The First MBA President: George W. Bush as Public Administrator

Abstract

President Bush was praised early in his term as a tough-minded decision maker who knew how to get things done. This article argues that President Bush possessed formidable political skills that helped him achieve many of his policy goals. The article focuses on President Bush’s most important national security policies: the war in Iraq, the war on terrorism and the treatment of detainees, the use of intelligence that led up to the war, and his two major reorganizations of the executive branch: the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the reorganization of the intelligence community. The article concludes that President Bush’s deficiencies as a public administration undermined his policy successes.

Keywords: Presidency, Public Administration, President Bush