Sam Donaldson Reflects on Media Environment for Bush 41 vs Now: ‘He Understood What We Were About’
Appearing on Reliable Sources on Sunday, veteran journalist Sam Donaldson argued that reporters and the mainstream press haven’t “swooned” over a president since the days of John F. Kennedy.
Host Brian Stelter noted, as the clip above opens, that the media environment when the late George H. W. Bush was president was very different, saying it was before the internet and before Fox News. He specifically mentioned FNC, not other cable news networks or any related leg-thrills.
“Well, for presidents, of course, they had to deal with the three networks, they had to deal with the newspapers, the wire services,” said Donaldson. “But that was it, there wasn’t anybody else there. So the press corps was undoubtedly smaller.”
“And, you know, the Washington press corps has not swooned over a president since John F. Kennedy, but in the case of George H.W. Bush, it was above the line,” he continued. “He was accessible, as you said, and he also understood our job. I never heard of him calling a reporter to chew him out, never being angry at a reporter. As Charles said, of course, presidents don’t like everything they read or see, but he understood what we were about.”
Donaldson may have his own definition of swoon, but there is certainly a case to make that the press was more amenable to President Barack Obama than any president since — and indeed they often compared the two men — and even that they were easier on Bill Clinton, subject of many sex scandals, than on George W. Bush, whom they even brought doctored evidence against.
Still, Donaldson’s overall point differed in tenor from the shot at Fox News or even the missed swooning, in that he was suggesting a more adult relationship between the press corps and the White House altogether. In remarking on the lack of swoon, Donaldson is suggesting that they weren’t being overly fond with Bush Sr., but that nevertheless they weren’t hysterically critical either. And likewise the reverse. He compared Bush press secretary Marlin Fitzwater to Trump’s in Sarah Sanders.
“[President Bush] also had a press secretary, in Marlin Fitzwater, who did a great job for him. Marlin would come out to the press room, knowing that he had to shuck and jive and slide around, but he didn’t try to insult reporters. He knew that we knew that he was going to shuck and jive, that was his job, and that we weren’t going to be taken seriously and say, well, why don’t you believe it,” said Donaldson. “And I wonder if that would work today with Sarah Sanders, if she could come out and say, you know, I’m going to lie to you, but I have to do that. Don’t you understand? It’s nothing personal.”
The other side to that point, which did not come up in the CNN discussion, is the relative maturity of the reporters who were in the corps. Note that he said the reporters knew “that was his job” about Fitzwater. That is certainly not the professional demeanor taken by, as a random example, Jim Acosta when he questions Press Secretary Sanders.
The point Donaldson makes, that the situation was better then even if equally adversarial, is a fair point. For those of us old enough to remember it first-hand, it was not just better, it was more productive. And the fault lies, Donaldson is clearly suggesting, with both sides of the lectern.
Many media will want Trump’s team to hear this panel’s point of view on how to treat the press. But will they be as enthusiastic in hearing about how the press should treat an administration?
Watch the clip above, courtesy of CNN.
[Featured image via screengrab]
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