Four years ago, George W. Bush accepted the Republican nomination for President, and famously set the moral tone - and expectations for his presidency: "So when I put my hand on the Bible, I will swear to not only uphold the laws of our land, I will swear to uphold the honor and dignity of […]

In April 1961, President John F. Kennedy addressed the nation to accept full responsibility for the Bay of Pigs disaster in Cuba, an operation planned by the CIA of his GOP predecessor. Fast forward 43 years as George W. Bush and Tony Blair confront American and British reports documenting the Iraq WMD intelligence fiasco. While […]

That giant sucking sound you may have heard last week was the last vestiges of American unilateralism spinning down the drain. Perhaps barely noticed in the din and drumbeat of the Reagan commemoration, the short and unhappy life of President Bush’s policy of “America Alone” mercifully came to an abrupt halt. In securing passage of a U.N. […]

During the 1980 presidential campaign, Ronald Reagan quickly deflated Jimmy Carter’s reelection bid with a simple question, asking the American people, “are you better off today than four years ago?” The answer, at a time of high unemployment, staggering inflation, spiraling energy prices, and hostages in Tehran, was an obvious - and devastating - no. […]

Now there’s a surprise. President Bush is going to base his reelection on the claim of being “a war president.” (His “Ownership Society” vision, which he delivered stillborn during his State of the Union address, has apparently been put on the backburner.) As he told Tim Russert on “Meet the Press” and repeated to National Guard troops in Louisiana on February […]