FROM ANDOVER to Yale, to the governor's mansion and now the White House, the career of President George W. Bush has proceeded as if according to script. In the opening acts, the youthful Bush seemed a pale reflection of his eminent father, neglecting school and career for a life of drunken indolence. But the prodigal son eventually returned, found God and reformed his reckless ways. Now, Bush has taken his place at the helm of the nation and the head of America's most famous political family.
Bush has followed admirably in his father's footsteps, but there is one aspect of the legacy that he is determined to avoid. In 1992, after a brilliant victory in Iraq, President George H.W. Bush was turned out of office for his failure to lead the American economy through a post-war recession. Today, the younger Bush finds himself in a similar position, presiding over a faltering economy that has left him vulnerable to Democratic challengers for the first time in years. Unless he can stem America's economic decline, Bush seems doomed to fulfill his father's legacy in its entirety.
Throughout his presidency, Bush has been keenly aware of his father's mistakes, and he has struggled mightily to avoid them. By his relentless tax cutting and chin-out social conservatism, Bush has won the loyalty of the Republican faithful who always regarded his father warily. And when the economy turned sour, Bush tried doggedly to restore it to prosperity, determined to avoid the perceptions of detachment and disinterest that sunk his father's reelection campaign.
But despite his best efforts, it seems entirely possible that the younger Bush will be denied a second term as well. After two years of Sept. 11
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