Word: sununu
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...Sununu hadn't exactly been grounded, he had certainly been sent to his room. But Bush underestimated the depth of Sununu's ethical obtuseness and his zeal at finding a way around the rules. Like a rebellious adolescent, Sununu sneaked down the stairs, grabbed the car keys and slipped out of the White House. After all, the old man had only said, "Don't take the plane." He didn't say anything about...
Overcome by a sudden urge two weeks ago to buy rare stamps, Sununu ordered the driver of his government-paid limousine to drive him 225 miles to New York City. He spent the day -- and nearly $5,000 -- at an auction room at Christie's. Then he dismissed the driver, who motored back to Washington with no passengers. Sununu returned on a private jet owned by Beneficial Corp...
Bush was again forced to choose between two values he holds dear: loyalty to his staff and the pursuit of ethical purity. He tried to split the difference, defending Sununu's joyride as "appropriate." Bush even backtracked on his own ethical standards for the first time, saying, "You shouldn't be judged by appearance. You ought to be judged by the fact." This reversal steamed White House aides. Asked what Sununu would have to do to really anger Bush, a bemused White House official cracked, "He'd have to knock over a bank, I guess...
Bush, however, did order Sununu to clear all future corporate flights in advance with both White House lawyers and bookkeepers. The President acted shortly before the Washington Post printed a story claiming that Sununu, his wife Nancy and an aide had personally solicited rides on jets owned by companies that do business with Washington. White House counsel C. Boyden Gray had blocked three such requests, but sources told the Post that an aide to Sununu had misinformed Gray about the identity of a fourth benefactor. In a statement on Saturday, Sununu admitted that "some mistakes were made...
Delusions of grandeur are Sununu's biggest problem. He craves the challenge of public life but demands the perks of the corporate suite. His need for the trappings of power is so great that he chose to spend five hours enthroned in the back of a dark-windowed sedan rather than 45 minutes in steerage on the shuttle flight to New York...