President Bush and Hurricane Katrina: A Presidential Leadership Study

Richard T. Sylves
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Richard T. Sylves: Center for Energy and Environmental Policy, University of Delaware

The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2006, vol. 604, issue 1, 26-56

Abstract: Hurricane Katrina raised many concerns about presidential management of megadisasters. President George W. Bush has been criticized, and has personally accepted blame, for the failures and shortcomings of governmental response to this disaster. This work draws from government documents and public affairs information to analyze the facts of the event, the policies and organizational alignments in place before the disaster, and the president’s performance. This study concludes that how presidents lead, manage federal officials, cope with the news media, address federal-state relations, set the boundaries of civil-military relations, define their policy agendas, and choose political appointees for responsible posts all contribute to their ability, or inability, to address the demands imposed by disasters and catastrophes. In some respects, political, policy, and managerial decisions made by the president and his administration before the disaster seriously impeded the federal government’s ability to mitigate, prepare for, and respond to the catastrophe.

Keywords: presidential disaster declarations; catastrophes; incidents of national significance; Hurricane Katrina; Hurricane Wilma; civil-military relations; presidency studies; disaster response; disaster preparedness; national security (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:anname:v:604:y:2006:i:1:p:26-56

DOI: 10.1177/0002716205286066

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