Bush's Real Challenge: Rebuilding The Economy
IT'S TIME for George Bush to revive an old romance. Nineteen years ago, when he had just lost a Senate race in Texas, Bush was looking for work. Come to the White House as congressional liaison, suggested Richard Nixon, who had encouraged the Texas race. No thanks, said Bush, uninterested in a staff job. Well, how about the United Nations? Okay, said Bush, and with that he launched an international career that put him on the road to the presidency.</br></br>But what did Bush himself want in those days? Sources from the Nixon White House say that he had an entirely different path in mind, far from diplomacy and maybe even politics. His first choice was a top post at the Treasury Department, drawing upon his days as an oilman and as a member of the House Ways and Means Committee. Bush hoped that Nixon would eventually make him secretary of the treasury, where he could spruce up the American economy.</br></br>Though he hasn't been a close student of the economy since then, Bush could now serve both himself and the country if he returned to his old interest in economic affairs. Not this week, nor this month, but by fall, he should come to the country with a giant plan for economic renewal. For both Bush and the economy, this is an ideal time to strike.</br></br>Over the past four weeks, Bush has vaulted into his strongest political position since taking office. His arms proposal in Europe not only transformed his first serious trip overseas but seemed to liberate him from a cautious past. Since then he has put together a string of successes: his deft handling of the China crisis, a clean-air proposal, blockage of a minimum-wage proposal and House passage of most of his S&L bailout plan. A Gallup Poll taken in early June showed his popularity climbing 14 points to a 70 percent approval rating-and that was before his call for cleaner air, a sure winner. After a dangerously slow start, Bush may now begin a second honeymoon.</br></br>By chance, the president has seized the high ground just as Congress is falling off the charts in public esteem, badly damaged by the uproar over ethics, pay and unprecedented resignations. While the Democrats have now elected stronger House leaders, they are likely to be far more conciliatory than anyone imagined six months ago. Reagan was more formidable than Bush in his first year, but he could never fully reverse the post-Vietnam flow of power away from the White House. Bush just might-if he now moves to set a more ambitious agenda.