Book Description
As president, he oversaw the end of the Cold War and helpedliberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussein's forces. As the U.S. Liaison to China,he held tenure during communist rule under Mao, and as Ambassador to theUnited Nations, he forged relations around the world. From his days as ayoung Texas congressman to witnessing his son become the current president,George H. W. Bush has played a major role on the world stage for decadesand continues to as elder statesman. Now, using events from his life, theformer president's only daughter examines how her father confrontedchallenges, how he responded to crises, and how he kept his humor andpersonality through it all.
Customer Reviews:
Fantastic! .......2007-09-30
With the 2008 presidential elections coming up, I took it upon myself to learn about our future president ("Living History") and VP ("Dreams of my Father") and past ones. I just finished reading "My Father, My President". It's a candid "inside" look into the life of a former president. Talk about an absolutely wonderful book abt George HW Bush! "41" strikes me as a fun, loving, intelligent, family oriented stateman with emphasis on duty, honor, family and faith. In plain words, a good citizen worthy of admiration! (Need I mention I am a Democrat!)
From his days as a WWII veteran to his brief work career at the UN, to his successful career as a director at the USLO, CIA, then later as a Chairman for the NRC then later as the head of state, it is extremely difficult not to fall in love with GHWB! His wit, charm and affection is just simply contagious... "41" is brilliant! I hope people will get a chance to read it and enjoy it as much as I did. God only knows how much we need more genuine heroes like him.
Fantastic.......2007-05-12
Learned many things about George H W Bush that I never knew. Very enjoyable book and easy to read.
A good and decent man.......2007-03-11
This book provides more insight into the essential goodness of George H.W. Bush. Aside from the facts and figures of his early career, vice-presidency and Presidency, the book gives us a fascinating look at how someone so prominent can still adhere to the Golden Rule. I found the stories told by Secret Service agents and staff about his common courtesy, concern and humor to be the most interesting. He never felt he was better or more important than anyone else, although I think history will ultimately say otherwise.
An easy read.......2007-02-21
What a wonderful tribute to her father! This is a great read and gives us an insight into what makes this man tick.
Heartwarming........2007-02-08
This was a very informative book. It is refreshing to hear good things about such public figures. Mr. Bush is thought of in endearing ways by many people and loved dearly by his family.
Amazon.com
"Youthful political reporters are always told there are three ways to judge a politician," write Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose in Shrub. "The first is to look at the record. The second is to look at the record. And third, look at the record." The record under scrutiny in this brief, informative book belongs to one George W. Bush--dubbed "Shrub" by Ivins--governor of Texas and 2000 presidential hopeful. These two veteran journalists know how politics are played in Texas and they've done their homework, writing a comprehensive examination of Bush's professional and political life that's a lively read, to boot. And if the title alone doesn't convey their particular slant, perhaps the following caveat from the introduction will: "If, at the end of this short book, you find W. Bush's political résumé a little light, don't blame us. There's really not much there. We have been looking for six years."
Beginning with his admission to the Texas National Guard during the Vietnam War (where he bypassed a waiting list of about 100,000), the authors go on to deconstruct his losing congressional bid, his failed career as an oil executive, and his role as managing partner of the Texas Rangers baseball team, revealing how he was helped every step of the way by wealthy and influential friends of the family. Ever popular, Dubya has always been good at rounding up powerful players to bankroll a variety of ventures, including political campaigns. For this reason, explain the authors, along with his lineage and social status, Bush's primary allegiance is to the business community. While his speeches may deal with the "entertainment issues" of "God, guns, and gays," Bush is a "wholly owned subsidiary of corporate America," they write. They further point out that Texas ranks near the bottom of the nation in terms of a number of social categories, such as poverty, health insurance for children, and pollution, spearing the governor for his less-than-compassionate conservatism.
Shrub is not a complete Bush whacking, though. The authors laud the governor's record on education, in which he has managed to raise standards, push local control of schools, and launch a successful reading campaign. They also cite his wooing of the Hispanic vote and his ability to bridge the gap between the Christian right and the economic conservatives within the Republican party as evidence of true political acumen, though they maintain he lacks a penchant for actual governing: "From the record, it appears that he doesn't know much, doesn't do much and doesn't care much about governing." Bush has admitted that he dislikes reading, particularly about policy issues, and that he hates meetings and briefings, causing the authors to wonder, "The puzzle of Bush is why someone with so little interest in or attention for policy, for making government work, would want the job of president, or even governor."
Love him or leave him, Shrub leaves much to consider about the man who would be president. And it can be read in about a day. --Shawn Carkonen
Book Description
When it comes to reporting on politics, nobody does it smarter or funnier than bestselling author Molly Ivins. In Shrub, Ivins focuses her Texas-size smarts on the biggest politician in her home state: George Walker Bush, or "Shrub," as Ivins has nicknamed Bush the Younger.
A candidate of vague speeches and an ambiguous platform, Bush leads the pack of GOP 2000 presidential hopefuls; "Dubya" could very well be our next president. What voters need now is an original, smart, and accessible analysis of Bush--one that leaves the "youthful indiscretions" to the tabloids and gets to the heart of his policies and motivations. Ivins is the perfect woman for the job.
With her trademark wit and down-home wisdom, Molly Ivins shares three pieces of advice on judging a politician: "The first is to look at the record. The second is to look at the record. And third, look at the record." In this book, Ivins takes a good, hard look at the record of the man who could be the leader of the free world. Beginning with his post-college military career, Ivins tracks Dubya's winding, sometimes unlikely path from a failed congressional bid to a two-term governorship. Bush has made plenty of friends and supporters along the way, including Texas oil barons, evangelist Billy Graham, and co-investors in the Texas Rangers baseball team. "You would have to work at it to dislike the man," she writes. But for all of Bush's likeability, Ivins points to a disconcerting lack of political passion from this ascending presidential candidate. In her words, "If you think his daddy had trouble with 'the vision thing,' wait till you meet this one."
Witty, trenchant, and on target, Ivins gives a singularly perceptive and entertaining analysis of George W. Bush. To head to the voting booth without it would be downright un-American.
From Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush
" The past is prologue in politics. If a politician is left, right, weak, strong, given to the waffle or the flip-flop, or, as sometimes happens, an able soul who performs well under pressure, all that will be in the record."
¸
Bush's welfare record: "Texas pols like to 'git tuff' on crime, welfare, commies, and other bad stuff. Bush proposed to git tuff on welfare recipients by ending the allowance for each additional child--which in Texas is $38 a month."
¸
Bush and the Christian right: "Bush has learned to dance with the Christian right. It has been interesting and amusing to watch the process. Interesting because it's sometimes hard to tell who's leading and who's following; amusing because when a scion of Old Yankee money gets together with a televangelist with too much Elvis, the result is swell entertainment."
¸
Bush's environmental record: Since Governor Bush's election, Texas air quality has been rated the worst in the nation, leading all fifty states in overall toxic releases, recognized carcinogens in the air, cancer risk, and ten other categories of pollutants.
