Annual lecture spotlights βindispensable presidencyβ of George H.W. Bush

The 911±¬ΑΟΝψΊμΑμ½ν 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 Sununuβs deputy, painted a picture of a president who cared deeply about his domestic agenda, even though he was known for his foreign policy.
βGeorge Bushβs reputation as a foreign policy president was earned,β Sununu said. βBut (he) was also a fantastic domestic policy president.β
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.
βAll 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,β Sununu said. β(We) would bring in people on a daily basis to negotiate differences if we had to.β







Card, who worked under Sununu as his Deputy deputy chief of staff, was also Bushβs Secretary of Transportation at the end of his term. He said he remembers the joy of βwatching how John Sununu made George Bush a better presidentβ 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.
βWe sat down with President Gorbachev's staff trying to explain to him that they had to make him a little more accessible in βthisβ respect and a little less accessible in βthatβ respect, how to structure his appointments,β Sununu remembered.
β(John) helped change the world,β Card said. βBut it wouldn't have happened if President George H. W. Bush didn't have the vision, compassion, and determination that he did have.β
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 911±¬ΑΟΝψΊμΑμ½ν community. at 911±¬ΑΟΝψΊμΑμ½νβs Biddeford Campus chronicles the familyβs love for the Maine coast, the presidential years, and their commitment to the local community.