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Jeb Bush vows his own course while tapping longtime family advisers Jeb Bush vows his own course while tapping longtime family advisers
(about 3 hours later)
CHICAGO — Former Florida governor Jeb Bush on Wednesday promised to chart his own course on foreign policy — though one that would rely on the advice of a cadre of well-known figures who represent most strains of mainstream GOP philosophy regarding national security and international relations. CHICAGO — Former Florida governor Jeb Bush on Wednesday promised to chart his own course on foreign policy — even as he announced a campaign brain trust associated with the most contentious policies of his brother’s and father’s presidencies.
He also embraced the legacies of his father, George H. W. Bush, and his brother George W. Bush, saying in a speech here that he has been “fortunate” to have family members “who both have shaped America’s foreign policy from the Oval Office.” That was the contradiction as Bush stepped delicately into territory where the 41st president, George H.W. Bush, and the 43rd, George W. Bush, still loom large.
“I recognize that as a result, my views will often be held up in comparison to theirs,” Jeb Bush added. “But I am my own man.” The man expected to become the third Bush to make a bid for the White House has been “fortunate” to have family members “who both have shaped America’s foreign policy from the Oval Office,” he said in a speech before the nonpartisan Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
In the speech Wednesday before the nonpartisan Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Bush mentioned Iraq only in passing — and by mistake, when he meant to say Iran. But when asked about the Iraq war in a question-and-answer session afterward, he said, “There were mistakes in Iraq for sure.” “I recognize that as a result, my views will often be held up in comparison to theirs,” Jeb Bush added. “But I am my own man.” He added that his approach to geopolitics would be shaped by “my own thinking and my own experiences.”
The threat of Iran as a nuclear power is “the defining foreign policy issue of our time,” Bush said, arguing that the Obama administration has thus far shown itself “unequal to the task.” In his prepared remarks, Bush mentioned Iraq, where both his father and brother waged wars, only in passing — including once by mistake, when he meant to say Iran.
“The great irony of the Obama presidency is this: Someone who came to office promising greater engagement with the world has left America less influential in the world,” Bush said. But in a question-and-answer session afterward, Bush addressed the troubled conflict in Iraq during his brother’s administration. “There were mistakes made in Iraq for sure,” he said.
The latest Bush to consider a bid for the White House promised that his foreign policy would be shaped by “my own thinking and my own experiences.” A key premise for the second Iraq war was the assumption, based on information compiled by the Central Intelligence Agency, that Saddam Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction. That turned out to “not be accurate,” Bush said.
But nearly all of the 21 names his campaign-in-waiting announced as supporters and advisers served in high-level positions in the administrations of his father, the 41st president, and his brother, the 43rd. The threat of Iran as a nuclear power is “the defining foreign policy issue of our time,” Bush contended, arguing that the Obama administration has thus far shown itself “unequal to the task.”
They represent the full spectrum of views within the Republican foreign policy establishment — from relative moderates, including former secretaries of state George Shultz and James Baker, to staunch neoconservatives such as Iraq war architect Paul Wolfowitz. “The great irony of the Obama presidency is this: Someone who came to office promising greater engagement with the world has left America less influential in the world,” he said.
“This is more about putting together a list than a signal of direction for Bush,” said James Mann, a resident fellow at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and author of two books about George W. Bush’s foreign policy team. Meanwhile, the 21 names announced by his campaign-in-waiting as supporters and advisers on foreign policy did not provide much indication of what direction Bush himself would take.
The one exception, Mann said, was on the question of intelligence policy, where Bush indicated he is not eager to change course. The list of Bush advisers included several viewed as staunch defenders of the Central Intelligence Agency — including former director Michael Hayden, who came under heavy criticism in a recent Senate Intelligence Committee report about the agency’s interrogation techniques. The list represents the full spectrum of views within the Republican foreign policy establishment — from relative moderates, including former secretaries of state George P. Shultz and James A. Baker III, to staunch neoconservatives such as Iraq war architect Paul D. Wolfowitz.
Still, when discussing Iraq, Bush said that information compiled by the CIA regarding weapons of mass destruction turned out to “not be accurate.” “This is more about putting together a list than a signal of direction for Bush,” said James Mann, an author-in-residence at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies who has written two books about George W. Bush’s foreign policy team.
Just as telling were some that were missing from the official list. One Republican who is well known in foreign policy circles offered this assessment: “That list of advisers screams mush. It’s trying to be everything to everybody.” He spoke on the condition of anonymity because he has long relationships with many who are on the list.
The one exception, Mann said, was on the question of intelligence policy, where the list indicated that Bush will not change course. Among Bush’s announced advisers are several viewed as staunch defenders of the Central Intelligence Agency — including former director Michael V. Hayden, who came under heavy criticism in a recent Senate Intelligence Committee report about the agency’s interrogation techniques.
Just as telling were those missing from the official list.
Though former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice is at least as close personally to the Bush family as anyone on the list — and has consulted with the former Florida governor — the absence of her name suggested he is sensitive about being seen as a carbon copy of his brother.Though former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice is at least as close personally to the Bush family as anyone on the list — and has consulted with the former Florida governor — the absence of her name suggested he is sensitive about being seen as a carbon copy of his brother.
The naming of advisers who run the gamut of GOP philosophy in world affairs makes it more difficult to discern the direction that Bush would take, should he be elected to the White House. Having a broad phalanx of advisers could help Bush, who is presumed to be the GOP establishment front-runner, fend off efforts by other Republican contenders to position themselves to his right on foreign policy. He already faces the challenge of winning over the party’s conservative base, given his relatively moderate positions on issues such as immigration and Common Core.
