In thinly veiled comments in his resignation letter, Sununu made it clear that he felt betrayed because, in many ways, he was doing exactly what Bush had hired him to do.; The departing chief of staff was also obliquely reminding the president that this was not a matter of principle, but of ratings; his bullying tactics had been fine as long as the opinion polls did not go down.; "I assure you that in pit bull mode or pussycat mode (your choice, as always), I am ready to help," Sununu wrote.; His reference was sardonic. He had called himself "a pussycat" and kept a plush cat on top of the bookcase in his large West Wing office. But, at close range, it was clear that the toy animal was really a tiger, and that is exactly how Sununu saw himself.; As he stated his credo in his first month in Washington: "I don't care if people hate me, as long as they hate me for the right reasons."; Bush and Sununu formed a close bond during the 1988 campaign, in the snows of New Hampshire, when Bush saw his presidential dream slipping away after a humiliating showing in Iowa.; "Whatever they did in Iowa, they will not reject George Bush in New Hampshire," Sununu vowed, as he dragged Bush down from his elite perch to start what he called a "see me, touch me, feel me" campaign. He encouraged Bush to ride a snow plow and wander around a snow-bound Nashua, shaking hands and offering to help skeptical motorists dig out their cars.; On the surface, they seemed like an odd couple -- one tall, slim and patrician, the other short, pudgy and ethnic; one well-groomed, the other often slightly disheveled, with his shirt hanging out; one polite and conciliatory, the other rude and contentious.; But on matters of politics, George Bush and John Sununu were not so oddly matched. Sununu embodied the barbed-wire side of Bush's politics; in many critical ways, he was an accurate reflection of the way Bush believed things should work.; During the 1988 campaign, Bush conceded in interviews that he had to do some of the dirty work in attacking Dukakis; his alternating nice and nasty faces came to be known as "George the Gentle" and "George the Ripper."; But as president, Bush preferred to farm out to aides the duties of bully and gunslinger.; By making the abrasive former governor of New Hampshire his chief of staff, Bush hoped that he could keep a certain balance of rough and smooth in his governing and in his politics.; In the many times over the past three years when Sununu helped land the president in the political soup, the Washington political cognoscenti speculated that Bush was keeping his chief of staff only out of loyalty to Sununu for helping him win the New Hampshire primary, or because Bush was too nice to fire anyone, or because he was too indecisive.; The truth is more complicated, and Sununu put his finger on it Tuesday. While Sununu's lack of political skill in dealing with political Washington eventually cost him his job, and while his fatal flaw may have been in believing that he was smarter than George Bush, the chief of staff was -- often in an inept way -- trying to fulfill the mandate he had been given by his boss.; Sununu was not proclaimed a failure from the start. Indeed, in a May 1990 cover story called "Big Bad John Sununu," Time magazine said: "Sununu has emerged as Bush's most inspired choice for any senior post. His brisk certainty and willingness to take bold stands complement his risk-averse boss."; But in many critical ways, Sununu exacerbated Bush's limitations, rather than making up for them, and whenever the spotlight swung away from foreign affairs, it became painfully apparent that this was a White House without a long-range agenda, without a communications strategy and without first-rate thinkers in many top jobs.; As Bush tried to be the ultimate Washington insider, the chief of staff alienated Congress, Cabinet members, House Republicans and the press, who disdained Sununu because they believed he misled them. Sununu even tried to manipulate his boss on occasion, with the effect that Bush looked weak and waffling.; When the glow faded from the Persian Gulf war, and the country began looking to the White House for leadership on the stagnant economy and the pain of many Americans, the president once again allowed himself to be guided by Sununu and his closest White House ally, Richard Darman, the budget chief.; Sununu and Darman urged the president to follow his instincts that there was nothing he could do about the economy and that he should not even try to come up with a drastic plan.; Moreover, in the recent fiasco about caps on credit card interest rates, Sununu did something that is never done in a city that operates strictly on hierarchy: He blamed the mess on his boss, going on national television to say Bush had "ad libbed" the idea in a speech.; Bush appeared out of sync with the country. His approval ratings began dropping again, important Republicans scorned by Sununu began going on the record with their advice to Bush that he was being ill served by his chief of staff, and finally and most important, the president's wife, Barbara, and oldest son, George, turned on Sununu.; And so, finally, Bush invited Sununu to resign.; Now Bush must find another chief of staff, and another hired hatchet. But this time, his friends say, he will look for aides who can play those roles while also playing by the rules of the Washington game.
As his final act, John Sununu, the man hired by George Bush to be his political hatchet man, took a swipe at the boss insinuating that he was fired for doing what he was hired to do. The fact is that it has been clear from day one of this campaign season that Donald Trump will not stop attacking Hillary Clinton and her husband until they are out of office. Sununu alienated Congress, Cabinet members, House Republican and the press. But, most important, the president's wife Barbara, and oldest son, George, turned on Sununu. And so, finally, Bush invited Sununu to resign.