profile in courage.

    4
  4. Fog Avatar
    Fog

    Considering that W gave us Clarence Thomas, elective war, torture justified by “American exceptionalism,” and one highly irregular election victory over Al Gore, he may have lots of reasons to play turtle. He’s not a “do the right thing” type.

    11
  5. Scott F. Avatar
    Scott F.

    @James Joyner: GWB doesn’t risk his future place in the GOP either.

    As @Pylon notes, maybe it is about a Republican future for George P. Bush.

    1
  6. Mister Bluster Avatar
    Mister Bluster

    On today’s Forum thread Jen stated:
    …and the fact that his two working daughters, who both have young children, likely are on the receiving end of threats.

    I know that former presidents (and their families?) receive Secret Service protection,
    for what it’s worth.
    Before Donald Trump and his stooges came on the scene that might have been adequate. If keeping my mouth shut would reduce the chance of threats or worse to my family I believe I would remain silent.

    3
  7. Not the IT Dept. Avatar
    Not the IT Dept.

    @Mister Bluster: “If keeping my mouth shut would reduce the chance of threats or worse to my family I believe I would remain silent.”

    Every Republican who appeared at the Democratic Convention to endorse Harris and Walz put themselves and their families in the crosshairs of some lunatic’s weapon. Are they more expendable than the Bush clan?

    And frankly if it’s some Bush-let whose future is being considered, then they should step forward right now too. “I wimped out” isn’t a slogan likely to endear them to voters in the years ahead.

    10
  8. Flat Earth Luddite Avatar
    Flat Earth Luddite

    A Profile in Lack of Leadership

    “Shrub” and a lack of personal leadership (or courage for that matter) being synonymous? Luddite not surprised.

    7
  9. just nutha Avatar
    just nutha

    A profile in courage or character, from Shrub?
    Really?

    2
  10. Michael Reynolds Avatar
    Michael Reynolds

    Maybe one of the reasons Republicans are so obsessed with masculinity is that they recognize what cowards they are. Not sure more T is the fix. Maybe a spine transplant.

    4
  11. Eusebio Avatar
    Eusebio

    He couldn’t just say he voted for neither major party candidate in the 2020. In the vein of Larry Hogan saying he wrote in the late Ronald Reagan’s name that year, GWB went with the weird-ass virtue signal write-in Condoleezza Rice. He just couldn’t bring himself to take his vote seriously.

    2
  12. al Ameda Avatar
    al Ameda

    @Fog:

    Considering that W gave us Clarence Thomas, elective war, torture justified by “American exceptionalism,” and one highly irregular election victory over Al Gore, he may have lots of reasons to play turtle. He’s not a “do the right thing” type.

    Not to nitpick, but …

    Wrong Bush. It was President George H. W. Bush who nominated Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court .

    14
  13. Scott F. Avatar
    Scott F.

    Regarding the Cheneys, I have to admit that early in Trump’s first term, I feared Liz Cheney especially as someone who was smarter and more capable than Trump who could take the permission structure created by Trump’s shattering of norms and guardrails to ruthlessly pursue her political objectives in the future. (Her father was the originator of the One Percent Doctrine, so there was precedent in her family’s worldview.) She has pleasantly surprised me.

    13
  14. Eusebio Avatar
    Eusebio

    @al Ameda:

    It was President George H. W. Bush who nominated Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court.

    And GWB nominated Samuel Alito.

    6
  15. gVOR10 Avatar
    gVOR10

    I saw a picture of Little Jebby! a couple months ago and it took me awhile to figure out who he was. Apparently alive, but out of sight. The Cheneys’ defection and the brothers’ near absence from the scene would seem to reveal a significant decline in the Bush faction’s standing in the Party.The Kochtopus guys seemed to push them and others aside. Now there seems to be an ascendant edge lord faction. I’d love to see a deep dive into internal Republican Party dynamics. But it’s unlikely WAPO or NYT would provide.

    3
  16. Mr. Prosser Avatar
    Mr. Prosser

    @gVOR10: To get some idea of internal Republican Party dynamics take a look at what is going on with the MAGAt faction vs. Conservatives in the Colorado party. Of course the conservative faction waited until the state rethugs entirely lost every elective state office seat and have a minuscule representation in the state legislature.

    1
  17. Jen Avatar
    Jen

    @Mister Bluster:

    I know that former presidents (and their families?) receive Secret Service protection, for what it’s worth.

    They likely have private security, but we don’t know if they have secret service protection.

    “From 1965 to 1996, former presidents were entitled to lifetime Secret Service protection, for themselves, spouses, and children under 16. A 1994 statute, Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 103–329, limited post-presidential protection to ten years for presidents inaugurated after January 1, 1997.[8] Under this statute, Bill Clinton would still be entitled to lifetime protection, and all subsequent presidents would have been entitled to ten years of protection.[9] On January 10, 2013, President Barack Obama signed the Former Presidents Protection Act of 2012, reinstating lifetime Secret Service protection for his predecessor George W. Bush, himself, and all subsequent presidents.[10]”

    Additionally, “Unfortunately, we do not know if Jenna Bush Hager still has Secret Service protection, but since there have been two presidents with kids since her father’s time, we wouldn’t be surprised if those days are behind her. This is especially true because, under law, adult children lose Secret Service protection once their father leaves office.

