of them all. Before he left for Beijing, Bush could not resist making some sententious and self-
serving pronouncthe Washington Post: "We've done a lot of runniements to the press about his experience in Watergate. He told David Brodeng just to stay in place, and I was sometimes r of
depressed by the amount of bickering that goes on. But then I look across town at Bob Strauss and
his problems, and I feel like this was a 20-month honeymoon." Bob Strauss was at this time Bush's
counterpart at the Democratic National Committee. Bush noted that there was "philosophical
discontent" among right-wing Republicans about the policies of Nixon and Ford, butthese would never lead to a third party on the right. Bush defended "patronage" and said he was opined that
"worried about the health of the two-party system" even though he worried that this cause is "really
not very popular right now." [fn 4]
Bush's staff in Beijing included deputy chief of mission John Holdridge, Don Anderson, HerbertHorowitz, Bill Thomas, and Bush's "executive assistant," Jennifer Fitzgerald, who has remained
very close to Bush, and who has sometimes been rumored to be his mistress. Jennifer Fitzgerald in
1991 was the deputy chief of protocol in the White House; when German Chacellor Kohl visited
Bush in the sping of 1991, he was greeted on the White House steps by Jennifer Fitzgerald. Bush's
closest contacts among Chiand his wife Zhang Hanzhi, also a top official of the foreign ministry. This is the same Qiao who isnese officialdom included vice minister of foreign affairs Qiao Guanhua
repeatedly mentioned in Kissinger's memoirs as one of his most important Red Chinese diplomatic
interlocutors. This is the "Lord Qiao" enigmatically mentioned by Mao during Kissinger's meeting
with Mao and Zhou En-lai on November 12, 1973. Qiao and Zhang later lost power because they
sided with the left extremist Gang of Four after the death of Mao in 1976, Bus1974-75, the power of the proto-Gang of Four faction was at its height, and it was towards thish tells us. But in (^)
group that Bush quickly gravitated. In moving instinctively towards the hardline Mao faction, Bush
was also doubtless aware of of Mao's connections with the Yale in China program around the time
of the First World War. The Skull and Bones network could turn up in unexpected places.
Bush and Barbara were careful to create the impression that they were rusticating away in Beijing.
Barbara told Don Oberdorfer in early December: "Back in Washington or at the United Nations the
telephone was ringing all the time. George would come home and say, excuse me, and pick up the
phone. It's very different here. In the first five weeks I think he received two telephone calls, except
for the ones from me. I try to call him once a day. I think he misses the phone as much as anything."
Was Mrs. Bush being entirely candid? Even if she was, Bush could console himself and his
hyperkinetic thyroid with the fact that if there were no calls, there were also no subpoenas. Bush
himself added: "A lot of people said, 'You don't know what you're getting into," but on the basis of
a month I'm very happy. Sure, the place is very different but I wanted a change of pace. What thehell, I'm 50. It won't hurt anything," said Bush with a whining note of self-pity. [fn 5] The self-pity (^)
was a deception this time, since, as we will see, Bush had plenty to do in Beijing. The US Liason
Office was located in a walled compound in an area occupied by other foreign missions in a Beijing
suburb. A guard from the People's Liberation Army was posted outside at all times. Bush told
Oberdorfer that he started the day with the news on the Voice of America, followed by a yoghurtbreakfast, then staff meetings and attempts at China-watching deciphering of the editorials of Ren (^)
Min Ribao (The People's Daily). At 11:40, Bush and Barbara received their Chinese lesson from
their Mandarin teacher, Mrs. Tang. Then came a multicourse lunch. Wednesday and Saturday
afternoons were time off, as well as Sundays. Bush tried to attract attention by riding a bicycle to
diplomatic engagements. "Everybody wthe dignified manner of David Bruce," said one diplomat. "I think the Chinese probably thoughtas astonished, particularly because it was so different from
they were doing it for effect." George was having back trouble, and found an osteopath to treat his
back at a public bathhouse. Bush's attention-getting ploys had some effect on the Beijing of Mao
Tse-tung, or at least on the foreigners. "Bush is an instant success around here, " said a Canadian
newsman. "The real test will come, though, when the novelty wears off and his enthusiasm runs