Bush Is Off to Fast Start in Impressing Beltway Foes

It was one of the more arresting--and recurring--images of President Bush’s first week in office.

For three straight days, there by the new president’s side was none other than America’s longest serving Senate liberal: Edward M. Kennedy.

The Massachusetts Democrat’s omnipotence revealed several important traits about the nation’s 43rd president, a self-styled “compassionate conservative.”

He seems to be a man of his word. All along, Bush vowed to reach out to Democrats and, starting on day one, he did so with vigor. He campaigned on a specific agenda, and he is dead-set on sending precisely that to Congress.

Is keeping one’s word a refreshing change from the last eight years, as some Republicans have charged, or a sign of rigidity?

“I think it’s too early to make any assessments, frankly . . . ,” said White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer. “The real tests are going to come . . . down the road. We’re aware of that.”

Even so, the advent of candor in high places seemed to take Washington--including Kennedy--by surprise. So did Bush’s unexpectedly broad knowledge of issues like education and his seductive talent for listening.

“It was very encouraging,” former Sen. Paul Simon (D-Ill.) said after meeting with Bush. “Sometimes, when you go into these kinds of things, the person who invited you to give your ideas spends most of the time talking.”

But the week also marked the beginning of the education of George W. Bush.

For starters, he learned that even presidents cannot totally control the agenda. Even as he prepared to spend his first week focusing on education, members of Congress--including some in his own party--had their own ideas.

Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas) announced that he would introduce Bush’s tax cut proposal, blindsiding the White House. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) would not stop clamoring for a vote on campaign finance reform, which he will get this spring. Members of both parties pressed Bush to get behind a grass-roots drive for election reform.

On Saturday, he indicated a willingness to change on one issue that has drawn controversy when he suggested that he could compromise on his plan for school vouchers.

As Bush immersed himself in the folkways of Washington, where even jokes and bonhomie can carry hidden messages, power brokers all over town got the opportunity to size up the man and how he operates.

President Meets Host of Democrats

In all, Bush met with 90 members of Congress, including 29 Democrats; with 17 governors, seven of them Democrats; and he telephoned 12 foreign leaders.

Among the Democratic Party elders Bush invited to the White House on his first workday in office was Robert S. Strauss, the colorful Texan who also is one of the city’s preeminent Democrats.

Like five other Democratic veterans at the meeting, Strauss was pleasantly surprised to be among the new president’s very first guests--and assumed that the session would be largely a perfunctory photo-op.

Thus Strauss blocked out half an hour on his calendar. Instead, the meeting lasted twice that long and then some.

Moreover, just about all of Bush’s senior staff attended--along with Vice President Dick Cheney. Many of them, including Bush himself, took notes throughout the meeting.

“All the heavyweights were in the room,” Strauss said. “That impressed me more than anything he had said.”

During the session, Bush also demonstrated that he is not unmindful of the sensibilities of those who prowl the corridors of power.

When Richard Moe, head of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, urged Bush to deal with urban problems--especially in the District of Columbia, as its most prominent resident--the president showed that he needed no prodding on the matter.

On his calendar the very next day was a White House lunch with Washington Mayor Anthony Williams.

There was no specific agenda for the meeting with Democratic elders.

“He said he just wanted to reach out and hear different views and that we should talk about anything we wanted to talk about,” Moe said.

Alluding to the postelection controversy and the closely divided government, Strauss reminded Bush that “Democrats are just as patriotic about their country as Republicans, that there is good in everybody.”

Bush said Strauss’ remarks were “really important--and it’s so true.”

At one point, Strauss said, Bush described “how amazed he was--and he’s still shocked--at his difficulty in getting good people” into government.

Only beverages were served at the meeting, and that prompted an ice-breaking quip from Strauss.

“Mr. President, the second day your father was president, he invited me over. You invited me over on the first day,” Strauss said.

“I must point out to you that you invited me for a cup of coffee--while your father invited my wife and me for dinner.”

Bush, a man who relishes such give-and-take, replied with a laugh: “We’re short on money!”

Strauss said that his quip was not intended to send a message to Bush. “I was just ribbing him a little,” he said.

Still, given Washington’s obsession with measuring every nuance of power and influence, who gets what treatment is not something that goes unnoticed in this town.

Former Sen. Simon suggested that, should a Supreme Court vacancy occur, Bush seek advice from senators on the Judiciary Committee.

“He seemed to react favorably,” Simon recalled. “This obviously was something no one had suggested to him before.”

Raising his eyebrows, Bush replied: “That’s an interesting suggestion.”

Simon also urged Bush to take along some members of Congress whenever he travels on Air Force One--because of the incalculable value of face time together.

Educators Get Special Attention

Shortly before hosting the Democratic statesmen, Bush met with a group of educators who specialize in teaching reading, and he charmed them as well--not only with his personal touch but with his grasp of education issues.

“He was well informed but not opinionated. And he listened intently to each speaker, often zeroing in on critical pieces of information,” said Dr. Claude Goldberg, a Cal State Long Beach researcher.

When Goldberg rued the dearth of research into curricula that emphasize reading in preschool, Bush was clearly surprised. He turned to Rod Paige, his Education secretary, and said curtly:

“We need to get on that.”

Yes, sir, Paige replied.

At another point, the president and his wife, Laura, who also attended, instigated a discussion about children from homes where English is not spoken.

“My impression of him is that he clearly has opinions about these things. He’s not a blank slate on education. He’s thought about this,” said Goldberg. “He was interested in hearing what we have evidence for, what we don’t have evidence for and what we really need to work on.”

At the end of 45 minutes, Bush rose and announced: “I’ve got to go. I’m kind of busy today.” Mrs. Bush stayed for another 10 minutes.

On his way out, Bush thanked each of the 20 participants--nearly all by name, though none wore name tags.

As for Kennedy, Bush began courting the last link to the generation of Camelot shortly after becoming president-elect. After a series of missed connections, he reached the vacationing senator in the Caribbean on New Year’s weekend. When Kennedy’s phone rang in St. Thomas, Bush himself was on the line, calling from Texas. They chatted for 15 minutes.

A month later, an hour after becoming president, Bush picked up further intelligence about Kennedy, which may explain his subsequent courtship of the senator.

During the post-inauguration lunch in the Capitol, Kennedy remarked to former Republican Sen. Alan K. Simpson of Wyoming that he had never met Bush in person.

Simpson, a longtime Bush family friend, escorted Kennedy to the head table and told Bush:

“This is an ornery SOB. But if he tells you he’ll be with you, he will. You can do business with Ted.”

Three days later, Kennedy was standing outside the West Wing, commending Bush for “putting education first on the national agenda.”

Moments earlier, Bush had made a point of showing Kennedy that he was using his brother’s presidential desk.

The next day, Kennedy was with Bush at the swearing-in ceremony of Education Secretary Paige. A day later, Kennedy accompanied Bush on a visit to an elementary school here.

And Friday afternoon, asked to assess his own week, Bush replied: “Well, first of all, it’s been a great week. I’m excited about my job. I’ve really--I guess the biggest, most pleasant surprise, if you’d call it that, was how receptive members of Congress are to come here to the White House to talk about how we can work together.”