¸
Bush's military career: "Bush was promoted as the Texas Air National Guard's anti-drug poster boy, one of life's little ironies given the difficulty he has had answering cocaine questions all these years later. 'George Walker Bush is one member of the younger generation who doesn't get his kicks from pot or hashish or speed,' reads a Guard press release of 1970. 'Oh, he gets high, all right, but not from narcotics.'"
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
Anyone can be President.......2007-09-15
No matter your political beliefs, it is interesting to read about the background of our elected leaders; even though it is freightening and sad at times.
Molly Ivins' Shrub'.......2007-05-30
If I was an American voter and I wished to for information about the Republican candidate prior to the 2000 election I would have bought the first edition of Ms Ivins' book. A read would have been enough to ensure that I would not have voted for Mr Bush even though Ms Ivins paints quite an attractive picture of him. She emphasises his campaigning abilities and the undoubted fact that unlike the present crop of Republican candidates he was able in his gubernatorial elections to unite the two quite separate parts of the American right, the fundamental Christians and the old time Republicans. However she also hands out low marks for ability and honesty. Bush does emerge as a Daddy's boy with Bush Senior's friends only too willing to hand out loans to shaky business enterprises and later to election expenses. I amazed that this book did not attract that much attention when the first edition was published.
An apolitical book with a political agenda.......2006-02-15
First and foremost, the book was enjoyable from cover to cover. 'Fun' and 'politics' are not two words that usually go together when you are speaking about casual reading. Surprise. This book hits the sweet spot.
That is not to say that Ms. Ivins and Mr. Duboise don't have a political agenda. It seems pretty clear that they don't like Mr. Bush or his policies very much, but they don't dwell on it. However, this is not a character assassination. They don't cast aspersions about Mr. Bush's social life, religious life, the clothes he wears, his 'youthful indiscretions' etc. They simply point to his political history and draw conclusions about where he stands politically. They also don't take pains to paint themselves as totally objective. What they do do is let the record speak for itself and let you draw your own conclusions.
The book is written in a very colloquial style and with a great degree of humor--both self-deprecating and acerbic at times. Despite a loathing for Mr. Bush's policies, they do paint a picture of him as the ultimate hands-off administrator who cleverly avoids conflicts by deliberately not defining himself, has a transparent agenda behind the opacity of his language, can defend his strengths with his weaknesses and always manages to raise his own capital. Political or monetary. Public or private sector. Whether the venture succeeds brilliantly or fails. Oddly, there is an aspect of the book that is almost a paean to the man...
However, the main attraction of this book isn't in its rhetoric or even its style. The bang for the buck is evident when you realize that this book was written in the year 2000, when Dubya was merely a presidential hopeful and had yet to be elected. Whether you like their treatment of Mr. Bush or not, the authors presciently and absolutely nail the policy issues and priorities of this Bush presidency. And that's why this volume is still a good read today.
minding bush's 'bidness'.......2006-02-11
In "Shrub", columnist Molly Ivins offers amusing anecdotes paired with grim statistics that make it necessary to reread them to make sure they're really true. She delves into Bush's laissez-faire attitude toward education, health, law and prison reform among others. Even those well versed in Bush's misdeeds will likely find something new and/or surprising here. The book is not a no-holds-barred attack on Dubya, however; credit is giving to him for his accomplishments, however minor. There is, however, a definite liberal bent.
Molly Ivans is smart in funny in this critical biography of George W. Bush.......2005-10-14
Molly Ivans is funny from start to finish she understands Bush and understands his thinking or lack of. From the Republican state convention to the Bush policies she tells all. She is a writer who actually has evidence to back up her stories. Republicans, Democrats, Greens, Libertarians, and Independents alike should read this book.
Book Description
Tracing investigative leads back through three decades, Secrecy & Privilege explores the mystery of how the two George Bushes rose to the pinnacle of American political power -- and what the rise of their dynasty has meant to the nation's democratic principles.
Customer Reviews:
a comprehensive narrative.......2007-08-16
Robert Parry's book establishes a fact-based narrative that is notable in that it deviates in specific areas from what we commonly know (and are told about) the Bush "family". In particular, the elder Bushes' role in post-watergate republican politics, and his connection to Chilean/south American anti-communist operations (OPERATION CONDOR)of the mid-70's are almost never connected to Bush the way Parry has done in this book. Also of note is the role that helpful "Democrats" have played in forward the elder bushes' agenda. The two most notable are Bob Strauss and Lee Hamilton. Bob Strauss' role was to quash democratic investigations into watergate post-nixon resignation. (he still carries water: he was recently quoted in a NYTIMES article in august 2007 related to how the Bush "family" has drawn together and Bush 41 is hurt by the harsh words in the press in the twilight of Bush 43's administration.) Lee Hamilton's role was to quash any investigation of Bush 41's administration after iran-contra and right after Clinton took office.
Mission accomplished.
The test of time will be to see to what extent historians use it as a source when trying to understand this thoroughly corrupt "family"s negative impact on American society in the last half of the 20th century.
Superb Personal Effort, Narrow, Needs Other References.......2007-02-18
This is a superb personal effort by the author, and it does a tremendous job of harvesting both news media stories and key books. It is however a bit anrrow, and I recommend other references.
A simple example: he speaks of the narrow Bush victory in Florida without reference to Greg Palast's PRE-ELECTION reporting, subsequently summarized in the book, "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy," or any understanding of the fact that over a year in advance of the election Jeb Bush stole the election by disenfranchizing over 35,000 black voters whose names were remotely--very remotely--linked to the names of felons from other states (only Florida felows cannot vote, but Jeb Bush wanted this so bad he paid ten times the going rate to a "friendly" company that used Texas felon lists to "disqualify" voters who only found out they were disqualified on election day.
Another example: he has a great (but dated) appendix on CIA and who it has funded as intermediaries and end recipients of CIA cash all over the world, but he completely misses the same necessary information for Wall Street, the 40,000 non-profits created to hide wealth and manage perceptions (as well as lure people off land with gold, see "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man").
There are many other books on the Nazi, mafia, and Saudi corruption ties of the Bush family, and there are also other books that are more comprehensive and current on the problems we face today because of young Bush II and his war criminal vice President. See for example, "Crossing the Rubicon," "Rule by Secrecy," and my personal favority, "VICE: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency."
Robert Parry is a gifted investigative reporter. His first book, "Lost History," remains among my favorites. In this book, what may be his most important message is this: the extremists Republicans (I am an estranged moderate Republican disgusted with Karl Rove's hijacking of the party) have combined secrecy, lies, and "perception management" to completely confuse and mislead the public, while carrying out high crimes and misdimeanors against the government, the treasury, the military, and the people.
From Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon to Karl Rove and Dick Cheney and the young (and rather stupid) George Bush II, this book paints a very ugly and accurate picture of the pathological abuse of power and of the public purse by these people. Most of them need to be tried, convicted, and jailed. None of them are fit for public office in a moral informed democracy, but then, as the author makes clear, we do not live in a moral, informed democracy. We live in a "Cheating Culture" where most Americans cannot identify all the states around their own, much less other countries. We have gotten the government we deserve.
