Bush and The Finacial Crisis Essays - Bush Family, Livingston Family

Throughout the semester we have read numerous books by numerous different authors that provide insight and advice into the nature of decision-making in political leadership. Using the normative theories by Gergen, Matthews, Carville and Begala, and Heifetz and Linsky we can evaluate and interpret the decisions made by George Bush and his financial team during the financial crisis, as interpreted by Bush in his autobiography ?Decision Points.? George W. Bush acquired office from former president of the United States Bill Clinton in 2001, not knowing that in a few months he would have to try and resolve the biggest financial crisis in the US since the great depression. On September 11, 2001 Osama bin Laden and the terrorist group al Qaeda successfully launched an attack on numerous US targets including the world trade centers. This attack cost the lives of 2,985 lives and sent a ripple throughout the economy. The day after the attacks the Dow Jones went down 684 points the biggest single day decrease in history. The decrease caused two major airlines to file for bankruptcy, due to the publics fear to travel. Bush immediately saw it as his responsibility to keep the economy moving, and to defy the enemy, al Qaeda. Troops were sent to Iraq and later Afghanistan to fight the war on terror. He also started promoting for the public to restore confidence in the airline industry because he said it was a great goal for the nation?s war. Bush saw traveling on airplanes, visiting tourist destinations, and shopping all as acts of defiance and patriotism that he hoped would help businesses rebound and help hardworking Americans keep their Jobs. Unfortunately by the end of the year over a million Americans will have lost their jobs. This is a great example of tactics without strategy as touched upon by Carville and Begala, because yea, Bush?s idea to defy the enemy by traveling and shopping was a good tactic. He had no strategy to really implement that tactic, and it obviously didn?t work because over a million Americans wound up losing their jobs. The attacks on 9/11 caused a recession and changed t he feudal system, so instead of raising taxes Bush was convinced that tax cuts were the way to go, and that if taxes were raised it would have actually hurt our economy. So Bush signed the tax relief bill in may of 2003, and by September the economy started creating jobs again. Bush not giving into the critics and raising taxes shows how Bush was able to ?Hold steady? and maintain his focus while taking heat. This idea of ?Holding steady? was talked about by authors Heifetz and Linsky as a good strategy for surviving and thriving amidst the dangers of leading. During the financial crisis Bush showed an ability to surround himself with strong prudent advisors. He often turned to his workhorse and Rough Rider of his financial team Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson. Bush liked Paulson because he was a natural leader with decades of experience. Ben Bernanke was another person Bush picked for his financial team, his humble, down to earth, plainspoken, baseball fanaticism made him perfect for the Federal Reserve Chairman. He also had a great knowledge and sense of history. Bush surrounded himself with other strong advisors like Josh Bolten, Carlos Gutierrez, Larry Lindsey, Mitch Daniels, Rob Portman, and Jim Nussle. Having strong prudent advisors and surrounding oneself with the best, is one of author David Gergen?s seven lessons of leadership. Bush showed ideal leadership skills by choosing the people he did for his financial team, and gave good reasons as to why he picked those individuals. Bush continued to push for tax cuts to try and avoid another recession but a series of economic meltdowns started to unfold. Bear Stearns one of the US largest investment banks made a bunch of bad investment decisions which left it on the brink of collapse, so Bush and his team sold the company to JPMorgan Chase but until lending $30 billion against Bear?s undesirable mortgage holdings. Bush was not trying to reward the bad decision makers but safeguard the American people. The next crisis was Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the