But it could also make it more difficult for any of the other Republican contenders to get to the right of Bush on foreign policy in a primary. Were that to happen, it would compound the challenge he already faces with the party’s conservative base, given his relatively moderate positions on issues such as immigration and his support for Common Core, a set of curriculum standards strongly opposed by conservatives. Many in both parties expect national security to loom as a larger concern to voters in 2016 than it did in the past few presidential elections.
Many in both parties expect national security to loom as a larger concern to voters in 2016 than it did in the past few presidential elections. As a former governor, Bush is known primarily for his positions on domestic issues, such as education. But even as he made an effort to demonstrate his fluency on the issue, Bush made a few flubs. He mocked Obama for having dismissed the Islamic State organization as “the junior varsity four days after they took Fallujah and when they comprised a fighting force of more than 200,000 battle-tested men.”
That is in part why his selection of advisers on foreign policy is likely to be watched closely going forward. His spokeswoman later clarified that former governor misspoke, and that the actual number was closer to 20,000.
Others on the list released Wednesday include two former secretaries of homeland security, Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff, who worked for George W. Bush; another former CIA director, Porter Goss, who like Hayden served during the second Bush presidency; and former attorney general Michael Mukasey. Efforts to reach nearly all of those on the list — described as “a preliminary and informal group” of supporters that Bush will consult — elicited little response.
There were also two former World Bank presidents, Wolfowitz and Robert Zoellick. Baker said in an e-mailed statement that “I fully support Jeb Bush for president and am confident that when he is elected, he will do an excellent job leading our nation’s foreign policy, just as his father did.”
Also listed were John Negroponte, a former United Nations ambassador and the first director of national intelligence; Stephen Hadley, who was George W. Bush’s national security adviser; and Meghan O’Sullivan, who worked with Hadley and Bush on the second Iraq war. Stephen J. Hadley, former national security adviser to George W. Bush, declined to discuss his presence on the list except to say, “I look forward like everyone else should to hearing the governor’s speech on Wednesday.” An assistant to former attorney general Michael B. Mukasey said after speaking with him that he was “unavailable” for comment about Jeb Bush. Several of those contacted said via e-mails or assistants that they were traveling overseas.
In his speech, Bush delivered a message similar to one he offered in December when he addressed the U.S. Cuba Democracy PAC in Miami — a group strongly opposed to Obama’s proposed changes in U.S.–­Cuba relations. Hayden e-mailed that there was “not much to talk about . . . so far.”
On Wednesday, speaking just a few blocks north of where Obama celebrated his historic 2008 election with supporters in Grant Park, Bush suggested that the president had squandered an opportunity to recast America’s role in the world. Of the handful who responded to queries, only Otto Reich, a Latin America expert who served in both the Reagan and George W. Bush administration, offered a substantive comment on his relationship with the former governor.
“Our words and actions must match so that the entire world knows that we say what we mean and mean what we say,” he said. “There should be no gap there. This administration talks – but the words fade. They draw red lines and then erase them. With grandiosity, they announce resets and then disengage.” “The reason I’m supporting Jeb is because I’ve known him for over 30 years,” said Reich, who said he readily agreed when asked if he was willing to be included on the Bush list. “I don’t think he needs any advice, frankly, at least as far as the part of the world I’m familiar with. . . . The first thing he would do, is he would pay attention to it.”
But Bush also credited Obama for plans to deploy U.S. military forces to the Baltic states to help counter the rising threat of Russia and his plans to develop a new economic and military partnership with Central American countries that have seen citizens flee to the United States. The White House announced on Wednesday that Vice President Biden plans to visit Guatemala next month to continue those talks with regional leaders. In his speech, Bush delivered a message similar to one he offered in December when he addressed the U.S. Cuba Democracy PAC in Miami — a group strongly opposed to Obama’s proposed changes in U.S.-­Cuba relations.
His critique of Obama’s foreign policy is a familiar one within his party. But he also called for renewed engagement with traditional global alliances, including NATO and European allies. Speaking just a few blocks north of where Obama celebrated his historic 2008 election with supporters in Grant Park, Bush suggested Wednesday that the president had squandered an opportunity to recast the United States’ role in the world.
“Our words and actions must match so that the entire world knows that we say what we mean and mean what we say,” he said. “There should be no gap there. This administration talks — but the words fade. They draw red lines and then erase them. With grandiosity, they announce resets and then disengage.”
But Bush also credited Obama for plans to deploy U.S. military forces to the Baltic states to help counter Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and his plans to develop a new economic and military partnership with Central American countries that have seen citizens flee to the United States. The White House announced on Wednesday that Vice President Biden plans to visit Guatemala next month to continue those talks with regional leaders.
Bush’s critique of Obama’s foreign policy is a familiar one within his party. But he also called for renewed engagement with traditional global alliances, including NATO and European allies.
On his experiences, Bush cited time spent living and working in Caracas, Venezuela, as a bank official in the late 1970s, when he recalled that diapers cost $1 each and his home received running water briefly just three times a day. He also said he has traveled broadly since serving as governor and has “forced myself to visit Asia four times a year” to learn about the region’s burgeoning economies.On his experiences, Bush cited time spent living and working in Caracas, Venezuela, as a bank official in the late 1970s, when he recalled that diapers cost $1 each and his home received running water briefly just three times a day. He also said he has traveled broadly since serving as governor and has “forced myself to visit Asia four times a year” to learn about the region’s burgeoning economies.
Tumulty reported from Washington. While in Chicago, Bush was also poised to raise roughly $4 million for his leadership PAC and a super PAC he’s launched ahead of his presidential campaign. His supporters claimed that Bush has secured the backing of at least 80 percent of big-dollar donors in Illinois.
Karen DeYoung contributed to this story. Tumulty reported from Washington.