One final observation: this book is super but in isolation. I am increasingly persauded that Amazon should digitize ALL books, so that customers can "buy" composite renditions of information that honor copyright at the paragraph and page level, while creating unique original visualizations and summarizations that are free of copyright and can be bought on their own. I would pay $1,000 for a visualization--a poster--of all of the criminal, dictator, and immoral connections of George Bush II and his evil former master, Dick Cheney (whose Secret Service nickname is "Edgar," for the guy that managed the puppet). Bush has finally figured out, way too late, that Cheney hijacked and destroyed the first six years.
The Best Democracy Money Can Buy
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil
Rule by Secrecy: The Hidden History That Connects the Trilateral Commission, the Freemasons, and the Great Pyramids
Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency
Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & 'Project Truth'
Bush's Brain
9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA, Fourth Edition
Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy
Real Americans need read this.......2007-01-13
Excellent expose of the madness behind Bush dynasty. So good it hurts... Every American should read this book. Unfortunately, most won't--and those who do will do so too late to stop the Bush family from leaving an appalling blemish on history. Generations of Americans will suffer from the Bush blight on our constitutional landscape. Americans must get the facts about this political family. And then we must act to save what's left of our country from their continuing avarice.
History Filled In.......2005-03-20
Robert Parry gives us insight into why everything has seemed so odd for so long. No matter which side of the aisle you sit, it helps fill in the history that the mainstream press failed to give us.
The Best Book on the Bushes.......2005-02-07
Why is it the best? Because no author has taken the Bush "dynasty" rise the way Bob Parry has - - and no other author could. Parry has been looking under rocks and sneaking behind closed doors to find the truth for almost three decades. Only Parry has had the sources, found the documents, and cogently compiled the despicable history of how the Bush politicians have deliberately buried, under multiple layers of secrecy, the truth of some of the most significant events in recent history. He is the only author who followed the Bush footprints when they were still fresh, often before the impact of the truth was known and could be hidden. In a phrase - - Bob Parry was there.
For at least the past 25-30 years, Bob Parry has been the only journalist with the integrity to follow a story no matter where it went, and to report the truth no matter who it implicated. Of, course, as the saying goes, "No good deed goes unpunished." For his dedicated efforts - - with AP, Newsweek, Frontline and other news outlets - to tell the American people about the crimes, actual violations of federal criminal statutes, by members of the Reagan, Bush 1, and the current Bush administration, he became a pariah. But following a moral compass that knows only one direction, he never lost a beat. And to this day, with his sons, they issue of the some of the most insightful political views of this day on his blog, Consortium News.
Consider this: Parry covers the year, 1976, when George H.W. Bush was Director of Central Intgelligence, the head of the CIA. While few paid attention at the time, certain anti-Castro Cuban exiles, many with past and current ties to the CIA, were the only terrorists ever to export terrorism from the United States. In 1977, the CIA reported that these terrorists killed more people in 1976 than all of the Middle East terrorist groups combined. Yet when the FBI asked DCI Bush for help in quelling the Cuban exile attacks, he slammed down a brick wall on anything that might have come out of Miami. And those secrets are still sealed. That alone may give an unbiased observer a reason to understand the overwhelming support the Bush family receives from the Cuban-Americans in Miami.
If you want to know the real story about how and why the Bush family has achieved their astounding political success, given that none of them have ever succeeded in any profession, vocation or position outside of politics, you must read this book. When Bob Parry takes you behind the curtain from Watergate until Bush II, the images of deceit and deception are ugly -- but true.
Amazon.com
Political consultants are nothing new in American politics; they are the big guns called in to work on a campaign or deal with the occasional crisis, then dismissed for another day. Not so with White House Senior Advisor Karl Rove. Due to his close personal relationship and unlimited access to George W. Bush, as well as his control of the information that reaches the president, this "permanent consultant" occupies a unique spot in Bush's inner circle and in history. "His influence marks a transcendent moment in American politics: the rise of an unelected consultant to a position of unprecedented power," write authors Moore and Slater. Since Rove is ultimately responsible to Bush only, not to American citizens, he is not required to work openly. As a result, Rove is hardly a household name, despite his considerable clout. This intriguing and important book seeks to remedy this by offering a comprehensive look at this behind-the-scenes political guru. "Karl Rove matters to all Americans, many who have never even heard his name. While the president chafes at the description of Rove as 'Bush's Brain,' he can hardly deny that every policy and political decision either goes through, or comes from, the consultant," write the authors, leading them to pose the question, "Who really runs this country?"
Rove has been involved with the Bush family for nearly 30 years and has worked on every one of George W.'s campaigns. In great detail, the book shows how Rove led Bush, a "reluctant political warrior," all the way to the White House. The portrait of Bush and Rove's relationship is fascinating. Though opposites in many respects, they are an unusually effective political team. But where Bush seemed to fall into politics, Rove has been preparing for his current job all of his life, and Bush has served as a vehicle for Rove's considerable ambitions, the authors contend. "Without Karl Rove, there would be no President George W. Bush," they write. Moore and Slater look deeply into Rove's past to offer copious evidence of his political genius, his tenacity, and his remarkable success rate in getting his clients elected. The facts also portray Rove as unethical, vindictive, and a chronic abuser of power. Loaded with revealing anecdotes and inside information, this is essential reading for anyone looking to understand not only the Bush administration, but how politics really work. --Shawn Carkonen
Book Description
Praise for Bush's Brain
"Love him or hate him, Karl Rove is one of the most brilliant and successful political consultants of all time. In this riveting account, Wayne Slater and Jim Moore tell how he got there." âPaul Begala, CNN's Crossfire
"Bush's Brain isn't a hatchet job on George W. Bush. In fact, the two authors largely dispel the myth of Bush's supposedly deficient IQ. But, more importantly, they lay bare the story of how Karl Rove may be the most powerful man in America. It's a compelling story told by two veteran Texas journalists who don't need a briefing packet to understand the men they're writing about." âPhilip Bruce, KCET/PBS Television, Los Angeles
The most powerful individual in the United States may not be George W. Bush. It is probably Karl Rove, the President's brilliant advisor. Who is this man and how did he acquire so much power? Having watched in awe for over fifteen years as they reported on the rise of Karl Rove, Moore and Slater expose the brutal and sometimes morally questionable, but invariably effective ways in which Karl Rove?and America's political systemâactually operate.
Customer Reviews:
bush's brain or lack there of.......2007-10-10
this book shows that without someone else's input this president would not have made it to any elected position. it is all smoke and mirrors for this administration.
not good people..........2007-02-22
This review is not a memoir. Nor is it a policy memorandum issued by the government or by a local think tank. Rather, it is an assessment of how our long-corrupt legal system is parlously close to establishing a precedent that will enable Karl Rove to waste our time and money. Note that some of the facts I plan to use in this letter were provided to me by a highly educated person who managed to escape Karl's flippant indoctrination and is consequently believable. The problem is, if I didn't sincerely believe that there is certainly reason to fear that imprudent beatniks will provide covinous franions with an irresistible temptation to palm off our present situation as the compelling ground for worldwide Fabianism by the next full moon, then I wouldn't be writing this letter. His true goal is to implement a hotheaded parody of justice called "Karl-ism". All the statements that Karl's helots make to justify or downplay that goal are only apologetics; they do nothing to stand up and fight for our heritage, traditions, and values.
