November 6: On the morning after the election, Bush had announced a 6:40 AM press
conference in order to put on a demagogic show of concern for the plight of those born
on the wrong side of the tracks before jetting off to a NATO summit in Rome. He
admitted that he was "depressed" over the defeat of Thornburgh because the latter was
such a good man. He lamely tried to explain his decision to remain in Washington at the
end of the month as based on his experience that "all kinds of crazy things can happen
with this crowd that controls the Senate and House." But Bush had another big flip-flop
to offer: although he still denied the existence of a "recession," he was now concerned
about "people that are hurting," and for these he was willing to "go the extra mile." He
was now seeking a compromise bill to extend unemployment benefits. Within a week, a
compromise had been reached with most of the concessions coming from Bush, on the
model of the civil rights bill. Was it another impuslive, hyperthyroid moment? [fn 70]
November 7: During his address to the NATO summit of 16 heads of state and heads of
government, Bush departed from his prepared text and inserted the following sentence off
the cuff into his remarks:
If, my friends, your ultimate aim is to provide independently for your own defense, the
time to tell us is today.
This was in many respects the most astounding threat ever made by an American
president to the leaders of the North Atlantic Alliance, which had always been
considered, since 1949, as the cornerstone of US foreign policy. Bush now called the
Atlantic Pact into question, apparently in a fit of rage. Press reports spoke of "clouds of
suspicion" separating Bush from France and Germany; the State Department and the
British were known to be hysterical about plans to expand the exisiting Franco-German
brigade into a larger unit. US officials told one reporter that Bush had become
"exasperated" by the Byzantine tactics of Tonton Mitterrand, known in Paris as "Le
Florentin" in a misguided tribute to Machiavelli. These frictions apparently had
contributed to Bush's outburst. James Baker and other spin doctors tried to play down the
importance of this shocking episode. [fn 71]
November 8: At a press conference in Rome, Bush turned in yet another furious tantrum.
The basic issues were that his travel obsession had been denied, and that he did not want
to brook increasing criticism. Bush "complained bitterly" that he had been forced to
abandon his prized trip to Asia owing to "some carping by people that don't understand"
his awesome responsibilities as world leader. Bush angrily maintained that to be "driven
away" from an Asia trip "by people holding up silly T-shirts is ridiculous." As one
journalist saw the scene, "Bush, his voice rising and eyelids narrowing, talked at length
about a president's responsibilities in foreign policy and the importance of Japan to
American jobs. His passionate response contained an undercurrent of regret that he
approved the cancellation that some Republicans said this week was precipitous and too
reactive to the Democrats." Had calling off the trip somehow interfered with Bush's plans
for unleashing the next war? Bush reverted to his favorite theme of his war leadership: "If
I had had to listen to advice" of Congressional Democrats "to do something about the
Persian Gulf, we'd have still been sitting there in the United States, fat, dumb, and happy,