Annual lecture spotlights “indispensable presidency” of George H.W. Bush

The University of New England welcomed two former White House chiefs of staff to the Biddeford Campus on Wednesday for the 13th annual George and Barbara Bush Distinguished Lecture Series, offering behind-the-scenes accounts of a presidential administration during a transformational time in history.

Featured speaker John Sununu, former chief of Staff to President George H.W. Bush, and moderator Andrew Card, once Sununu’s deputy, painted a picture of a president who cared deeply about his domestic agenda, even though he was known for his foreign policy.

“George Bush’s reputation as a foreign policy president was earned,” Sununu said. “But (he) was also a fantastic domestic policy president.”

Sununu noted that the Bush Administration was able to pass 90% of its domestic policy legislation through Congress, including the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act and 1990 Clean Air Act.

“All of these pieces of legislation (were) passed by a Republican president, in spite of being overwhelmed by a Democratic Senate and a Democratic House of Representatives,” Sununu said. “(We) would bring in people on a daily basis to negotiate differences if we had to.”

Card, who worked under Sununu as his Deputy deputy chief of staff, was also Bush’s Secretary of Transportation at the end of his term. He said he remembers the joy of “watching how John Sununu made George Bush a better president” by using his compassion, empathy, and intelligence.

Sununu ended the lecture with an account of how the president selected him to help the Russian government assemble a leadership team after the fall of the Soviet Union.

“We sat down with President Gorbachev's staff trying to explain to him that they had to make him a little more accessible in ‘this’ respect and a little less accessible in ‘that’ respect, how to structure his appointments,” Sununu remembered.

“(John) helped change the world,” Card said. “But it wouldn't have happened if President George H. W. Bush didn't have the vision, compassion, and determination that he did have.”

The George and Barbara Bush Distinguished Lecture Series is made possible by a generous grant provided by Rosalind Whalon and her late husband, Peter. The annual event honors the legacy of President and Mrs. Bush as political and community leaders and celebrates their connection to the UNE community. The George and Barbara Bush exhibit at UNE’s Biddeford Campus chronicles the family’s love for the Maine coast, the presidential years, and their commitment to the local community.