If I may be so bold, only by taking risks and pushing boundaries with this letter can I operate on today's real -- not tomorrow's ideal -- political terrain. And let me tell you, my message has always been that Karl's decisions are ill-advised. It's that simple. My general thesis is that Karl has written volumes about how there is something intellectually provocative in the tired rehashing of larcenous stereotypes. Don't believe a word of it, though. The truth is that if he thinks that he can make me experience psychological stress or "cognitive dissonance", then he's barking up the wrong tree. I'll talk a lot more about that later, but first let me finish my general thesis: I don't care what others say about him. Karl's still cold-blooded, offensive, and he intends to wipe out delicate ecosystems. If you think that Karl's blessing is the equivalent of a papal imprimatur, then think again. If Karl wants to put a demented spin on important issues, let him wear the opprobrium of that decision. To bring the matter closer to home, let me remind you that we've all heard his yammer and whine about how he's being scapegoated again, the poor dear. It is not uncommon for Karl to victimize the innocent, penalize the victim for making any effort to defend himself, and then paint the whole addlepated affair as some great benefit to humanity. Have you ever had a bad dream about her trying to exhibit cruelty to animals? Well, I have news for you. That wasn't a dream; it was real. I would like to end on a heartfelt note. I find Karl Rove's failed attempts to create an infantile world of guilt and shame mildly amusing.
Absolutely chilling--and Rove is just one of the hit-men.......2006-03-24
Reading about Rove's contempt for fair play from the beginning of his career is absolutely chilling. The book is even-handed and meticulous, but presents so many cases where he damaged lives, careers and democracy with his political ruthlessness.
What's frightening is how much influence he has on Bush today, and the fact that he isn't the only Lee Atwater disciple wielding power in the current Republican Party. Read David Brock's Blinded By the Light for a complementary tale of manipulation and dissembling.
This book was obviously completed before the Republican ads that defeated Senator Max Cleland by calling him unpatriotic, even though Cleland had lost two legs and an arm in Vietnam--but that approach only buttresses the core points I take from this powerful book: The bullying tactics of people like Rove need to themselves become a political issue, because they represent a direct attack on our democracy.
Paul Loeb
Author Soul of a Citizen
A Story of a Masterful Pupeteer.......2006-03-19
This is a masterful account of a Masterful Pupeteer, who determines, along with Rumsfield and Cheney, most of what is controlling our country.
It is written by two men who know what they're talking about, Texans, who've been there, seen this and that.
This book scares the daylights out of me. George W. Bush, our president on the surface, is no more than a puppet! Above him, moving the strings is Karl Rove in the center, with Cheney and Rumsfield, on his left and right.
Karl Rove apparently never felt the love and nurture of caring parents. Could this be what motivates his insatiable drive to control our country? I don't know, but I'm scared.
Big Brother Bush!.......2006-01-06
From James Moore's blog:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-moore/branded_b_13272.html
"Mam, I'd like to know how I got on the No Fly Watch List."
"I'm not really authorized to tell you that, sir," she explained after taking down my social security and Texas driver's license numbers.
"What can you tell me?"
"All I can tell you is that there is something in your background that in some way is similar to someone they are looking for."
"Well, let me get this straight then," I said. "Our government is looking for a guy who may have a mundane Anglo name, who pays tens of thousands of dollars every year in taxes, has never been arrested or even late on a credit card payment, is more uninteresting than a Tupperware party, and cries after the first two notes of the national anthem? We need to find this guy. He sounds dangerous to me."
"I'm sorry, sir, I've already told you everything I can."
"Oh, wait," I said. "One last thing: this guy they are looking for? Did he write books critical of the Bush administration, too?"
Amazon.com
Let's cut to the chase: yes, J.H. Hatfield alleges that, in 1972, George W. Bush was arrested for possession of cocaine and, with the help of his father, got the charges erased in exchange for performing community service. Other than that, however, Fortunate Son is a standard quickie biography of the Texas governor and frontrunner for the Republican nomination in the 2000 presidential race--and useful primarily because few people outside of Texas (for that matter, few people within Texas) know much about Bush's history and political record. It's all about connections, Hatfield says: if he'd had a different father, Bush "could be just another Texan who failed in the oil business and now operates a shrimp boat in the Gulf of Mexico." The bombshell doesn't even come until a short afterword, tacked onto the already completed manuscript at the last minute, complete with a "Deep Throat" within Bush's inner circle. (Said informant throws in an almost too perfectly worded attack on the governor's hypocrisy in vigorously fighting the war on drugs: "I've known George for several years and he has never accepted youth and irresponsibility as legitimate excuses for illegal behavior--except when it comes to himself.")
Bush has denied the allegations, however, and it seems that Hatfield has a few dark secrets in his past. Shortly after the publication of Fortunate Son, The Dallas Morning News reported that Hatfield was a paroled felon who had attempted to hire a hit man to kill his boss. The online magazine Salon went on to add that he may have lied about his history as a freelance journalist and invented a fictitious award for a previous book. Throw in the skepticism of many journalists at the afterword's heavy reliance on anonymous sources, and Hatfield's credibility is in serious jeopardy. For his part, the author maintains that the paroled felon is a different James H. Hatfield, born the same month and year and living in the same part of the country, and if public records say otherwise, he argues: "Doesn't it sound a little bit weird to you that all of a sudden, the guy that's accusing potentially the next president of the United States of having his record expunged, all of a sudden miraculously has a record himself in the state of Texas?" It should perhaps be noted that among Hatfield's previous books is an unauthorized guide to The X-Files.
Book Description
This new edition of the candid and controversial biography of George W. Bush offers an incisive look at Bush's questionable military history, disastrous business ventures, and the issues surrounding the 2000 presidential election. New essays and illustrations add to this book on the deeds and misdeeds of President of George W. Bush.
Customer Reviews:
Surprisingly fair.......2007-06-06
I was impressed with the fact that this book reported positives as well as negatives. Although the forward was over the top, the actual book is pretty balanced and believable. A documentary about the author (who later committed suicide)quoted him as saying that Karl Rove was his major source. The fact that they managed to get this book not just taken off the market, but burned (!) shows the power of the machine that originally got Bush elected. Long may they stew.
Read it but don't buy it.......2007-04-11
This book caused a big controversey when it was released. Neo-cons said it was a smear job, but strangely enough mainstream type liberals didn't over do it with their enthusiasm and Bush bashing when this came out. The original publisher ended up balking at releasing it. The author was smeared, attacked and after a while turned up dead under very shady circumstances. Knowing what I know about the Bush families history I expected a lot more because after reading this I was shocked at how LITTLE dirt there was on Bush in this. You really get nothing more than Bush was a mediocre student, he had a drinking problem for several years, he MIGHT have went awol from the National Guard and he MIGHT have done a lot coke. There was so much that was left out of this that I don't even know where to begin.
