Like Father, Like Son: Testing the Bush I-Bush II Comparison Predictions

Abstract

Professor Carpenter challenges the conventional wisdom that George W. Bush must avoid the fate of his father by focusing on the economy. He argues that the economic picture was quite different for father and son, such as dissimilar rates of change in unemployment and inflation during their tenures in office. More importantly, economic approval ratings fail to predict accurately their overall approval ratings. In contrast to the conventional wisdom, Carpenter’s analysis shows that perceptions of foreign policy leadership appear to be more important in predicting approval for both presidencies. And even though the combination of economic and foreign approval ratings appear to drive Bush II’s performance ratings overall, these played a rather insignificant role for Bush I.

Recommended Citation

Carpenter, Dick (2004) "Like Father, Like Son: Testing the Bush I-Bush II Comparison Predictions," The Forum: Vol. 2 : Iss. 1, Article 5.
DOI: 10.2202/1540-8884.1028
Available at: http://www.bepress.com/forum/vol2/iss1/art5