The Making of a President

Photo By Joe Raedle

The "cattleman's crease" Stetson first appeared last week, when Gov. George W. Bush retired to his ranch in Crawford. "Upon Cheney's arrival, he was greeted by Bush (wearing cowboy hat, western coat with "Gov. Bush" on left breast, broken-in jeans, and running shoes)," Austin American-Statesman reporter Ken Herman wrote in a brief dispatch to the press. On Nov. 11, Herman was the daily designated pool reporter, allowed access to Bush and required to share his reporting with other print reporters who had no access.

The Stetson, the khaki jacket, and the retreat to the ranch might be called GWB's LBJ makeover. Bush even had his dog with him at the ranch, and permitted press pool photos of "Spot" in the field. (Herman, easily the best sit-down comic in the Capitol press corps, observed in one dispatch that "Spot's possible selection as first dog-elect is now on the line.") Beyond the sartorial remake Herman described, his Nov. 11 ranch dispatch describes an event reminiscent of Lyndon Johnson's visits to his Hill Country ranch:

GOV. BUSH: Somebody needs to take care of the dog. Thank you, Gordon. Just go ahead and throw the ball. (Laughs) Anyway, we arrived at Crawford. I arrived at Crawford with Andy [Card], and about 70 of the townspeople were out there, just so sweet and nice and kind and it just made me feel great to be here. And we're just -- I don't know if they've still got the decorations around the gate or on the trees, but some of the townspeople decorated the highway coming in. It's a wonderful feeling to be amongst friends.

Herman dutifully reported that decorations were still up:

Some trees near the ranch gate, as well as the gate, were festooned with red, white and blue balloons and bunting that had been put up by local residents in anticipation of Bush's arrival at the ranch Friday night, his first visit here since Election Day (Election Week? Election Month?). A sign on gate said Welcome Home in large letters. It said Kinko's in smaller letters.

Bush's retreat to the ranch, where Laura joined him after her scheduled Texas Book Festival events in Austin, worked well. He was less than two hours from Austin, meeting with advisors such as Andrew Card, who it is assumed will serve as his White House chief of staff. He was in touch with his campaign staff in Austin -- in particular, chief strategist Karl Rove, campaign chairman Don Evans, and communications director Karen Hughes. And he was consulting with James Baker III, his father's former secretary of state who is running the recount and litigation operation in Florida. (Before his departure on Friday, Bush told reporters that questions about litigation or recounts in Florida should be referred to Baker: "Secretary Baker is in charge of the process. He's doing a very good job down there, so I would ask that any questions you have about the politics of Florida, Mr. Baker can handle those.")

At least, the retreat to the ranch worked until Wednesday, Nov. 16, when Vice-President Al Gore -- who was engaged in his own political theatre, playing touch football with family and friends at the vice-president's residence in Washington -- scheduled an evening press conference that denied Bush the time to pull together a thoughtful response before late-night news deadlines. Gore's offer -- which he wrote and delivered himself in a press conference scheduled during prime time evening news -- was to end the election stalemate and abide by the results of a hand count of votes in the three Florida counties where counts are already under way, or even a statewide hand recount of all votes. At the time Gore made his offer, Bush was 90 miles and 90 minutes from Austin, and was left with no choice but to make the trip. While he drove, his aides at the campaign headquarters worked on a response. New York Times reporter Frank Bruni described the scene:

Reporters who had gathered in a makeshift briefing room nearby could see the aides through the transparent vertical blinds on one of the glass walls of the office. Mr. Evans was present, as were Karl Rove, the campaign's chief strategist; Karen P. Hughes, the director of communications; Mr. [Ari] Fleischer; and Dan Bartlett, another campaign spokesman.

For about half an hour, they talked and scribbled, and as soon as the meeting broke, a campaign aide informed reporters that Mr. Bush would drive from his ranch near Crawford back to Austin for a late-night news conference at the Governor's Mansion. Mr. Bush had been at his ranch for five days and had not planned to return tonight.

The pool report of the speech delivered at the mansion described a candidate as scripted and coached as Ronald Reagan ever was. "Bush entered the small parlor on the first floor, following a path marked on the hardwood floor with masking tape and ending with a masking tape arrow that pointed to the podium before him. Running mate Dick Cheney walked at his side, stopping at the taped X on the floor a step behind and to Bush's left. ... At the end of his remarks, Bush left without answering a question about the election. Outside in the hallway, Bush was greeted by applause from unseen friends of family."

The governor then returned to his ranch at Crawford. But not before it became glaringly evident that the Bush administration-in-waiting had weathered its first crisis, and that the critical decisions had been made by staff members who handed the Chief Executive the script they prepared for him to read.