The rise of the Bush family dynasty — replete with international arms deals, spies and Mideast intrigue — was detailed Sunday at UCSB by author Kevin Phillips before a sold-out crowd at Campbell Hall. Phillips expounded on the subject of his new book, "American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush."

Phillips, a onetime Republican strategist who has settled into a career as a political journalist and television commentator, declared that the family of the two George Bushes constitutes a dynasty. And dynasties, he said, are not in the best interests of the voting public.

"The key word is ‘dynasty’," Phillips said. "In a dynasty there is continuity, persistence of grudges, biases, one perspective." With the Bush dynasty, he said: "It’s candor — no; disinformation — yes. The public is an inconvenience."

"Lots of presidents were liars," Phillips said. "Nixon, Johnson, Clinton. But they didn’t come from established families. The Bushes have been building up to this for four generations."

Bush as a "Mayberry Machiavelli"

Phillips noted a pervasive fondness in the current administration for the works of Nicolo Machiavelli — political advisor Karl Rove being a particularly ardent admirer of the 16th century Italian author of "The Prince."

"George W. Bush has been called a Mayberry Machiavelli," he said, eliciting laughter from the audience.

Phillips described the Bush family’s rise to power during World War I. He recounted the clan’s involvement with German steel companies, Russian oil wells, international banks and — every step of the way — its ties to this nation’s intelligence agencies, culminating in the CIA. "We had four generations of the Walker-Bush clan, whose rise coincides exactly with the rise of the military industrial complex, with the intelligence services as the escalator."

According to Phillips, George W. Bush’s great-grandfather, George Herbert Walker, began the dynasty, stepping into a void after World War I and helping to finance restoration of the Baku oil fields, a few hundred miles north of present-day Iraq.

Walker was followed by his son-in-law, Prescott Bush, who cemented the family’s ties to the Middle East following World War II. The current president’s father, George H.W. Bush, advanced the family’s involvement with the Middle East, Phillips said. And the senior Bush also brought into the equation the U.S. intelligence community, especially the CIA.

Of Cuba, the Saudis and Hussein

Phillips then turned our attention to the Bush family’s dealings in pre-Castro Cuba, where they owned nine companies, all nationalized by Castro, which accounts for the present administration’s anti-Cuban stance (limiting U. S. travel there and maintaining the economic sanctions).

Phillips also enumerated the family’s financial dealings with leading Kuwaiti and Saudi families, including the bin Laden clan, from which Islamic terrorist leader Osama bin Laden is said to be estranged. Phillips said that the first President Bush was instrumental in U.S. backing of Saddam Hussein in the 1980s, including supplying the Iraqi leader with germ warfare materials and nuclear arms technology.

In a question-and-answer session after his talk, Phillips was asked, "Have the media given the Bushes a pass?" Phillips responded, "I’d say yes, especially since 9/11."

To further questions about the role of the press, he added that polls show "38 percent of the public still believe he (Bush) was not really elected. And people question the ties Bush has" in the Middle East. "I don’t see why the Post or the Times couldn’t do a story about this," he said — one of his few disingenuous remarks.

Asked about the likely outcome of next fall’s presidential election, Phillips said, "It’s probably too early to take the snapshot now, but I think it will play out that he (Bush) wins."

After a number of groans from the audience, Phillips said, "I know you don’t want to hear that. But the Democrats haven’t shown any great sense they can play tougher."