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Professor can comment on information spin in book by Bush former press secretary
A new book by Scott McClellan, who served as press secretary for President Bush from July 2003 to April 2006, reportedly criticizes the administration’s handling of communications regarding the war in Iraq and Hurricane Katrina. Excerpts from “What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception” released on Tuesday (May 27) indicated the White House was busy trying to spin information when it should have been relaying important information in a truthful matter. The book, which the White House has dismissed as the work of a disgruntled former employee, will go on sale June 2. Dr. Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha, assistant professor of political science at the University of North Texas, says McClellan may have waited until now to make his allegations about the Bush administration because all recent presidential administrations have been engaged in a “permanent campaign” in which the administration’s message and its clarity is vital to presidential leadership and policy success. Therefore, McClellan had to set aside his personal views when he was press secretary, instead of speaking up and disagreeing with Bush, he says. “The press secretary, as representative of the president and the president’s views, provides access to those views without the president having to devote his limited time to giving members of the media what they want: answers to their questions about the presidency,” he says. “Certainly, the administration has an obligation to tell the truth. But there are gray areas — times when the president feels compelled to lie, mislead, or tell the truth. All administrations stretch the truth, withhold information or even lie to some extent. Perhaps there are ‘lies’ that are more consequential than others.” Eshbaugh-Soha is the author of “The President’s Speeches: Beyond ‘Going Public,” which explores the impact of the president’s signals on the adoption and implementation of public policy. He teaches a course on the presidency and researches presidential television addresses and other presidential speeches. He notes that McClellan’s opinions about the Bush administration that are stated in his book may not have been the same views that he held when he was serving as press secretary, adding that he does not accuse the administration of outright “lying” in selling of the war in Iraq. “Perhaps, like many of those in government and many of the American people, his view of the Iraq war has changed as more information has been brought forth,” Eshbaugh-Soha says. “Much of McClellan’s observations about the president are very consistent with other past White House officials who have written books on their time in the Bush administration.” Eshbaugh-Soha says the limited data on the administration suggests that the administration “spent more time on message than it spent debating the complexities and difficulties of public policy.” “Whether it was a ‘lie’ or not depends on our own unique views of this reality,” he says, adding that whether or not a ‘lie’ given by a presidential administration is acceptable or not to the American people “really depends on the severity of the lie, its impact on American democracy and, ultimately, an individual’s predisposition.” “Democrats were more willing to downplay President Clinton’s ‘lie’ about ‘not having sexual relations with that woman…Ms. Lewinsky’ than were Republicans,” he says. “If we are inclined to trust government, we are more likely to take what we hear as truth, so the foundation of trust between the press secretary and the press is vital.” Once the press question the veracity of the press secretary, then the press secretary can no longer function and must be replaced, he says, noting that McClellan was forced to resign after he denied allegations that White House senior aides Karl Rove and Scooter Libby were involved in revealing the identity of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame. Eshbaugh-Soha may be reached at his office at (940) 565-2329 or at mes@unt.edu.
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