INTRODUCTION

 

            During the 2000 Election campaign, much attention was drawn to candidate George W. Bush’s aggressive use of the death penalty while Governor of Texas. To some, his tough on crime platform proved his commitment to law and order in American society. To others, the high rate of Texas executions suggested that the Governor’s “compassionate conservatism” was rhetoric and not reality. A debate ensued which was followed closely by the press. It appeared that the death penalty might even prove to be a campaign issue.

            But that was not to be. Neither Gov. Bush nor Vice-President Gore wanted to talk about capital punishment during the 2000 election season. For Gov. Bush, excessive discussion of the many inmates he had executed might interfere with his carefully cultivated “likability.” For Vice-President Gore, any criticism of Gov. Bush’s stewardship of capital punishment might make the Vice-President look soft on crime. And so, with the tacit agreement of both candidates, state-sponsored execution was swept under the rug as a campaign issue. Because the candidates refused to talk about it much, the media soon stopped talking about it much.

            For these reasons, a complete picture of the death penalty in Texas under Gov. Bush never emerged. Capital punishment remained a minor theme in American cultural debate during the first year of his Presidency as more and more factually innocent inmates were released from death row. Various moratoria on the death penalty were pursued, celebrities rushed to the cause, lobbyists pressed the issue, and it appeared that state-sponsored execution would once again gain prominence in the media.

            Then the events of September 11^th, 2001 seared the American consciousness. Understandably, Americans became more concerned with their own personal safety (and that of their families) than with the possibility of their government executing an innocent person. Security measures at the airport and ball game became more important than safeguards in the capital punishment system. Death penalty opponents circulated their petitions and constructed their websites, but nobody talked much about capital punishment anymore.

            What people did talk about a lot was President George W. Bush, whose aggressive leadership after 9/11 rivaled his aggressive use of the death penalty as Governor of Texas. To some he was saving the nation from evildoers, while to others he was recklessly alienating America from its allies and embarking on a dangerous course of imperialism. Rightfully concerned with America’s geopolitical future, the media and populace forgot about George W. Bush’s Texas death penalty.

            Which may have been a mistake. For in Governor Bush’s death penalty there is a precedent for President Bush’s “war on terrorism,” and his presidency in general. They were the product of the same world view, the same sense of certainty, the same confidence in the “rightness” of the course of action chosen. Effectively, Gov. Bush’s death penalty serves as a predictor of his presidential policies. What was a solitary issue in Texas provides insight into multiple issues that George W. Bush has addressed as President of our country.

            The purpose of this book is to present a sober and thorough account of the Texas death penalty under Governor George W. Bush. Hopefully, through this history Americans might come to understand our leading conservative and his policies a little better.