September, 2007
An Inside Look at the White House
Matt Dean
This summer I had the opportunity of a lifetime in that I was able to spend three months in Washington, DC as a White House intern. I had the unbelievable fortune to work at the White House behind the scenes and see first hand how the executive branch performs its day to day functions. Make no mistake, interns are the bottom of the White House totem pole, but we still get to take part in some fascinating events and have a small hand in the work that goes on in the administration. There is no way to sum up a summer at the White House in one article, but I left my experience with a fresh perspective of this administration that differed greatly from the misconceptions I had at the beginning of my internship.
The most surprising facet of life at the White House was the attitude and mindset of the staff. I entered my experience knowing that the staffers poured their hearts into their jobs and toiled away at outlandish hours in order to make sure their work was done right. Knowing this, I expected many of these devoted employees would feel beaten down and exasperated at the hands of the bleak media coverage and poor poll numbers that have come with the war in Iraq.
I most certainly did not expect the upbeat outlook that I saw when I got there. Everyone was extremely pleasant; many remarked that this was the most encouraging environment in which they had ever worked. The staff, both senior and entry level, had a great sense of humor—Karl Rove compared his public perception as something akin to Grendel in Beowulf; the President jokingly chided himself for being unable to speak English properly. My office was full of bright and optimistic staff who loved the work they were doing for this President.
It didn’t take long to understand the unifying factor behind this attitude that permeated the White House walls. It was nothing more than a collective vision. The staff members were able to see their jobs in a larger context, and absolutely refused to get caught in the trap of short-term politics and nearsighted thinking that seems to swallow so many in Washington. The White House staff is upbeat because they believe in what they’re doing and, much like the President, are firm in their convictions.
We all know the utter and shameless disdain liberals have for this President, but many conservatives have joined in the choir of criticism towards Bush in his second term. Some have been frustrated by his recent stances and policies, namely on immigration and the management of the war. Some believe that he has not performed up to the expectations he set out in his reelection campaign and has had a disappointing second term.
I don’t always agree with the President, but I must say that it is refreshing to see someone in Washington who stands by his convictions and fights for what he believes in, regardless of what either political party might have to say about it. Republicans can gripe, but the reason they loved Bush is the same reason that some now are starting to turn on him: he is a man set in his convictions and unwavering in the face of having to make unpopular decisions.
President Bush often references the fact that books are still being released that chronicle the life and presidency of George Washington. He stresses that since historians have yet to fully measure the impact of our first President, he has little to worry about in the way of opinion polls and op-ed pieces. It was truly inspiring to see that this President has the vision and conviction that so many politicians—our so-called “leaders”—and citizens in this country lack.
It is truly comical to see how liberals point to polls as a reason to why we should begin getting our troops out of Iraq. A recent study showed that only 3% of women and 14% of American men claimed to be well versed in global politics. Somehow it escapes mention that more than 85% of the people who are polled about the war have no idea what they’re talking about. I guess that fact just doesn’t fit very nicely in the talking points.
It’s regrettable, but the simplistic opinion of a large number of Americans can be summed up as war=bad, peace=good. Unfortunately life isn’t always quite that simple. I long for a world where warfare is unnecessary, but we don’t live in that world and we never will. There is no such thing as peace in a world where evil exists as it is always plotting ways to attack and kill the good.
The truth is that war is unpopular, but we knew what we were getting involved in when we decided to finally fight back in this war against islamo-facism. The President has said since the initial phases of the war in Afghanistan that our war with terror was sure to be a long and costly struggle, but apparently the left didn’t really think he was serious. Now they continue to call for our retreat from Iraq, all the while refusing to offer any serious plan to fight the fundamentalists who have been attacking America for decades. I guess the belief is that if we run away from Iraq, the problem of Islamic terrorists will disappear and the world will have a newfound respect for American foreign policy.
It is just this type of simplistic, illogical and reactionary thinking that so many politicians rely on to make their decisions. They want the short-term fix that will resonate with voters and refuse to look beyond the 2 or 6 year voting cycle. It’s this thought process that has the left rooting for our defeat in Iraq. If we lose in Iraq, Bush takes the blame and Democrats will—in their estimation—reap the glory and sweep into power.
It was heartening to see the President continue to stand his ground throughout the summer, even as Republican support on various issues began to chip away. I wasn’t encouraged because I always agreed with what he had to say or the policies he was promoting, but because our President had the courage to stand up for his ideas and beliefs.
I will not always agree with every decision made by the Bush administration, but it gives me great comfort to know that we have a President who will always defend his core convictions, even if it involves making hard decisions and going against the most recent popularity poll. I left my White House experience with a new appreciation of the job that President Bush is doing and proud to have been given the chance to serve, in however small a capacity, under his administration.