For those of us who fell in love with Laura Hillenbrand’s “Seabiscuit: An American Legend,” the story of a knobby kneed thoroughbred who was frequently misunderestimated, Noemie Emer’s comparison of President Bush to Seabiscuit is a particularly charming read.
Emery points out that both Bush and Seabiscuit came from an aristocratic line (Seabiscuit was the grandson of Man o’ War, sort of the Prescott Bush of the horse world) and both seemed less elegant than their peers–Bush is often called a cowboy, while some referred to Seabiscuit as a cow.
“Bush and Seabiscuit both had troubled youths,” adds Emery, “marked by bad attitude and self-destructive behavior. Both were turned around in the nick of time, Seabiscuit by his owner, his trainer, and jockey; Bush by God and by Laura. Afterwards, both of them burned up the track.”
Like Seabiscuit Bush sometimes stumbles badly and then rights himself:
“Bush’s performance in the first debate was such a Seabiscuit moment, as was the brief window on November 2, when they were convinced by a batch of bad exit polls that they had wrapped up the White House. Next thing they knew, Bush was under the wire, hooves flying, and going away.”