15 大器晚成的小布什(doc)
14 The Late-Blooming George W.Bush Jr. The late-blooming1 Bush was a failure at 40. But he changed his life and is now the President of the United States. Here's how he did it. 大器晚成的小布什在40岁时还是一个失败者，但是他改变了他的生活，并且现在是美 国的总统。这里讲述他是如何做到的。 (绿色为编者话，因为注释，所为保留) Since George W. Bush joined the U.S. presidential race officially in June, 1999, he has been drawing large crowds and media coverage. The world certainly knows from whence2. Bush sprang3 biologically4. Few could miss the features of George Sr. in the son's face, and his personality is frequently compared with mother Barbara's. But the trajectory5 of his political career is less familiar. When George Bush Sr. last ran for president in 1992, his eldest son had yet to hold elected office. Seven years later, after only four years as Governor of Texas, George W. is trying to become the first second-generation American president in history. The story about Bush began officially in 1973. In that year, after being rejected by the University of Texas Law School, he applied to Harvard Business School and was accepted. Master's degree in hand, he headed for6 a buddy's7 ranch8 in Tacson and stopped to visit friends in Midland. There he met one old pal9 who was getting into oil. “ It occurred to me that Midland was the place I needed to go,” Bush says. “ There was excitement in the air.” He decided to be an independent oilman.Rich friends of his father backed10 his business ventures11. They also backed him when he decided to run for Congress in 1977 (after only two years in town). However, the decision of Bush to plunge into politics violated12 a basic family tenet13: First make your mark and your fortune, then run for office. Finally, Bush lost, 47％ to 53％ . Bush had also surprised friends by courting and marrying--in just 3 months--a librarian named Laura Welch, who was as reserved14 and knowing15 as he was brash16 and noisy17. 　　After he lost in the election, Bush went back into the oil. He started building his own company, Arbusto (Spanish for Bush). “ The politician was in him,” says his former working partner. “ He was a great promoter18 and money raiser.” Bush also possesses a Clintonian ability to remember names of countless people he was met only briefly. In 1986, Bush was about to turn 40. This year was also the worst of Midland. Oil prices were crashing19. Independent oilmen like Bush were going under every day. Bush's company was also facing the death. He would either have to sell out or shut down20. Bush of that time became very restless and bored. He had other issues as well. Booze21 was one. His wife and friends all tried to persuade him to quit. Soon after, he became clear he couldn't go on like that. So he decided to quit. He said nothing --at first, not even to Laura. It wasn't until they got home that he told her he was to quit. “ He just said, ‘ I'm going to quit,’ and he did it,” Laura remembers.“ We joked about it later, saying he got the bar bill and that's why.” Another reason which prompted him to give it up was that he didn't want to do anything to embarrass his father. George Sr. was then preparing to run for President.His friends and family all said he became less edgy22,less angry. “ George was already disciplined23 in a lot of ways except for drinking,” says Laura, “ And when he was able to stop, that gave him a lot of confidence and made him feel better about himself.” Bush also acknowledges that 1986 was a watershed24 year in his life. “ A year of change, when I look back on it.” He says. Later Bush gave up oil and came to Washington to help his father. 　　