University graduate and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind settled into his office in the West Wing of the White House in 2002. Suskind had convinced White House media advisor Mark McKinnon that to bolster Republican appeal to woman voters in the 2002 midterm elections, publishing a profile on Bush advisor Karen Hughes would do the trick. Suskind's research for the "Esquire" magazine article on Hughes sparked his crusade to uncover the mysteries of what he considers one of the most secretive presidencies of modern times.
In a talk at the Miller Center Wednesday night, Suskind discussed the interviews he has had with several officials formerly working in the Bush administration who have come forward with fresh perspectives on the president and how he runs the White House. Suskind's recent book, "The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House and the Education of Paul O'Neill," is based on interviews with former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill.
Suskind said that when O'Neill came to him willing to talk, the two agreed to conduct an "experiment in transparency, a counterpart to the pseudo-science of message control."
A self-proclaimed non-partisan journalist, Suskind said he aims to expose the truth rather than to take a political side. However, critics argued in October 2004 that The New York Times Magazine's publication of Suskind's article, "Without a Doubt," a narrative on the role of faith in the president's decision-making, was a typical "October surprise" intended to hurt the president just two weeks before Election Day, arguably revealing Suskind's bias.
Suskind said he respects those who risk their personal reputations and safety to share their thoughts on an administration infamous for keeping even its top officials quiet. He added that in becoming "a vessel for many of the people that have left the White House," he hopes to engage in an "embrace of fact and truth that would make for some real change."
"To defend the architecture of power is not nearly as noble a quality or an act as standing up straight and tall and saying, 'Here is my best assessment of truth as I know it,'" Suskind said.
When his profile of Hughes was published and the Bush administration claimed that he had made it all up, Suskind said he knew he would no longer be welcome at the White House. The White House offers very little information to the press, Suskind explained, and journalists questioning the president's policies have "been eating a thin gruel... and they're weakened by it."
Despite obstacles on his quest for truth, Suskind is comforted by his belief that "you can't manage [truth] any more than you can manage tides" and that "people have a deep impulse to confess."
While Suskind frequently gets calls from Democrats supporting his evaluation of the Bush presidency, he said it has been reassuring to also hear from Republicans who tell him that they "can no longer exist in the darkness of denial" and want to offer their own perspectives.
Suskind said one of his most treasured quotations came from a White House aide who explained the gist of the Bush presidency by claiming that Suskind and others like him exist in "'what we call the reality-based community,'" made up of people who "'believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.'" On the other hand, the aide argued, the administration (what he labeled an "empire") was building its own reality and that while those in the Bush presidency were playing "'history's actors,'" those in the "reality-based community" would "'be left to just study what we do.'"
Refusing to accept his role as an administration outsider, Suskind is constantly consumed by his fascination with Bush's "extraordinary combination of forcefulness and opaqueness" and his uniquely bold confidence. In some ways, he said, he really admires the president.
"I truly respect the tactical forcefulness of this administration," he said. "In the modern age, tactical forcefulness is what wins elections, more than a fierce debate of ideas."
As Suskind continues to study the president alongside those willing to reveal their private experiences with Bush, he has not lost sight of his duty as a reporter.
"I think the job of the journalist is to challenge and probe and question the status quo," Suskind said. "If we are to do what is best, we must know."
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