In the October issue of The Atlantic an M.D. writes that G. Bush had better debating skills than he does now. He also didn’t “pause before forcing out big words”, or “invent mangled new ones”. The letter writer says his deline in speaking skills is a symptom of early onset Alzheimers.
Is there anyone on the Board familiar enough with Bush’s career to comment on whether he was a better public speaker when he was in his forties? This may end up in the Pit, but I’d like to get some factual answers before it does.
In ‘Fahrenheit 911’ there’s a short scene of him when he was an oil exec, and seemed much more intelligent and articulate to me.
I recently read an article about Bush’s debates with Ann Richards, and the article’s claim was that Bush looked like a completely different person. He spoke clearly, leaned into the podium aggressively, and he beat her rather handily.
The likely explanation for Bush’s change is that it’s intentional. Note that when it really counts, Bush seems to be able to rise up to the occasion. His speeches after 9/11, at the Republican convention, the State of the Union addresses, all get high marks from most observers.
Bush gets a lot of mileage from being underestimated. Perhaps he plays to that. Note that his entire family pronounces ‘nuclear’ correctly, but Bush doesn’t.
That would be “misunderestimated.”
(also, Sam, I don’t see that the most recent SOTU got high marks from most observers, but perhaps we’re straying off topic…)
I think the explanation is just one of volume.
When running for governor or while being an oil executive your every word really isn’t held on to that much.
Many of Bush’s biggest gaffes seem to come in quick interviews or in press conferences. And the number of embarassments has really gone down since 2000.
I think he was just too loose with his tongue, and didn’t get himself in his “controlled/handled” mode 24/7 when running for President. I think he’s more or less learned that he has to measure every single word uttered to every single person he speaks with now. The microscope is turned on to a much higher degree on him from 2000+ than at any other point in his life.
The gaffes and “relaxed” speaking style of Bush are probably indicative of how Bush speaks “casually.” I’ll be the first to say that I make verbal mistakes at times when talking with friends, I’ll get tongue tied occasionally et cetra.
But anytime I had to speak to a large crowd or such I made sure to speak as perfectly as I can, you’re in a completely different mind set. And I don’t think Bush realized he had to be in that mindset 24/7 coming in to the Presidency.
As an example look at some of the posts you make on this forum and contrast them to a paper you have had to write in college or a report you’ve had to write for work.
With work/school you take pains to make sure your sentence structure, syntax, vocabulary, spelling, punctuation et cetra are absolutely perfect (or at least I hope you do.) While on here, you may find yourself making simlpe typos like the one in the middle of this sentence. You don’t notice them until after you hit “submit reply” because this forum isn’t something you feel a need to carefully proofread/control yourself for.
The thing I noticed in the clip of a younger Bush in Fahrenheit 9/11 (and at least one other video clip I can’t remember off the top of my head) is that his accent is entirely different. He’s missing a lot of the Texan twang he has nowadays.
Unless there’s some other explanation for the earlier clips, I presume Bush has made his accent more Texan. Perhaps this happened when he ran for governor, to sound more like a native son. This raises the question - could some of the speaking style (eg the pauses before long words or key phrases) also be intentional Texan styling?
I’ve seen an interview once with I can’t remember who; but they worked very closely with President Bush.
It was his assertion that Bush get his “stupid” reputation because he has a propensity for talking down to people. Hence making him look stupid.
Personally, I can kind of relate to this becuase I have a tendacy to do the same thing myself while I am at work. Most of the time it’s necessary but sometimes it’s not. Suffice it to say, when it’s not, people tend to get rather annoyed when you talk down to them…
When was it that he went from being a heavy drinker to being a non-drinker? Alcohol often affects a person’s level of glibness, and if the timing was right, his change of chemistry would explain a lot.
Just a personal observation: Americans like stupid (sounding) Presidents. Note that while Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton are far from stupid, their accents gave an “aura” of stupidity to most American voters. There is a strong appeal among “regular folk” for candidates that also seem to be “regular folk”. I suspect that W’s people know this and had him “dumb himself down” for the 2000 election. I don’t think W’s all that bright, but he’s not a complete idiot.
For what it’s worth, Bush’s National Guard ratings gave him top marks on “writing ability and oral expression.” Link.
I’m sure this isn’t a conclusive answer to the question, actually, because a number of people (including me) lean toward the view that Bush’s superior officers may have, uh, “graded on a curve” when it came to politically-connected airmen.
Maybe he was more voluble when he was on coke.
I watched those debates in real-time, and - just like in the Gore debates - I found myself embarassed for the man. I felt that here was a guy who was completely out of his league. How people can say that he won any of the dabates is beynod me, but they do, and since there has been no dramatic post debate slip in his numbers that I can recall, maybe he has been winning them all. I just don’t see it.
You and me both friend. You and me both.
This is someone that I just don’t get. There does appear to be some truth to the whole “just like me” thing, but I truly don’t understand why.
Personally, I want the best man for the job. I know I’m not that man, so obviously I want someone better than me. (When I say better than me I’m talking about intelligence etc, not social class.) I want someone way above average if possible. Why do people want something other than that?
I read the letter that the OP refers to in the copy at my doctor’s office. It’s not up on the Web Site yet, so I have to work from memory, and will restrict myself to only the things I remember with certainty.
The author of the letter points to specific difficulties with speaking and cognition that the president exhibits more in current public appearances than in past ones. I recall specific mention of the visible effort that President Bush makes to spit out large words, and more frequent “puzzled chimp” looks when posed difficult questions.
The letter was signed by an MD, and was explicitly stating that the president is exhibiting many of the textbook clinical signs of pre-dementia or pre-alzheimers.
I recall the same observations being made of Pres. Reagan in the 80’s, and look what happened to him…