George W. Bush was the president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. During his term, the severe partisan polarization that began under his predecessor, Bill Clinton, continued to worsen. Moreover, after the 9/11 attacks, Bush rapidly pushed through a series of policies restricting civil liberties, which, according to the authors, shows how leaders can take advantage of crises to amass power and weaken democracy.
Get the entire How Democracies Die LitChart as a printable PDF.
George W. Bush Character Timeline in How Democracies Die
The timeline below shows where the character George W. Bush appears in How Democracies Die. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4: Subverting Democracy
...“rally ‘round the flag.” This happened in the U.S. after 9/11, when President George W. Bush became incredibly popular and started restricting civil liberties. In crises, the public tends to tolerate...
(full context)
Chapter 7: The Unraveling
Even though President George W. Bush promised unity and bipartisanship, polarization only increased during his term. He moved further to the...
(full context)
Mutual toleration also broke down during the Bush administration. After 9/11, conservative media commentators like Ann Coulter accused Democrats of treason and anti-Americanism....
(full context)
Chapter 8: Trump Against the Guardrails
...Erdoğan all used crises to their advantage. Pro-democracy leaders like Abraham Lincoln and George W. Bush have, too, but only through forbearance—which Trump seems uninterested in exercising. Levitsky and Ziblatt argue...
(full context)