In his father's presidential race in 1988, Bush Jr. became his father's aid. This was the first time the two had worked together closely as adults, and Big George came to appreciate his son's political instincts. When George Bush won the election, his eldest son returned to Texas, a move that shocked Washington careerists25. But Junior had something also in mind. He was thinking hard about running for Governor of Texas. Texas is a big media state. Name identification is important. And Bush had got it. But he needed an accomplishment that belonged to his own. He didn't want anyone to say “ he is riding on26 Daddy's name.” So he bought a baseball team titled “ Texas Rangers” . He gave speeches across Texas in support of the team. His down-home27 style was always on display. He hated to ride in limo28, even someone else's, and the Bushes lived in a modest brick house. Their only luxury was private school for their twin daughters, Barbara and Tenna. He dressed as indifferent as ever, in cheap suits and boots emblazoned29 with the flag of Texas. At the Rangers office, he insisted on wearing a pair of shoes with a large hole in them. 　　Someone said that Bush's political base was built on twin platforms30: his Rangers celebrity and the prodigious31 campaigning he had done for his father throughout Texas in 1980, 1984, 1988 and 1992. In 1992, after his father lost in his presidential re-election, Bush began to run for Governor of Texas. He traveled across the state, applying the lessons he'd learned from his parents: trust your instincts, be down-home, enforce discipline and walked all the way into the state house. And now, he's in the Big House in Washington. He's working harder on his aim. 大器晚成的小布什 自从乔治·W·布什于1999年6月正式参加美国总统竞选以来，他便一直吸引着大批民众 和传媒的报道。世人当然了解小布什的血缘身世。没有人会看不出老布什留在儿子脸上 的特征。也有人不断地把他的个性与他母亲芭芭拉的相比较。但小布什政治生涯的轨迹 与他父母的就不那么相似了。当老乔治·布什在1992年最后一次竞选总统时，他的大儿子 还没有公职哩。7年后，在仅仅当了4年得克萨斯州州长之后，乔治·W已在尝试成为美国 历史上首位“第二代总统”了。 　　关于小布什的故事正式开始于1973年。那一年在他申请上得克萨斯大学法学院遭到 拒绝后，他又申请了哈佛商学院，结果他被录取了。取得硕士学位后，他准备去塔克森 的一个好友的农场，中途他去了米德兰看望朋友。在那儿他遇见了一个正从事石油业的 老友。布什说：“我突然发觉米德兰是我需要去的地方。那儿的空气充满了激情。”他决 心成为一个独立的石油商。他父亲的富翁朋友们支持了他的商业投入。当小布什于1977 年(他到该地仅两年时间)决定竞选州议会议员时，他们也支持了他。不过小布什这个进 入政坛的决定，却违背了他们家族的基本信条：先成名立业，后竞选公职。最后小布什 输了，结果是47％对53％。布什做的另一件使他的朋友们感到吃惊的事，是他在仅仅3个 月内就向一个叫劳拉·韦尔奇的图书馆管理员求婚并结了婚。与小布什的急脾气和爱嚷嚷 的性格不同，劳拉则较为矜持而达理。” 　　竞选失败后，布什又回到了石油业。他开始成立他自己的公司——阿巴斯图(西班牙语 “布什”的意思)。他的一位前合作伙伴说：“小布什很有政治家的潜质，同时他也是一个 了不起的筹办者和筹款人。”小布什还具备一种克林顿式的才能——他能记住无数以前只匆 匆见过面的人的名字。1986年，小布什将满40岁。这一年也是米德兰最糟的一年。油价 暴跌，每天都有像布什这样的独立石油商破产。布什的公司也面临着死亡。他要么必须 卖掉公司，要么倒闭。这时的小布什变得很不安和烦闷。他还有其他的问题，酗酒就是 一个。他的妻子和朋友都劝他戒酒。不久之后，他清楚他不能这样继续下去了。他决心 戒掉。开始他什么也没说，甚至对劳拉也没有说，直到回家他才告诉她他将戒酒了。劳 拉回忆说：“他只说‘我准备戒掉了’，而且他做到了。事后我们开玩笑说，他收到了酒吧 帐单，那才是戒酒的真正原因。”促使他戒酒的另一个原因是，他不想做任何会使他父亲 难堪的事。那时老布什正准备竞选总统。小布什的朋友和家人都说，他变得不像以前那 么急躁和易怒了。劳拉说：“除了喝酒，乔治在其他许多方面已经很自律了。当他戒掉酒 后，这给了他很多信心，使他对自己感觉良好了。”小布什也承认1986年是他生命的一个 分水岭。他说：“当我回头再看时，那确实是悔改的一年。”后来小布什放弃了石油业， 来到华盛顿帮他父亲竞选。 　　1988年在他父亲竞选总统时，小布什成为父亲的助手。这是他们俩人第一次作为成 年人在一起密切合作。于是老布什逐渐欣赏儿子的政治素质。当老布什在大选中获胜后 ，他的大儿子却返回得克萨斯，这一举动使华盛顿的野心家们感到很吃惊，但小布什已 另有打算了。这时他在认真考虑竞选得州州长。得州是一个传媒大州，知名度是很重要 的，而小布什拥有这一点。不过他还需一份属于自己的成就，他不想别人说“他是靠爸爸 的名气”。于是他买下了名为“得克萨斯骑警队”的棒球队。他到得州各处发表演说为该球 队寻求赞助。他不断表现出纯朴的风格。他讨厌坐豪华轿车，即便是别人的也不坐。布 什一家住在一所朴素的砖房里。他们惟一奢侈的就是让他们的双胞胎女儿芭芭拉和坦娜 在一所私立学校就读。小布什的穿着还像以前一样很普通——廉价的西装和印有得州旗帜 的靴子。在“骑警队”的办公室里，他坚持穿着一双已有一个大洞的鞋子。 　　有人说，小布什的政治基础是建立在两个跳板上的：他的“骑警队”的名气和他于19 80年、1984年、1988年和1992年在得州为他父亲所做的大量竞选工作。1992年在他父亲 第二次竞选总统失败后，小布什开始竞选得州州长。他踏遍得州，运用他从父母那里学 到的：相信你的素质、保持淳朴、加强纪律，结果走进了得州的州政大厅。 如今他已身处华盛顿的那座“大厦”。他在更加努力地实现他的志向。 1.late-bloomingadj.开窍晚的 2.whence[ηωενσ]pron.(与from连用)何处，该处 3.spring[σπριΝ]vi.出身，发源 4.biologically[βαιΕ5λΧδ
15 大器晚成的小布什(doc)