Overall this book is worth checking out from the library and reading but I wouldn't buy it. Webster Tarpleys book about Poppy Bush and American Dynasty by Kevin Phillips would be better choices if your researching the Bush crime family.
Fantastic Read .......2007-03-04
This Book is great, I am very much into politics and I find that this book kept me on the edge of my seat. The Amount of coruption that this family has is astonishing. To think that someone of George W. Bush's stature can be our leader leaves hope to just about anyone. In the book it explains that President Bush's Grandfather had connections to Nazi camps and I find that to be awful. The book is well written and contains some valuable information about President Bush. Read it for yourself You won't be disappointed.
The Bare-knuckled Truth about Privilege.......2006-12-10
To my great surprise, this was not at all the "Bush bashing book" I expected and had been forewarned it would be. Hatfield is (was) a very mature professional, who carefully backed up all of his facts, and appeared to have no personal animus towards GW (as say a Molly Ivins does). He lets the facts fall where they may, and when they fell, we see a rather unflattering picture of our 43rd President.
I for one do not care whether the President used cocaine or abused alcohol at some point in his life. Nor do I care that Mr. Hatfield was an ex-con and drug addict. I do care whether the law treats him and the President the same as anyone else who commits a crime, and whether or not he (or the President) is a solid respectable human being willing to carry his weight as a private citizen and as a patriot.
As best we can tell, the evidence is that the jury is still out on this question about our President. There is a consensus among writers that the young Bush was headed down a path to self-destruction, one that would have undoubtedly consumed a less "fortunate son" -- especially if he had been one of color.
Now, it seems that GW is trying to "live down" his past, as we all have to do to some extent. But he squandered so much of his own personal and intellectual development during his hell raising years, that he has no resources left to draw on as President and thus has had to fall back heavily on his staff to rescue him. So now, he is "winging it," and it is excruciatingly painful to watch; and our nation is paying a heavy price for his "youthful indiscretions."
Hatfield's rendition of Bush's lacksidasical approach to life as a young man, foretold what he would be like as a president. In my view, this is one of the most important benefits and the greatest value of the book. And if one thinks about it, its prescience is in fact the best evidence of its solidity and honesty.
The subtexts of this book are many. One is that taking the shortcut down the path of privilege is no panacea even if you are white and privileged in racist America. For sure, privilege has many advantages, but it has some very distinct disadvantages too. As is the case in nations with monarchies, if you walk down the path of royalty, then you carry the responsibilities and expectations that go with being a royal.
Unlike his father, GW's flaws are all on display for everyone to see. He has nowhere to hide and Hatfield called his life just as it is being played out. Sorry Hatfield had to be "committed to suicide" for being honest in democratic America.
Five stars.
A Must Read for Every American of Voting Age.......2006-07-18
This book is one of the most important books I have read in my life-time. It is well researched and should be a text book for highschool Political Science courses in every public school. The author presents a fair, well-written factual account of the buying of the U.S. Government by a very wealthy, very well connected, and very powerful family.
How can we force democracy down the throats of other nations under the sword when we are not a Democracy?
Amazon.com
Paraphrasing a passage from Machiavelli's The Prince, Kevin Phillips writes, "a ruler can ignore the mob and devote himself to the interests of the ruling class, gulling the inert majority who constitute the ruled." He then says, "Borgia references aside, 21st-century American readers of The Prince may feel that they have stumbled on a thinly disguised Bush White House political memo." These pointed words would sting regardless of who uttered them, but coming from Phillips, a former Republican strategist, they have an added piquancy. In American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush, Phillips traces the rise of the Bush family from investment banking elites to political power brokers, using their Ivy League network, vast wealth, and questionable political maneuvering to obtain the White House and consequently, shake the foundation of constitutional American democracy. Citing the Bush family mainstays of finance, energy (oil), the military industrial complex, and national security and intelligence (the CIA), Phillips uses copious examples to show the dangerous alliance between the Bushes' business interests (huge corporations such as Enron and Haliburton) and the formation of national policy. No other family, Phillips says, that has fulfilled its presidential aspirations has been so involved in the ascendancy of the arms industry and of the 21st-century American imperium--often at the expense of regional and world peace and for their personal gain. It is hard to tell what offends Phillips the most: the Bushes' systematic deceit and secrecy, their shady business dealings, their cronyism, or their family philosophy that privileges the very wealthy and utterly dismisses all the rest. It is clearly all of these things combined. But at the top of Phillips' list is the dynastic nature of their family power, for it is that concentration of power and influence that strikes at the heart of our democracy. Past administrations have transgressed, albeit not so egregiously, and other political families have had dynastic ambitions. But none have succeeded as thoroughly as the Bushes. Jefferson and Madison would be horrified, and according to Phillips, we should be too. --Silvana Tropea
Book Description
The Bushes are the family nobody really knows, says Kevin Phillips. This popular lack of acquaintance—nurtured by gauzy imagery of Maine summer cottages, gray-haired national grandmothers, July Fourth sparklers, and cowboy boots—has let national politics create a dynasticized presidency that would have horrified America's founding fathers. They, after all, had led a revolution against a succession of royal Georges.
In this devastating book, onetime Republican strategist Phillips reveals how four generations of Bushes have ascended the ladder of national power since World War One, becoming entrenched within the American establishment—Yale, Wall Street, the Senate, the CIA, the vice presidency, and the presidency—through a recurrent flair for old-boy networking, national security involvement, and political deception. By uncovering relationships and connecting facts with new clarity, Phillips comes to a stunning conclusion: The Bush family has systematically used its financial and social empire—its “aristocracy”—to gain the White House, thereby subverting the very core of American democracy. In their ambition, the Bushes ultimately reinvented themselves with brilliant timing, twisting and turning from silver spoon Yankees to born-again evangelical Texans. As America—and the world—holds its breath for the 2004 presidential election, American Dynasty explains how it happened and what it all means.
Download Description
"A biting analysis of the Bush family's rise to power from one of today's premier political observers The Bushes are the family nobody really knows, says Kevin Phillips. This popular lack of acquaintance-nurtured by gauzy imagery of Maine summer cottages, gray-haired national grandmothers, July Fourth sparklers, and cowboy boots-has let national politics create a dynasticized presidency that would have horrified America's founding fathers. They, after all, had led a revolution against a succession of royal Georges. In this devastating book, onetime Republican strategist Phillips reveals how four generations of Bushes have ascended the ladder of national power since World War One, becoming entrenched within the American establishment-Yale, Wall Street, the Senate, the CIA, the vice presidency, and the presidency-through a recurrent flair for old-boy networking, national security involvement, and political deception. By uncovering relationships and connecting facts with new clarity, Phillips comes to a stunning conclusion: The Bush family has systematically used its financial and social empire-its "aristocracy"-to gain the White House, thereby subverting the very core of American democracy. In their ambition, the Bushes ultimately reinvented themselves with brilliant timing, twisting and turning from silver spoon Yankees to born-again evangelical Texans. As America-and the world-holds its breath for the 2004 presidential election, American Dynasty explains how it happened and what it all means."
