The full story behind the six words that reshaped Republican fiscal politics--and still haunt American governance today. "Read my lips: no new taxes." With that electrifying pledge at the 1988 Republican National Convention, George H. W. Bush sealed his nomination and unified a party. The promise became one of the most famous-and most consequential-lines in modern American political history. When President Bush broke it two years later, the fallout didn't just derail a presidency; it permanently transformed Republican thinking about taxes, deficits, and political survival. In 1990, facing a ballooning deficit, binding budget law, and the highstakes final phase of the Cold War, Bush made a fateful decision to accept a budget deal that included tax increases. The reaction was swift and brutal. Conservatives erupted in anger. Headlines screamed betrayal. Party unity collapsed. Though the agreement ultimately helped balance the federal budget, Bush paid a steep political price and lost his bid for reelection in 1992. Drawing on rare firsthand experience and rigorous historical analysis, John J. Pitney Jr.-who worked inside the Republican National Committee during the crisis-reveals what really happened behind closed doors. He shows why Bush believed he had no viable alternative, how Democrats forced the issue, and why defense cuts were a nonstarter at a pivotal moment in global politics. Most importantly, Pitney traces how Republicans turned the 1990 budget deal into a cautionary myth: the belief that any tax compromise guarantees political ruin. That lesson, embraced as doctrine, has shaped Republican fiscal strategy for decades. It has fueled resistance to deficit reduction, constrained budget negotiations, and helped drive today's federal debt. By revisiting the moment when the party's modern tax orthodoxy was forged, this book offers essential insight into the roots of contemporary budget battles. Authoritative and deeply revealing, this is the definitive account of how one broken promise changed American politics and why its consequences are still with us.
John J. Pitney Jr. is Roy P. Crocker Professor of American Politics at Claremont McKenna College. He is the author of many books, including After Reagan: Bush, Dukakis, and the 1988 Election, also from Kansas.
"If anyone is looking for the moment when the modern conservative movement was born, look no further than the moment when George H. W. Bush reversed his 'read my lips' campaign promise, agreed to a significant tax hike, and was vocally attacked not only by the opposition party, but by Republicans who felt a deep sense of betrayal. John Pitney brings the memory of a player in this drama, as well as the skill of a scholar, to his graceful telling of this important story. It should be read by anyone who needs to know why today's politics are as personal, as vicious, and as polarized as they have become."-John Robert Greene, author of The Presidency of George H. W. Bush "Professor John J. Pitney, Jr., a widely respected presidential scholar, has written an outstanding insiderparticipant's view of the causes and consequences of President George W. H. Bush's politically momentous 1988 promise not to raise taxes ('Read My Lips: No More Taxes'). Pitney's indepth analysis of the immediate political and budgetary policy ramifications of Bush's decision and subsequent budget agreements as well as his evaluation of the longterm consequences for the current deficit and debt crisis in America is a major contribution to understanding 21st century American politics."-James A. Thurber, American University Distinguished Professor of Government Emeritus and Founder and Director Emeritus of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, and coeditor of Rivals for Power: PresidentialCongressional Relations "With studied 'detachment and perspective,' professor and former director of the Republican National Committee's research department, John Pitney, Jr., takes a gripping look at President George H.W. Bush's 1990 decision to break his defining 'no new taxes' campaign pledge in order to secure a budget deal with Congress. Bush's Taxing Choice sheds light not only on the farreaching political and economic consequences of Bush's fateful reversal but also the lessons they offer with the benefit of hindsight."-Mark K. Updegrove, Chairman and CEO of the LBJ Foundation and author of The Last Republicans: Inside the Extraordinary Relationship Between George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush "In Bush's Taxing Choice, political scientist John J. Pitney Jr. methodically explores George H. W. Bush's 1990 decision to abandon his 'no new taxes' pledge, including the circumstances surrounding the decision and the longterm consequences. As Pitney shows in this wellresearched and clearly written volume, Bush was caught between strong longterm forces moving Republicans to a consistent antitax position, deep concerns about a growing federal deficit, and an emerging foreign policy crisis that limited his options. His decision and the subsequent election of 1992 have shaped budget politics and policy ever since."-Andrew E. Busch, University of Tennessee, and author of Ronald Reagan and the Firing of the Air Traffic Controllers
