The First 30 Days of the George W. Bush Presidency

Setting priorities for his first term in 1933 was easy for President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He had to save America from economic ruin. He had to at least begin to pull us out of our Great Depression. He did it, and he did it during what has now become known as his First Hundred Days† in office. On his first day in office, March 4, 1933, FDR called Congress into a special session. He then proceeded to drive a series of bills through the legislative process that reformed the U.S. banking industry, saved American agriculture and allowed for industrial recovery. At the same time, FDR wielded the executive order in creating the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Public Works Administration, and the Tennessee Valley Authority. These projects put tens of thousands of Americans back to work building dams, bridges, highways and much needed public utility systems. By the time Congress adjourned the special session on June 16, 1933, Roosevelts agenda, the New Deal, was in place. America, though still staggering, was off the mat and back in the fight. Indeed, the successes of Roosevelt’s First 100 Days gave credence to the so-called â€Å"stewardship theory† of the presidency, which contends that the President of the United States has the right, if not the duty, to do whatever best addresses the needs of the American people, within the limits of the Constitution and the law. Not all of the New Deal worked and it took World War II to finally solidify the nations economy. Yet, to this day, Americans still grade the initial performance of all new presidents against Franklin D. Roosevelts First Hundred Days. During their first hundred days, all new Presidents of the United States try to harness the carryover energy of a successful campaign by at least starting to implement the main programs and promises coming from the primaries and debates. The So-Called Honeymoon Period During some part of their first hundred days, Congress,  the press, and some of the American people generally allow new presidents a honeymoon period, during which public criticism is held to a minimum. It is during this totally unofficial and typically fleeting grace period that new presidents often try to get bills through Congress that might face more opposition later in the term. The First Thirty-or-so of the First Hundred Days of George W. Bush Following his inauguration on January 20, 2001, President George W. Bush spent the first one-third of his First 100 Days by: Getting himself and his successors  a raise in presidential salary -- to $400,000 a year -- as approved by Congress in the closing days of its last session;Reinstating  the Mexico City policy denying US aid to countries that advocate abortion as a method of family planning;Introducing  a $1.6 trillion tax cutting program to Congress;Launching  a Faith-Based Initiative to help local charitable groups;Launching  a New Freedom Initiative to help disabled Americans;Filling out  his Cabinet including the controversial appointment of John Ashcroft as Attorney General;Welcoming a pistol firing visitor to the White House;Launching renewed air strikes against expanding Iraqi air defense systems.Taking  on big labor unions in government contracting; andFinding  out that an FBI agent may have spent years spying for Russia. So, while there were no depression-busting New Deals or industry-saving reforms, the first 30 days of the presidency of George W. Bush was far from uneventful. Of course, history will show that most of the rest of his 8 years in office would be dominated by dealing with the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terror attack a mere 9 month after his inauguration.