Customer Reviews:
Exellent Book!!.......2006-12-14
A historically accurate review of the Bush multi generational quest for both national and international financial and political power with evidence that politics were a means and wealth the ends; as we continue to see in current events concerning that family today. A must read for anyone who wants at least a basic understanding of how insatiable thirst for absolute power and base, crass greed are at the heart of what and how the United States of America came to be and is currently run. When President Bush said to a group of the richest Americans during his re-election that:"...some refer to you as the 'have mores'; I refer to you as My Base." He wasn't joking; that is his brotherhood, his extended family, the real and only Americans in his world view.
Good but ignores or barely touches upon some of their dirtiest secrets.......2006-11-29
Good stuff here on the Bush Family and their many shady dealings going back to the 1800's. I mean it really is amazing how interwoven this bunch is with so many of the worst elements of the worlds power brokers for over a 150 years. If this book has a weakness its, although it brings up many of the the nefarious deeds and dealings of the Bush crime family, that it barely touches on or completely ignores the worst of the worst that the Bushs have been linked to over the years. It also tries a bit too hard to try to draw a parrellell between the Bush gangsters and European royalty by making them into Americans version of a royal family. Still recomended reading though.
Very Pleased.......2006-08-27
This was an in-depth review of the rise of the Bush family in American politics and business, from a conservative writer no less. I was impressed by the amount of research and will certainly read my books written by this author.
Excellent Historical Analysis.......2006-05-29
Kevin Phillips offers a comprehensive history of the Bush family and its activities at the nexus of US the oil, finance, and national security complex. This is most valuable if one understands the Bush family not as a source of unmitigated evil, but rather as an example of the US class structure at work. What is truly valuable in Phillips's history is the insight it provides into how power is wielded and major decisions are made. The book is heavily footnoted so that the reader can refer to other resources to back up contentious claims or to further explore relevant subjects.
My major concern about this book is its unnecessary anti-Bush bias. This bias may seem subtle to the sympathetic liberal reader or blatant to the conservative reader, but objective readers of either persuasion will agree that it is there. The problem with this is that there is no need for this bias. The true value of the book lies in its explication of how one family has benefited from the power structures inherent in US society.
a friend told me about this author.......2006-04-16
Good book, not the usual Bush~bashing spiel. Rather than having an axe to grind, the author seemed objectively concerned. I'm not really into politics because of all the goofy partisan bickering, but my politically~inclined friend recommended this to me as a book that lacks that aspect.
Ivan Rorick
Amazon.com
This is the consummate guide to the political and personal lives of every U. S. president through Bill Clinton. Arranged chronologically, The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents elaborates not only on the major accomplishments and events of their terms, but also on less well-known details such as personalities, careers before the presidency, Supreme Court appointments, hobbies, ethnic backgrounds, and even extramarital affairs. Well-organized and packed with details, the book also includes a bibliography on each executive, including books written by and about them, along with useful and entertaining appendixes on the political composition of every Congress, presidential curiosities (such as the uncanny similarities between the lives and deaths of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy), and a ranking of presidents. Whether you want to know the opponent of James Monroe in the election of 1816 or read some of Harry S. Truman's more memorable quotes, this is a most complete and thorough reference to each commander in chief.
Book Description
So completely updated, this edition will include brand new information about the life and election of the 1996 president—whoever that might be!—Take a factual look at each of our chief executives—their lives, loves, administrations, friends and foes, successes and failures. This totally comprehensive single-volume sourcebook is arranged in chronological order for easy reference and features a photographed portrait of each president. 43 photographs, 769 pages.
Customer Reviews:
The Hobo Philosopher.......2007-09-19
I have several books giving brief biographies of the presidents of the United states. I imagine that there are quite a few people like me who are interested in reading about U.S. Presidents.
This book is well worth the price. He gives a lot of accurate information in a few pages. All the info. is categorized and it is the same categories for each president - so comparisons can be made easily. The author, does of course have his favorites and some are looked at more favorably than some others. I would say that Clinton is rather heavily negative while Nixon is taken rather in stride but the facts are still the facts and they are there for each man no matter what the slant.
This is a very good volume for reference purposes.
Quite Simply, the Best Presidential Reference Book..........2007-07-29
Recently there have been a spate of books on presidential history and trivia. However, in my opinion this book is simply the best of the lot. First published during the Reagan Presidency and frequently updated since, "The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents" fits the title. Each President since Washington gets his own chapter. Each chapter features 25 or more sections providing extensive - and often surprising - details about each President. The sections range from standard fare such as "Physical Description", "Ancestry", "Father" and "Mother" to categories about each President's "Religion", "Recreation", and even "Extramarital Affairs" (if any). There are also sections on the President's opponents in each of their presidential campaigns, detailed biographies of their Vice-Presidents and Cabinet members, Supreme Court appointments, and brief histories of the major events of their presidency. There are even sections describing what each president did after they left the White House, when and how they died, and quotes by others praising and criticizing each president. If you've ever wanted to know about James A. Garfield's extramarital affair with a "Mrs. Calhoun", or Harry Truman's experiences as an artillery officer in World War One, or a detailed description of the Republican who opposed Franklin Roosevelt's bid for a second term in 1936, then this book will answer your questions, and then some. Quite simply, if you're going to buy just one reference book about America's Chief Executives, then this book should be it. The latest edition goes through the first year of George W. Bush's second term. Highly Recommended!
Solid Biographical Reference.......2007-07-28
Author William DeGregorio has done a nice job portraying the lives, loves, decisions, and biographies of each U.S. President. Readers learn more than just some basic biographical information. We also learn about what motivated them, their personal views and philosophies, their friends, loves, foes, romances, failures, successes etc. In short, we learn what made them tick. The book is readable, concise, and contains headings for the various categories. One weakness is that there is much less information on some of the more ancient chief executives, but this remains a valuable and easily-read reference.
A LOT OF GOOD RESEARCH.......2007-05-08
I've read each edition of this book through out the years. It is the best insight into the individual presidents with both personal and professional information. The book never shows bias and puts in the good with the bad. A must read for any history buff.I'm glad the author always updates his work.
The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents.......2007-03-09
Great book. Very informative with details such as favorite foods, etc.
Book Description
In this fascinating book of presidential profiles, you will meet the 42 men who have shaped the Presidency-and the course of our country. From George Washington to George W. Bush, here are the stories of their trials and triumphs, their ambitions and achievements.
Customer Reviews:
One of the better books covering the Presidents.......2007-05-02
We have been truly blessed with good men in the White House. Through the brilliant Constitution our founding fathers set up for our republic we emerged a country for all nations to envy. Through checks and balances we have created a system that works; it is at times not perfect, but there is none better.
Like any history book, "American Presidents" should not be used alone. It can not fulfill the task of evaluating the office of each of these men on its own. The author covers in detail each President's life growing up, offices held, as the executive and his achievements after the Oval Office. The vice president's, the cabinet, and historical sites are found at the end of the book. Photos are displaced throughout. One of the better books covering the Presidents.
