[bush] george and his new world order

David and Robin Whitney’s The American Presidents [Guild America 2001] is seen as one of the definitive works on the US Presidents, widely recognized as taking a line as far down the centre as possible, even verging on the pedantic at times. Yet even within the documentary record, surprising things can pop up. "A new breeze is blowing, and a world refreshed by freedom seems reborn. The totalitarian era is passing, its old ideas blown away like leaves from an ancient, lifeless tree." This lyrical utterance was by GHW Bush on his inauguration, surprising really, coming from the slightly grey fuddy-duddy emerging from Ronald Reagan’s shadow. It was to prove to be more than a one-off anomaly. Read more here.