George W. Bush and the American Vision

George W. Bush

Yesterday, at the "Spirit of Liberty: At Home, in the World" conference, former President George W. Bush spoke for traditional American values and against the growing trend toward nationalism and isolation. Some people interpreted this as an attack against Donald Trump, although Bush never mentioned Trump by name and denied that he was criticizing the current president. Bush stated his thesis:

"We are gathered in the cause of liberty this is a unique moment. The great democracies face new and serious threats – yet seem to be losing confidence in their own calling and competence. Economic, political and national security challenges proliferate, and they are made worse by the tendency to turn inward."

President Donald Trump ran for office on an "America First" theme. Often pictured as a radical departure from American tradition, Mr. Trump's opposition to foreign entanglements and foreign trade actually follows a long-standing political theme. George Washington warned against foreign alliances during his Farewell Address: "Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor or caprice?" John C. Calhoun's "American System" combined public infrastructure projects with trade restrictions. William McKinley won the presidency on an anti free-trade stance, which he held for four years before changing his mind just before his assassination.

Still, President Trump's election campaign took advantage of a what is often called populist unrest. Bush spoke against this, noting that "For more than 70 years, the presidents of both parties believed that American security and prosperity were directly tied to the success of freedom in the world. And they knew that the success depended, in large part, on U.S. leadership." He contrasted "the DNA of American idealism" against "resurgent ethno-nationalism." Bush deplored that many young people lack confidence in our democratic institutions. He diagnosed our nation's problems, in part, as "a deficit of confidence."

I fully agree with Mr. Bush that young people seem to appreciate our democracy less, and often fail even to understand it. I recently retired from many decades of university teaching. All of my students were required to take courses in American history or government. It did not seem to help them very much. I would ask them to name the three branches of government, and counted myself fortunate if one student out of an entire class could do so. Few of them knew what side we fought on during World War II, much less what side we were on during the Vietnam conflict. These deficiencies did not occur because they had not been instructed; the problem is they did not care about these things. They wanted to know how to get a job and how to find a husband or wife. Larger issues of citizenship mattered to them far too little. Thus, the nation became open to populist or even demagogic thinking that denies the American mission and denigrates American democracy.

Finally, was Mr. Bush really criticizing Mr. Trump? After all, Mr. Trump campaigned by saying things that he knew would win votes. The real problem is not the current president; the real problem is that so many people liked what he said. Many people, including millions of people who think they are conservatives, have lost sight of our nation's traditions. It is good for a prominent speaker to remind us what those traditions are and why they matter to all of us.

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Follow-up post:  

Harpine's Thoughts about Public Speaking: George W. Bush and the American Vision, Part 2