Newsweek: "Bush hates 'Yes' Men" (NOT a satire piece).

Bush_Eats_Beef

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Mon Jan-17-05 06:58 AM
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Newsweek: "Bush hates 'Yes' Men" (NOT a satire piece).

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6831823/site/newsweek/

Window of Opportunity
He's hands-on, detail-oriented and hates 'yes' men. The George Bush you don't know has big dreams�and is racing the clock to realize them
Looking forward: From rewriting the tax code to remaking Social Security, Bush has big plans
By Richard Wolffe, Newsweek

Jan. 24 issue - It was time to clean out his cabinet. The top jobs in his administration, President Bush decided last fall, had left people burned out and too beholden to the perks of high office. Besides, he was planning a big new agenda for his second term and wanted fresh legs to power it through. When asked how many cabinet officials he would fire, Bush told one close friend: "Basically everybody." The official story was that many of the cabinet officials were ready to move on; members would volunteer their own resignations. But as the election neared, several began to waver; it became clear they'd need to be shown the door. Other presidents might leave the tough stuff to subordinates, but Bush wanted to do the job himself. When it came time to say farewell, the exchanges in the Oval Office were surprisingly emotional. "They were shocked and really hurt, and that hurt him," says one confidant.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson was one of the walking wounded. A former governor like Bush, he'd toiled on the president's first White House campaign and considered himself a friend. Thompson talked openly of moving to the private sector after 40 years in public life. Yet behind the scenes he also floated the idea of staying around as head of Homeland Security. Early in the new year, three weeks after Bernard Kerik's nomination had fallen apart, Thompson traveled to the Oval Office for one final chat as a cabinet member. Thompson grew tearful, saying he'd always be there for Bush, and hinted one more time that he would jump at the chance to stay on. But Bush stuck to his plan, and said goodbye. "There are strong emotions from the president and strong emotions from the people who are leaving," says White House chief of staff Andrew Card. "But he's looking for a new term and changes. Agents of change frequently are new people."

As he starts his final four years in the White House, President Bush is by far the biggest agent of change in his own cabinet. Whether he's remaking his team or plotting his second-term policies, Bush's leadership style belies his caricature as a disengaged president who is blindly loyal, dislikes dissent and covets his own downtime. In fact, Bush's aides and friends describe the mirror image of a restless man who masters details and reads avidly, who chews over his mistakes and the failings of those around him, and who has grown ever more comfortable pulling the levers of power. Of course, those closest to Bush have a vested interest in singing his praises. But they also make a compelling case that the president is a more complex and engaged character than his popular image suggests. And that he�not Karl Rove, Dick Cheney or anyone else�bears the full weight of responsibility for the ultimate successes and failures of his reign.

Instead of scaling back his ambition like other second-termers in recent years, Bush has expanded it. From rewriting the entire tax code to remaking the 70-year-old safety net of Social Security, from securing Iraq to spreading democracy across the Muslim world, Bush is being driven by a self-confidence that was only boosted by his clear election victory. Bush likes to say he intends to spend the political capital he earned in November. Yet, faced with his approval numbers hovering around 50 percent and a restive Republican caucus on the Hill, it's unclear how much capital he's really got in the bank�and how much time he has left to spend it. With just two years before presidential candidates take to the stage for '08, Bush and his closest aides know they need to cash in before the clock runs out.