The underestimated politician

Bush takes on an incumbent politician and makes his mark in the family business

This is a text adaptation of CNN's Special Report, "Living the Bush Legacy," which aired Sunday, October 29 at 10 p.m. EDT.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- "Read my lips. No new taxes!" were perhaps the most memorable words President George Bush ever spoke. But it was a promise he could not keep, and another political lesson for his son.

The same summer, the Democratic governor of Texas gave the keynote address at her party's convention and spoke perhaps her most memorable line ever -- at then Vice President Bush's expense.

"Poor George. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth," said Gov. Ann Richards.

It was memorable for the whole family, but especially to Barbara Bush. She called Ann Richards' rhetoric ugly and turned off the TV.

In 1992, when President George Bush lost the White House, it was devastating to the family. Two years later, George W. Bush would run for governor against Ann Richards.

To beat Richards would be especially satisfying. With a nearly $15 million stake in the Texas Rangers, in this campaign Bush would run, he said, as a successful businessman who understood Texas.

Whether he was coasting on his father's name became an issue.

"All the time, the press corps is coming into our state and saying it's given [me] an amazing advantage to be related to George H.W. Bush," said George W. Bush at the time. "I said, listen, I inherited 100 percent of his enemies and one half of his friends."

Ann Richards questioned, "Where is this guy coming from?"

He vowed to be respectful of Richards. She couldn't help being contemptuous in return.

"'I'm qualified to be governor because I am a successful businessman.' Well! Served on five boards and every single business lost money," said Richards.

Richards called him Junior, or Prince George. But he proved to be a better politician than she thought.

He was asked, of course, about his reckless youth. Did he use illegal drugs? Answer: "Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. What's the relevance?" The issue never found footing.

His mother and father mostly stayed away, except for the occasional fundraiser. With his father's help, Bush raised more money than any candidate for any office in Texas history.

"I'll never forget when I first got started," said Bush in a speech. "I could see it in Texans' eyes: 'Nice mother. Interesting job. No chance.'"

Besides money and family and network, he had a message and he stuck to it.

"Texans understand that I know that each and every Texan must be held accountable for his or her behavior," said Bush during the campaign.

It was a four-point program: education, juvenile justice, tort reform and welfare reform. Four points, simple and direct, over and over again - like Ronald Reagan, many said.

"Texans know what I know, that local control is the best way to run our cities," said Bush during the campaign.

Other items on the Bush agenda passed the conservative litmus test: making it legal to carry concealed weapons, support for sodomy laws and strong support for the death penalty.

Bush beat Richards in convincing fashion. The new governor knew that to succeed in Texas, he would have to reach across the aisle, to Democrats. Democrats controlled the legislature.

"Our task is to serve the great people of Texas," said Bush, "to serve them well, constantly and unstintingly. Together we will do just that."

On education, the main goal was accountability, meaning no more social promotions and periodic standardized tests -- with schools and teachers held responsible to get results, or else. The governor went directly to the Democrat who was leading the education reform effort.

"He met with me on a weekly basis, and we talked in detail on the various areas of the code and the major issues in the code," says Paul Sadler, the Democratic state legislator fronting the education crusade.

Although Bush was actively engaged in the issue, critics and supporters agree that much of the groundwork for education reform had been done in the legislature long before he became governor.

"Most of the reform would have occurred regardless of who was elected governor," says Sadler. "It didn't matter if George Bush was elected governor or not. The changes were going to be made."

"To say that 100 percent of everything that we're doing with education came in with him is not true," says Texas Republican State Sen. David Sibley. "...You put pieces of the puzzle together. And then, hopefully, it works. And you have something that will do well. And I think that's what he did. He brought it all together."

Whoever deserves the credit, education reform in Texas has made an impact. Scores on state standardized tests are up, especially for minority students. There is still more to be done, however. SAT scores are flat and the state's dropout rate remains high.

Another major development in Texas under Bush was welfare reform.

"The present welfare system rewards illegitimacy, diminishes the motivation to work and robs Texans of dignity," said Bush in a speech to the legislature.

He signed welfare reform into law, including time limits and work requirements. With the help of jobs produced in the strong economy, welfare rolls in Texas have been cut nearly in half.

Juvenile justice reform was another of his campaign promises. At the heart of his program: tough love.

"Before I became governor, I didn't think the state was sending the right message to guys like your age who broke the law," said Bush to a roomful of young inmates. "...The message now is you're responsible for what you do."

The legislature agreed, passing longer, tougher sentences for juveniles, tripling the prison capacity and more than doubling the money to run the system. Juvenile crime is down in Texas, and violent juvenile crime is down sharply.

Also on Bush's first-term agenda: tort reform, or cutting the number of civil lawsuits.

"Texas must end the frivolous and junk lawsuits which clog our courts," said Bush. Texas, he said, had more million-dollar legal verdicts than the rest of the United States combined. Businesses across the board were being hurt. The governor personally lobbied legislators to support his crusade.

"He is a natural as a politician," says Democratic state legislator Steve Wolens. "What he can do with a shake of a hand or a squeeze of the arm or a pat on the back, other politicians just are not able to do that. ... And he will get out and plow the field for votes."

The work paid off. The reforms set limits on punitive damages and made it harder to sue, helping insulate businesses from liability. Bush said he stood up to the trial lawyers; critics say he stood up for those who gave generously to his campaign.

"Tort reform, this is where Bush thumps himself on the chest and says, 'Look here, I took on the special interests in Texas,'" says populist political commentator Jim Hightower. "Well, he didn't take on the corporate interests. He served their interests by trying to take away the rights of 'we the people' to be able to sue a corporation when that corporation does us harm. And so he and the corporate lobby have worked in the legislature successfully to take that right away from 'we the people.'"

Bush kept his four campaign promises during his first term. After only three years in public office, he had to discourage talk that he might run for president - until he won re-election in 1998 with 68 percent of the vote. Then, the talk of president could not be stopped.