I became increasingly interested in our Presidents, so I decide to research each one further, going as far as rating them. This is nothing new; there have been many such ratings done by scholars and intellectuals over the years. Of course I am neither. But I do find the ratings systems tend to focus on single merits and not the whole presidency. I have decided to do my own rating through these recourses:
"The American Presidents"-----Whitney
"A Patriot's History of the U.S."-----Schweikart and Allen
"The Oxford Companion to U.S. History"-----Boyer
"The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History"-----Woods
"Character"-----Wallace
"A Republic Not An Empire"-----Buchanan
and other misc. books
There is no way to fully list all of the positives and negatives of each Presidency. I have compiled a list of just a few of the important issues, then rated each according to the overall effect on the nation and the world. I admit bias cannot be removed totally. There will be some who will completely disagree with my system. You will find that I have lowered some who have been praised as great leaders and raised others that have been overlooked.
It can be hard to compare a Washington to a Bush, because these men lived at different times. The state of affairs and who they followed will have a major impact. I added W. Bush with reservation. His rating, along with the others are subject to change over time. In some cases I have added the same issue or attribute in both the pro and con column. Enjoy, take your time and feel free to comment:
After I copied and pasted I realized I could not fit the pros and cons on Amazon, so I deleted them. If any of you wish to have them you can write to me.
Rating President Held office Party
1 George Washington 1st 1789-97 Federalist
2 Thomas Jefferson 3rd 1801-09 Democrat-Republican(new)
3 Abraham Lincoln 16th 1861-65 Republican (first)
4 Calvin Coolidge 13th 1923-29 Republican
5 James Monroe 5th 1818-25 Democrat-Republican
6 Ronald Reagan 40th 1981-89 Republican
7 Grover Cleveland 22nd 1885-89 Democrat
24th 1893-97
8 James Madison 4th 1809-17 Democrat-Republican
9 John Adams 2nd 1797-1801 Federalist
10 Warren Harding 29th 1921-23 Republican
11 William McKinley 25th 1897-1901 Republican
12 Rutherford Hays 19th 1877-81 Republican
13 George W. Bush 43rd 2001- Republican
14 Dwight Eisenhower 34th 1953-61 Republican
15 Andrew Jackson 7th 1829-37 Democrat (first)
16 George H.W. Bush 41st 1989-93 Republican
17 Chester Arthur 21st 1881-85 Republican
18 Andrew Johnson 17th 1865-69 Unionist (only)
19 Franklin Pierce 14th 1853-57 Democrat
20 Gerald Ford 38th 1974-77 Republican
21 Richard Nixon 37th 1969-74 Republican
22 James Polk 11th 1845-49 Democrat
23 Martin Van Buren 8th 1837-41 Democrat (father of)
24 Harry Truman 33rd 1945-53 Democrat
25 John Kennedy 35th 1961-63 Democrat
26 Theodore Roosevelt 26th 1901-09 Republican
27 James Garfield 20th 1881 Republican
28 John Tyler 10th 1841-45 Whig
29 Benjamin Harrison 23rd 1889-93 Republican
30 John Quincy Adams 6th 1825-29 Coalition (mix)
31 James Buchanan 15th 1857-61 Democrat
32 Franklin Roosevelt 32nd 1933-45 Democrat
33 Herbert Hoover 31st 1929-33 Republican
34 Jimmy Carter 39th 1977-81 Democrat
35 Woodrow Wilson 28th 1913-21 Democrat
36 Lyndon Johnson 36th 1963-69 Democrat
37 Zachary Taylor 12th 1849-50 Whig
38 William Clinton 42nd 1993-2001 Democrat
39 William Harrison 9th 1841 whig (first)
40 Ulysses Grant 18th 1869-77 Republican
41 William Taft 27th 1909-13 Republican
42 Millard Fillmore 13th 1850-53 Whig (last)
THE AMERICAN PRESIDENTS.......2006-01-15
THIS IS A WONDERFUL OVERVIEW OF THE AMERICAN PRESIDENTS, AND QUITE ACCURATE. I HAVE READ BIOGRAPHIES OF MOST PRESIDENTS, VISITED MOST PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARIES, AND THOUGHT DAVID WHITNEY DID A GREAT JOB ON THIS SERIES.
Excellent book.......2004-01-19
This is an excellent book. It is great for people beginning to learn about American politics. It's a great source for quick handy reminders. It's a great gift. ( I bought seven copies for that reason). This would be a great book for teachers to have their high school students study.
While it is not possible to have one book completely cover all the Presidents, this single volumn outlines many important events.
There is an index in the back for quick searches.
Political views?
I have heard people claim this book is written with a Republican slant, and other claim it's written with a Democratic slant!
Using the above paragraph, one would have to think it was pretty fairly written.
I have went back to this book more often, during the election season, to brief my memory.
As a single volumn book; I repeat, this is an excellent book.
Scholarly accuracy and appealing informality.......2003-04-19
U.S. history, the government, and personae of American Presidents is a fascinating subject. While many scholarly work in the market have done in-depth investigation to profile American presidents, this title by David C Whitney and Robin Vaughn Whitney in its 9th edition from Reader's Digest is classically written and readily accessible to the general audience. Its objectivity and candor serves well as a gentle and educational introduction, an abridged version, on the development of American Presidents in relation to the unfolding drama of U.S. history.
The perennial best-seller, an enjoyable reading, excels in its elegance and clarity in comparison to many (auto)biographies of modern day C(orporate)EO/leadership titles.
Average customer rating:
- Detailed Bio - Unconvincing Thesis
- UNBIASED?? THE AUTHOR SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF HIMSELF!!
- The history of the Bush/Walker clan and the rise of George W
- Entertaining but BIASED!
- COME OUT OF THE CLOSET, Mr. Minutglio!
|
First Son: George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty
Bill Minutaglio
Manufacturer: Crown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Political
| Leaders & Notable People
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
South
| Regional U.S.
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Bush, George
| ( B )
| People, A-Z
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Midwest
| State & Local
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside History Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0812931394
Release Date: 1999-10-06 |
Amazon.com
The first of several Y2K biographies on Texas governor George W. Bush offers an in-depth look at both the Republican presidential candidate and his political family: Bill Minutaglio interviewed more than 300 people for First Son, including Bush and many members of his inner circle. The book focuses on the life of "Dubya" (the nickname used by the press and others to distinguish him from his father) and includes a combination of original material and information that has been reported elsewhere. It is neither pro- nor anti-Bush, simply reportorial and largely nonjudgmental. Readers won't find an answer to one of the season's most burning questions: Has Bush ever used illegal drugs? In a preface, Minutaglio piously says he won't stoop to such low levels. Yet one gets the sense that he won't go there because he doesn't have any hard evidence, as stories of Bush's heavy drinking are related without apparent reservation. Minutaglio, a writer for The Dallas Morning News, spends most of his time describing Bush's amazing and unexpected rise to fame. Dubya's own family, for instance, thought that younger brother Jeb would be the first to win an important public office. Yet Dubya exploited his family ties and personal charisma to have a successful business career in the 1980s and then beat a popular incumbent in 1994 to become Texas governor. (Jeb became governor of Florida in 1998, while his brother won a second term in Austin.) Minutaglio's narrative goes light on Bush's gubernatorial record and ends before his formal entry into the presidential race in 1999. Readers hungry for an overview of the man who would be president, however, could do much worse than start by looking here. --John J. Miller
Book Description
In one of the most unprecedented developments in the history of national politics, George W. Bush abruptly emerged to lead all presidential aspirants in the national polls for the 2000 election. Yet voters know very little about the man, beyond his famous name and his place in one of the nation's most powerful political dynasties.
