"His personal character of self effacement, of treating everyone properly, played a huge role in building the trust level between himself and (Mikhail) Gorbachev. Gorbachev himself has stated that the one thing you can count on with George Bush is that you can trust him. That trust is very important in international relations."
In his book, The Leadership of George Bush: An Insider's View of the Forty-first President (TAMU Press, 2009), Roman Popadiuk examines the ways in which Bush's personal leadership style influenced the formation and execution of policy.
Popadiuk, executive director of the George Bush Presidential Library, sat down recently with Curt Smith, host of the Rochester and Upper New York State-based show Perspectives (WXXI Radio), to talk about the former president and his lasting impact.
Popadiuk served as deputy assistant to the president, deputy press secretary for foreign affairs, and U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, during the Bush Administration.
An excerpt:
"As history keeps going forward and the years keep passing us, people start appreciating what the president actually accomplished. If you look at his record both on the domestic side and on the foreign policy side, there were quite a list of accomplishments. On the foreign policy side, the president had brought about the end of the Soviet Union, in terms of bringing it to a soft landing without a shot being fired. . .""The Bush I know I would describe as personal, self-effacing, considerate, honest, and hard-working. . ."
