From the Washington Post :
In the late 19th century, the queen of England sent the president of the United States a desk made from the timbers of a decommissioned ship, the HMS Resolute. Almost every occupant of the White House since then has made the Resolute his desk. Perhaps more than most, President Bush has taken its name to heart.
But now, as Bush rethinks his strategy in Iraq and approaches one of the most fateful moments of his presidency, he confronts difficult questions: At what point does determination to a cause become self-defeating folly? Can he change direction in a meaningful way without sacrificing principle?
For Bush, this is a tension that goes to the heart of his political identity and governing style. He captured and retained the presidency in part by portraying two successive Democratic opponents as finger-in-the-wind politicians without a core set of beliefs. The notion of bending to critics or even popular will cuts against his grain. Yet it is also true that at key moments in his career, Bush has been willing to abandon his position and shift gears dramatically.
No position has been more central to Bush's leadership than his decision to invade Iraq in 2003 and his unyielding defense of his conduct of the war ever since. But he went out of his way last week to give the appearance of a man genuinely seeking new ideas as he shuffled between the White House, the State Department and the Pentagon's ultra-secure "tank," and then delayed making a decision while he and his team debated the options.
The perception of Bush as unusually stubborn has defined his tenure to some extent, much to the consternation of adversaries and sometimes even allies. But Bush was deeply influenced by the fate of his father, whose decision to break his no-new-taxes pledge as president helped doom his reelection. The lesson: Stick to decisions regardless of shifts in political winds.
The seemingly unshakeable confidence in the rightness of his positions has helped the current president weather political storms that might overwhelm others. For a man who presides over an unpopular war, just lost Congress and faces a final two years with constrained options, Bush gives little sign of self-pity. At holiday parties for friends and family in recent days, he has found himself bucking up others depressed by the turn in his political fortunes. "Don't worry, it's not as bad as it looks," he told one friend visiting the White House. "There's a lot we can get done."
The friend, who shared the private moments on the condition of anonymity, was struck by how upbeat Bush seemed. "But he's not a fool," the friend added. "He knows how bad all this is, trust me. There is some resignation that this is where he finds himself. I know he's got a lot of second thoughts about how he got there. Anybody would."
Bush decided a long time ago that expressing second thoughts publicly would be seen as a sign of weakness, according to some close to him. "I'm oftentimes asked about, 'Well, you're stubborn,' and all this," Bush told a group of conservative journalists in September. "If you believe in a strategy, in Washington, D.C., you've got to stick to that strategy, see? People want you to change. It's tactics that shift, but the strategic vision has not, and will not, shift."
Despite Bush's reputation as unbending, he has reversed himself before in the interest of expediency. During battles over education legislation or funds for religious charities, he changed key positions. Perhaps the most notable example was the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, which he strongly resisted until embracing the idea as if it were his own.
"He always starts out by stressing his maximum position and then doesn't budge until he absolutely has to," said Bruce Buchanan, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin who has watched Bush's career for years. "He could conceivably be doing that right now."
"He changes his mind all the time, as any thinking human being would," said David Frum, a former Bush speechwriter and sometime critic. "He probably changes his mind somewhat less than other politicians do, but he's not set in concrete." Having said that, Frum said Iraq is too critical to waver on. "A lot of people want him to change his mind on the central decision of his presidency. And on that, he hasn't, he shouldn't, and he won't."
