Use the Broad Base to Champion Policy

Bush aimed to translate his electoral success into a two-pronged policy strategy. First, on the international front, he carried over popular support for his war on terrorism into a campaign to disarm Iraq’s Saddam Hussein. Second, on the domestic front, he worked to cement his first-year tax cut into an enduring economic stimulus plan. Together, the two elements would become the strategy for his reelection bid, a combination of policy decisions and political tactics that he believed would secure his reelection and his legacy.