Bush sources say the president was particularly unhappy over statements by Sununu about the administration’s position on capital-gains taxes, which led to a rash of news stories about a presidential flip-flop–always a sore spot with Bush.
Senior administration officials say that First Lady Barbara Bush has also complained about “sloppy” staff work in the West Wing. Mrs. Bush was “furious,” the sources say, over the administration’s announcement last year that college scholarships earmarked for minorities are unconstitutional. She thought it made Bush appear to be a racist.
“The president doesn’t do a lot of yelling and screaming,” says a Bush confidant. “But John was reminded in very clear terms who was president and who was not.” How did the thin-skinned Sununu react? “Very deferentially.”
