European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 22, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes columns David Hoffman adaptability one of Bush s major strengths Washington on the morning after the nov. 8 presidential election a tired George Bush worked alone in his suite at the houstonian hotel on the draft of his first statement to the nation and the world. He asked no one for help that morning neither speech writers nor aides who had been at his Elbow so Long. He had been the pit Bull of the Campaign ripping away at democratic Nomi Nee Michael s. Dukakis As an irrational Liberal who gave convicted murderers a weekend pass and a ticket to club  but with the election Over Bush set about creating a new Persona. As he wrote his first words As president elect he recast himself As a statesman far removed from the fray of the Campaign that had consumed him Only Days before. He had the greatest respect for his Defeated rival he said. He praised the press corps he had shunned and he promised to heal wounds with the Congress he had attacked. Over the next 10 weeks he sustained and embellished this new George Bush As he soothed his Defeated foes and assembled a Cabinet All with Confidence and a Grace that startled Many of those who had witnessed his Campaign ferocity. Bush seemed to understand and to tailor himself to satisfy the traditional longing for conciliation that follows a tumultuous Campaign. Such has been the metamorphosis of a Public Man. Bush brings to the White House a lifetime of adaptability. It has been one of his most enduring characteristics one that has proven a source of both frustration and strength for him has made him a target of ridicule but has also been one reason for his Success. Even As his roles have changed. As he transformed himself from Loyal subordinate to aggressive campaigner to self confident Leader there has been one constant. Bush devotes his attention solely to the Job at hand then moves on to the next seemingly with no regrets for what has gone before. Do your Best and Don t look Back he wrote in his autobiography about his feelings at the 1980 Republican National convention in Detroit when he thought at first that Ronald Reagan had passed him Over As his running mate. No re Grets no apologizing  Bush passed another Milestone on this Road Friday and according to Many friends and associates it launched what will be the most revealing period of his life. For the first time in eight years he is a free Man. He has been bursting with Zeal for his new role. When he bid fare Well to Reagan on Friday Bush buried his Persona As Reagan s Loyal lieutenant. Two years ago asked by a reporter whether he would consent to an inter View about which policies of the Reagan Era he had influenced Bush flatly refused insisting that he endorsed everything in Reagan s policy Book. But last year he started to break away first incrementally then with a steady acceleration in the fall Campaign and now full Speed ahead. With out actually declaring himself liberated Bush has veered from Reagan s policies on environmental Protection civil rights and education and he has pledged to Chart a somewhat new direction in social policy and superpower relations. The contrast was starkly evident this week when Bush hailed slain civil rights Leader Martin Luther King or. As a hero and promised his administration will not tolerate racial discrimination while Reagan left office questioning the motives of civil rights leaders. Bush s oldest friends and supporters have embraced the latest Bush Persona As the genuine article. I think what you have in George Bush is a Man who has been a very very disciplined understudy in numerous contexts throughout his Ca reer said Rich Bond a longtime Bush political strategist and Republican consultant. All people Are really seeing is the True Bush who was always there but it was never his time. Now it s his  Bond recalled a dinner eight years ago when Bush announced to a few aides that i be decided How to be vice  he said he had consulted former president Nixon former vice president Walter Mon Dale and others. He said he would define the role by quietly building a discreet Loyal relationship with Reagan. Last summer in the months when Bush seemed hopelessly tied to Reagan s problems and was slipping fur ther behind in the polls Bond was among the political advisers who went to him with a plea to discard this old definition and emerge As his own person. Bush firmly refused despite the Politi Cal risks. The right time to step Forward is at the convention he said according to Bond. I am not going to be stampeded into doing it  other Bush watchers Are less con Vinced that the latest Bush Persona is the definitive Newdel. According to John r. Kessel a political scientist at Ohio state University this is not the first time we be had a metamorphosis of George Bush. He was first a Goldwater Republican and then a Nixon Republican and then a Ford Republican and then a Bush 1980 Republican and then a Reagan re publican. He has moved Back and Forth across the ideological spectrum with some ease. There have been previous transformations. These make it difficult to say who the real George Bush  but he added Bush appears to be More at ease with governing than with campaigning. Consequently once he got the nomination he was somewhat More relaxed. And since the election he has been enormously More  former representative Thomas w Lud Ashley a Ohio a Friend of Bush since their Yale Days said Bush is More at Home with jobs that Are  during the Campaign that was t operational. That was goofy time. Package and sell. He was glad to get out of that. He s much More comfortable in an operational role where he s in control Ashley said. The transformations Ashley added can Only be explained in that Bush is a broader and somewhat More Complex person than most realize. Left to his own devices he is that kind of private Persona witty gracious and interested in the other  but the vice presidency Ashley said produced a different dimension to the Man. And there what we saw was especially in the Early part of the Campaign a person who was uncomfortable not with the Mission but his ability to handle this Broad impersonal Public role that he thrust on  still imprisoned by the vice presidency Bush spent the Early part of his presidential Campaign struggling to rid himself of the image of weakness and to find a distinct message for voters. His acceptance speech at the convention kick started another transformation. Bush then did what he had to do to win including the slashing attacks that seemed so out of character to some of his friends. But there was no hint that Bush disliked the role on the contrary he often showed signs of relishing it. At the end he insisted he had no regrets about the Way he ran. Asked about the Campaign last week by Barbara Walters of Abc news Bush now transformed brushed it off. That s history he said. That does t mean anything any  c Washington Post