The Right Speech at the Right Time from a Former President
The great speeches of history tend to be pretty easy to identify in retrospect. After all, it’s convenient that all sorts of people have published countless books serving up and/or debating these pearls of oratory. But some speeches that matter often were hard to identify upon delivery.
Former President George W. Bush delivered a speech in New York City on October 19. I don’t think one can say it was necessarily a great speech, but in a few key ways, it turned out to be the right speech at the right time.
Bush, of course, is hardly beloved by all, especially given the ongoing and probably never-ending debate over the Iraq War. In addition on economic policy, for example, regulatory costs mounted under Bush, and he succumbed to bailouts and other misguided government actions when the credit crisis hit late in his presidency. But this is not the moment for delving into these issues, or other challenges or successes of the Bush presidency. Instead, it’s an opportunity to look at a speech.
Bush hit on five key points that needed to be said today.
First, he spoke about the importance of free trade. Bush declared, “Free nations are less likely to threaten and fight each other. And free trade helped make America into a global economic power. For more than 70 years, the presidents of both parties believed that American security and prosperity were directly tied to the success of freedom in the world. And they knew that the success depended, in large part, on U.S. leadership.”
There’s no doubt that the U.S. and the rest of the world have suffered from a lack of U.S. leadership on free trade. This largely is in contrast to Bush’s time in the Oval Office. While he did impose misguided tariffs on steel and softwood lumber while frequently bashing imports from China, for example, Bush exhibited leadership on trade by signing into law nine free trade deals covering a total of 14 nations, and negotiating another three agreements that became law during President Barack Obama’s administration. Unfortunately, other than eventually allowing those Bush deals, with some tweaks, to become law, the Obama years were largely a time when the U.S. sat on the trade sidelines. Obama’s effort on the Trans Pacific Partnership accord came too late. And now, matters have gotten worse, with President Donald Trump basically taking up the economically destructive cause of protectionism, pulling the U.S. out of the TPP, pushing renegotiation of NAFTA for decidedly unclear reasons, threatening to end the U.S.-South Korea free trade accord, buying into dubious claims of dumping by foreign companies, and complaining about meaningless trade deficits.
As Bush accurately stated, “We see a fading confidence in the value of free markets and international trade – forgetting that conflict, instability, and poverty follow in the wake of protectionism.” In the end, abandoning free trade means reducing opportunities for U.S. entrepreneurs, businesses and workers, and raising costs and reducing choices for those same entrepreneurs, businesses and workers.
Second, Bush said, “We’ve seen nationalism distorted into nativism – forgotten the dynamism that immigration has always brought to America.” Again, his warning here is accurate. Nativist backlashes against immigration are largely driven by fear and ignorance rooted in flawed zero-sum thinking on the economy. Quite simply, as made clear by Economics 101 and a wide array of studies, immigrants bring enormous benefits to the U.S. by doing work that is complementary to the native born, by having a higher propensity for entrepreneurship, by meeting labor needs for businesses and consumers (mainly during good economic times), and by becoming consumers themselves.
Third, Bush hit on a key remedy for what ails our economy. He said:
“But we can’t wish globalization away, any more than we could wish away the agricultural revolution or the industrial revolution. One strength of free societies is their ability to adapt to economic and social disruptions. And that should be our goal: to prepare American workers for new opportunities, to care in practical, empowering ways for those who may feel left behind. The first step should be to enact policies that encourage robust economic growth by unlocking the potential of the private sector, and for unleashing the creativity and compassion of this country.”
Indeed, fears triggered by the Great Recession and the subsequent under-performing recovery/expansion period are real. However, what is identified as the causes are off base in many circles. Globalization, in fact, is not the ill here. Instead, it’s been costly tax, regulatory, anti-trade, government spending and monetary policies over decade-plus. Bush is right to emphasize “unlocking the potential of the private sector” as the key remedy. That must include substantial tax and regulatory relief and reform, and, again, advancing free trade.
Fourth, the former president hit on some fundamental challenges the nation faces that lie beyond, but still impact the economy. He spoke about the threat of waning support for representative government: “There are some signs that the intensity of support for democracy itself has waned, especially among the young, who never experienced the galvanizing moral clarity of the Cold War, or never focused on the ruin of entire nations by socialist central planning. Some have called this ‘democratic deconsolidation.’ Really, it seems to be a combination of weariness, frayed tempers, and forgetfulness.”
And later, Bush added:
“Our identity as a nation – unlike many other nations – is not determined by geography or ethnicity, by soil or blood. Being an American involves the embrace of high ideals and civic responsibility. We become the heirs of Thomas Jefferson by accepting the ideal of human dignity found in the Declaration of Independence. We become the heirs of James Madison by understanding the genius and values of the U.S. Constitution. We become the heirs of Martin Luther King, Jr., by recognizing one another not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. This means that people of every race, religion, and ethnicity can be fully and equally American. It means that bigotry or white supremacy in any form is blasphemy against the American creed.”
This is a grave warning worthy of reflection. Bush was right to remind us that the U.S. is a creedal nation. That is, we truly are a nation of ideas and ideals, and those are expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Various people have pushed back against such notions since our founding. But today, there seems to be a spreading ignorance of this fundamental notion, in part due to Bush’s point about a lack of experience with, for example, the meaning of the Cold War and the devastation wrought by socialism. But it also is due to our educational system abandoning serious study of our founding documents, or even teaching that the United States is anything but exceptional, and instead is fundamentally flawed or evil. Why is anyone surprised by a lack of understanding about what America is about if those teaching the young fail to grasp it or oppose it?
Finally, Bush closed out on an optimistic note: “Repressive rivals, along with skeptics here at home, misunderstand something important. It is the great advantage of free societies that we creatively adapt to challenges, without the direction of some central authority. Self-correction is the secret strength of freedom. We are a nation with a history of resilience and a genius for renewal. Right now, one of our worst national problems is a deficit of confidence. But the cause of freedom justifies all our faith and effort. It still inspires men and women in the darkest corners of the world, and it will inspire a rising generation.”
Ah, optimism and faith in what this nation stands for. That’s most welcome, and it has been sorely lacking in recent times. Again, no matter what one thought of his presidency, this is another reason for appreciating President Bush making the right speech at the right time.
