Today George W. Bush completes his first hundred days in office. This is a president who has proved remarkably easy to lampoon. His facial resemblance of Alfred E. Newman of the old Mad Magazine is striking. His struggle with the English language is embarrassing and his initial ignorance of the world outside America verged on the terrifying.
However, it was reassuring that most of the members of the new president’s Cabinet were seasoned veterans, one of them, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta going back to the Nixon years and another, Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, having served Nixon and then Ford’s successor administration.
With a flawed electoral mandate, a whimsical not-entirely-here grin and a way of mangling words that is often breathtaking, at this stage in his administration, the pundits should be panning the new president. But they are not. The reason is that Bush is turning out to be pretty effective — at least, that is the way Americans judge him. When the US spy plane had to make a forced landing on Chinese territory, the Beijing government was out to extract the maximum political benefit. It wanted to use the incident to lever the US from its support of Taiwan which, under the Clinton presidency, had become increasingly equivocal. The new president was having none of it. He kept his ministerial team together, worked well with his novice secretary of state and in the end got the US crew home.
As for the question whether the Chinese got what they wanted, there are three answers. The Americans insist: nothing; the Chinese claim: everything; most of the world say: a draw, both gave something and got something. We can take our pick.
Of course, Taiwan has not received the anti-missile radar it wanted, but has got everything else on its shopping list for defensive armament. The spy plane incident has in fact triggered a tougher US stance. There are reports that US units are about to implement their own anti-missile radar protection of Taiwan, until such time as the technology that Taipei wants can be supplied and installed.
In the Middle East, the Arab perception is that the Bush administration is much more biased in favor of Israel than the one it replaced; that is saying something, considering that Clinton used to be described as the most pro-Israel president in American history. However, it must be said that the Bush White House leaned heavily on the Zionists to withdraw their forces from Palestinian territory forcing the Sharon government to comply. The Israelis may be now dusting off plans for the US Zionist lobby to undermine him if he turns out to be a hostile occupant of the Oval Office. If it ever comes to a confrontation between Washington and Tel Aviv, one has to wonder who will blink first. One can’t be sure that it will not be Bush — though it will never be admitted.
However, at the end of his first 100 days, Bush is judged to be doing well. The impression is perhaps a reflection of the cynical low expectations that he inspired during his run for the White House. But there are still 1,460 days of his term to go. The US economy is tottering on the verge of recession. Walking tall and carrying a big stick inspires many US citizens. And it would surprise those citizens to learn that the stick part is not immensely popular with the world.
