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Leadership by Definition: First Term Reflections on George W. Bush's Political Stance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 November 2005

Stephen Skowronek
Stephen Skowronek
Affiliation:
Yale University (stephen.skowronek@yale.edu)
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Abstract

George W. Bush elevated the value of definition in presidential leadership and made it central to his political stance. This was as much a strategic calculation of political advantage in the moment at hand as it was a reflection of the man's innate character. Accounting for Bush's leadership posture in this way helps to situate it on a larger historical canvas as a particular rendition of a familiar type; reference to general characteristics of the type facilitates, in turn, an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of Bush's performance over the course of his first term. Conclusions consider deviations from the patterned political effects of leadership of this sort and weigh their possible significance.Stephen Skowronek is the Pelatiah Perit Professor of Political and Social Science at Yale University (stephen.skowronek@yale.edu). He is author of The Politics Presidents Make: Leadership from John Adams to Bill Clinton and more recently with Karen Orren, The Search for American Political Development. Earlier versions of this paper were presented at CIDE in Mexico City, at the University of Texas, and the University of Tulsa. It was also featured as the Abbott Memorial Lecture at the Sondermann Symposium on the Presidency at Colorado College, Colorado Springs (December 2004). The version printed here was completed on May 10, 2005.

Type
Research Article
Information
Perspectives on Politics , Volume 3 , Issue 4 , December 2005 , pp. 817 - 831
Copyright
© 2005 American Political Science Association

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