    At this point in her life, Jenna is also married with three small children, so it wouldn’t just be her who would need security, so that may complicate things.”

  18. MarkedMan Avatar
    MarkedMan

    There were a number of business book authors/highly paid consultants in 80’s and 90’s who made a living telling CEO’s what they wanted to hear. One of them hawked a message that since all decisions brought to a CEO were hard ones, it didn’t matter what you picked, just how decisive you were and to make sure you projected confidence and never looked back. When I heard Candidate Bush seriously espouse this nonsense as absolute wisdom during an interview, I knew he was nothing more than a useful tool to the truly powerful

    2
  19. CSK Avatar
    CSK

    @MarkedMan:

    Interestingly, that was taught at the Harvard Business School, which G.W. Bush attended: It’s better to make a quick decision than a correct decision.

    3
  20. MarkedMan Avatar
    MarkedMan

    @CSK: IMHO, Harvard Business School has done more to harm American industry than all other malefactors combined

    5
  21. Mimai Avatar
    Mimai

    I’ll cut against the grain and say that, in general, I’m not a fan of specifying what another person “owes” or what their “duty” is.

    In this case, I don’t know what is driving GWB’s decision. It could be one or a lot of things, some of which I might speculate about and others that are surely off my radar entirely. Not knowing his motivations, I’m reluctant to call his (lack of) behavior cowardly.

    Of note, he does seem to have cultivated a life over the past several years outside the media spotlight. So his not endorsing seems rather consistent.

    And it’s not clear to me what, if any, impact an endorsement or anti-endorsement would have on the election.

    Taking all of this together, I respect his decision. Indeed, I wish more people in his position would similarly fade away as they (and, of course, I) see fit.

    5
  22. gVOR10 Avatar
    gVOR10

    Via HuffPo, an exhaustive list of past Republican presidents, vice presidents, and nominees for same who have said publicly they will vote for Trump:

    1. Sarah Palin

    5
  23. gVOR10 Avatar
    gVOR10

    @Mr. Prosser: I’ve mentioned my local Sarasota Republicans had competing greeter booths at the recent primary election.
    They’re also in court over the office supplies and bank account of the County Committee. I see stories of the MI GOPs being in disarray and from other states. But those are MAGA v mainstream? less MAGA? more centrist? What is a good label?

    They get a little closer to the inmates taking over the asylum each cycle, but it’s still a party dominated by would be oligarch funders, with a “populist” facade. Even Trump has to kiss the ring of Miriam Adelson. Pence was a wholly owned subsidiary of Koch Industries. I’d love to have some insight into the identity, issues, and relative power of various big money factions.

    3
  24. Grumpy realist Avatar
    Grumpy realist

    One of my business friends dealt with Dubya when Dubya was still in his businessman phase and said he(Dubya) was the stupidest individual he had ever worked with professionally.

  25. Jen Avatar
    Jen

    @Grumpy realist: Had he ever worked with Trump?

    2
  26. de stijl Avatar
    de stijl

    @Mimai:

    He is not obligated. In fact, explicitly not endorsing Trump is a quiet way of being extremely rebellious and radical. Not endorsing is akin to utter disdain and dismissal. The last R President before you declines to endorse you. (And he was the worst President since before the Civil War.)

    Cheney, the de facto R President for eight tumultuous years, won’t vote for you.

    Rs used to bootlick Bush and Cheney not so long ago.

    3
  27. de stijl Avatar
    de stijl

    I’ve got zero problem with Bush not endorsing anyone.

    Declining to endorse is a choice.

    Ex R President declined to endorse current R candidate. We are to read nothing into that.

    1
  28. Grumpy realist Avatar
    Grumpy realist

    @Jen: as far as I remember my friend never had to deal with Trump, so this is a Dubya-only analysis. At some point during Dubya’s presidency we were chatting about politicians and whether they actually did have any business sense and my friend casually remarked that he had worked with Dubya and had found him the stupidest individual he had to do business with.

  29. Steven L. Taylor Avatar
    Steven L. Taylor

    @Mimai: @de stijl: I hear you both.

    But I will double down and note that if you are one of 45 persons to ever have the responsibility of being POTUS and you know, as Bush seems to, that Trump is unfit, I think that your oath to the Constitution and fealty to the office you held places a significant burden of responsibility on you to use your rarified position to do what you can to prevent his return to office.

    I realize it would make, at best, a marginal difference, but we may find ourselves on the wrong side of a marginal difference in November.

    Indeed, if all the people who could speak with authority about Trump would do so on the record, instead of doing so quietly (like simply not endorsing), I think it could easily make a difference.

    2
  30. Steven L. Taylor Avatar
    Steven L. Taylor

    Not to get corny, but with great power comes great responsibility.

    1
  31. Mimai Avatar
    Mimai

    @Steven L. Taylor:
    I hear you too. I think you make the most compelling argument for this position.

    And I’ve never been particularly taken by the categorical imperative.

    1
  32. Paul L. Avatar
    Paul L.

    If it upsets Dr SL. Taylor.

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