Presidents George H. Bush and Barack Obama had different leadership during their presidencies on the gun control issue. The two presidents had different national issues that defined their presidency. President Bush‘s term at the White House focused on economic policies, tax cuts, education policy, and homeland security in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks (Landler & Schmitt, 2011). President Obama focused on healthcare reforms, economic policy, immigration and gun control.
As such, the two presidents had different leadership styles on the issue of gun control. President Bush focused on homeland security in the aftermath of 9/11 and from a Republican Party’s perspective encouraged gun laws to enhance homeland security. As a president who respected the intelligence community, Bush and the Republican legislators wanted all law-abiding citizens to own guns (Landler & Schmitt, 2011). Therefore, Bush’s leadership style on gun control was transactional as he believed that gun ownership was necessary once comprehensive background checks are carried out (Kim, 2013). On his part, President Obama was more pragmatic, convincing, transformational and more diplomatic on the need to have stronger gun control laws in the country (Greenberg, 2017). Obama’s perspective on stricter gun control laws gained public backing with over 55% of Americans indicating their support. Therefore, Presidents Obama and Bush had differing leadership styles on the issue of gun control forming the debate between gun rights and gun control.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The media played a critical role in communicating the different positions of the former presidents Obama and Bush. The media covered their speeches on their positions in the aftermath of gun violence events in the country, especially after school shootings. After the Connecticut school shooting, Obama spoke on the need to have stricter gun control laws (Kim, 2013).
I believe that the two presidents had differing leadership styles that impacted the debate and bills on gun control laws. I believe that Obama’s approach to gun control was more pragmatic, transformative and aimed at protecting many who fall victims to unstable shooters who despite background checks that find them unsuitable to hold guns end up having them.
References
Greenberg, D. (2017) Was Obama a Transformational President? Retrieved from
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/01/barack-obama-president-legacy-transformational-transactional-214672
Kim, C. (2013) A look back at gun control history; Retrieved
from http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/look-back-gun-control-history
Landler, M & Schmitt, E. (2011) Bush and Obama, Shoulder to Shoulder; Retrieved
from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/12/us/12obama.html
