Bush Is the One

Three months before 9/11, George W. Bush faced one of the toughest decisions of his presidency: Should he honor his campaign promise to block federal funding for stem-cell research? On one side of the controversy were the united forces of business, medicine, the Democratic party, and even much of the Republican party. On the other side was only President Bush’s word—and his conscience. I remember the struggle. I was there. I remember how the White House staff worked to devise formulas that would allow the president to escape his commitment without disavowing it. I even devised one myself.

But in the end, the president rejected all of these escape routes. Yes, he found a compromise—but it was a compromise that upheld his core principles. He would allow federal funding on those stem-cell lines that already existed—that is, he would allow American scientists to continue making use of those human embryos whose humanity had already been extinguished. Beyond that, however, he would not go. On his watch, no more federal money would go to pay for experiments premised on the destruction of potential human beings. President Bush took a huge political risk. He took it with his eyes wide open to the likely cost. He took it because he believed it was the right thing to do.

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David Frum

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George W. Bush

Republican Party

Three months before 9/11, George W. Bush faced one of the toughest decisions of his presidency: Should he honor his campaign promise to block federal funding for stem-cell research? On one side of the controversy were the united forces of business, medicine, the Democratic party, and even much of the Republican party. On the other side was only President Bush’s word—and his conscience. I remember the struggle. I was there. I remember how the White House staff worked to devise formulas that would allow the president to escape his commitment without disavowing it. I even devised one myself.

But in the end, the president rejected all of these escape routes. Yes, he found a compromise—but it was a compromise that upheld his core principles. He would allow federal funding on those stem-cell lines that already existed—that is, he would allow American scientists to continue making use of those human embryos whose humanity had already been extinguished. Beyond that, however, he would not go. On his watch, no more federal money would go to pay for experiments premised on the destruction of potential human beings. President Bush took a huge political risk. He took it with his eyes wide open to the likely cost. He took it because he believed it was the right thing to do.