First Son is a true, riveting family saga about extraordinary power and politics in America and in the unharnessed state--a state of mind--called Texas. The story begins with the turn-of-the-century emergence of the influential Bush-Walker clan and of Prescott Bush, the Connecticut patrician who ingrained in his family an ethos that continues to exert influence on his son, former President George Bush, and his grandsons, George W. and Jeb. How these scions of the Bush dynasty struggle to live up to their enduring legacy is the central theme of this colorful and perceptive portrait the first authentative book on the governor of Texas.
In the past year, award-winning Texas writer Bill Minutaglio has met with George W. Bush and interviewed dozens of people close to him, from his brother Governor Jeb Bush of Florida to uncles and cousins, from current and former political advisers to high-ranking insiders from his father's years in the White House. Fraternity buddies, political operatives, George W.'s employers, and even ardent critics of the Bush family bring this story to life--from the society circles in his native Connecticut to the family compound in Maine to the backwaters of his adopted Texas. The result is a book that is nuanced, insightful, and surprising in the contradictions and complexities it reveals about this man.
First Son vividly reconstructs George W. Bush's boarding-school days at one of the country's most exclusive institutions; his tenure in one of Yale's secret societies and as president of his unfettered fraternity; his attempts to follow his family's million-dollar path into the wide-open Texas oil patch; his role in major league baseball as the public face and head cheerleader for the Texas Rangers; and, finally, his rise to governor of Texas and national political force, executed with more hard-edged calculation than many people realize.
Written with precision, verve, and fair-minded balanace,
First Son will be the political story of 2000--the eye-opening tale of a natural-born politician.
Download Description
The Bush family represents one of America's most formidable political dynasties -- beginning with the election of Prescott Bush to the U.S. Senate in 1948 and continuing through 1998, when George W. Bush won a landslide reelection as Governor of Texas and his younger brother Jeb Bush was elected Governor of Florida. Of course, the generational link between these men is former President George Bush, whose accomplishments have been a daunting factor in the lives of his sons. Veteran Texas reporter and long-time Bush observer Bill Minutaglio has written the most authoritative and insightful work to date on the First Son. Minutaglio interviewed Bush's friends and family, his old drinking buddies and Yale classmates, associates from his days as an oilman and owner of the Texas Rangers, and the politicians who have seen Bush up close in action. Minutaglio even gained access to George W. Bush himself.
Customer Reviews:
Detailed Bio - Unconvincing Thesis.......2006-12-29
Minutaglio provides a detailed life of George W. Bush, from his birth in New Haven Connecticut to his first election as governor of Texas in 1994. (After that he only describes a few events from his eight years as governor and provides a brief afterword about the 2000 presidential campaign that, strangely, concludes without revealing the results of the Supreme Court decision that finalized the election.)
Yet he fails to demonstrate that W. is only, or even largely, the product of the Bush dynasty. He fails to explain why Bush follows more in the new conservative steps of Reagan than in the moderate, non-ideological path of his father Bush 41. He doesn't mention neoconservatism at all, although Condi Rice is mentioned in the last pages. Yes, he does describe important elements of continuity in the dynasty (education at Andover, Yale, and Harvard; work in the West Texas oil fields; and common political experiences), but he fails to examine the very important differences between the two men, differences that may prove to be even more important.
The book also overlooks the role of Bush's faith in God. He describes his 1986 decision to quit drinking as an effort to avoid embarrassing his father and calls his conversion experience an attempt to reach out to the Christian right. For someone like Bush who has been the most open president about his faith since William McKinley, this is a major oversight. Minutaglio should have explained how and why his faith was important to him and his political career.
As a biography the book is fair and even-handed, describing Bush's wayward years, his maturing, and his achievements in business and politics. It provides good insight into how Bush developed as a man and politician. But it stops as Bush begins to emerge on the national stage as Texas governor.
Minutaglio's writing is also repetitive, narrating the same incidents and characterizations at different places in the book. At times it seems disjointed, and he does a poor job of explaining where certain action occurs. But there are also some really funny stories, mostly at Bush's expense, in the book (e.g. the recycled Christmas cards and the cattle guard's uniform).
Overall, a decent and impartial biography of W.'s pre-gubernatorial life, although the indifferent writing makes it a bit plodding to read at times.
UNBIASED?? THE AUTHOR SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF HIMSELF!!.......2006-12-28
THIS IS AN UNADULTERATED PUFF PIECE THAT EITHER HIDES, OBSCURES, IGNORES OR COMPLETELY FABRICATES A NEW HISTORY & PERSONA FOR GEORGE W. BUSH!
PLAIN & SIMPLE...THIS BOOK IS A JOKE...AND A COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME & MONEY (WHICH I'D LOVE TO GET BACK PLEASE!)!!
The history of the Bush/Walker clan and the rise of George W.......2004-09-11
This is a nice book detailing the history of the Bush/Walker clan and the early life of George W. Bush. There is a lot of trash out there about this man and his politics, so it is hard to get a good biography of him. Make no mistakes, Minutaglio reveals a lot of the unsavory side of George W., but it is unbiased and he deals in facts. He also covers the strengths of this man, so the reader can get the good and the bad about him. The author only reveals the facts of his National Guard stint and the glosses over the drug allegations, so the reader cannot judge the current controversy over these allegations. I enjoy a book dealing in facts and not conservative/liberal conjecture. Minutaglio does a good job in this.
I especially like how Minutaglio reveals the personal relationship of George W. with his father. This is probably the most difficult aspect of this book, but the author summarizes their relationship well. Few other authors have attempted this with George W.
For those wanting a good biography of our 43rd President, this is nice book and read. For those wanting to read trash, go elsewhere--there is plenty to pick from.
Entertaining but BIASED!.......2003-07-31
I bought this book on a lark thinking it might actually be what the cover notes said is was "unbiased", but as soon as I saw Dan Rather's opinion on the book (printed on the back of the paperback I purchased), I should've known this book was not necessarily "the truth" on George W. Bush. Don't believe everything you read or hear from anyone in print or media. I encourage you to be selective and present things in context. . .
Speaking of things in context, I really can't trust this book as gospel because Minutaglio quotes sources in such a sporadic way, footnoting the quotes only to look more credible. The quotes are sometimes ridiculous and misplaced, it seems, but albeit, very entertaining.
That's just it, this book is entertaining and nothing more except to provide a biased peek at what Minutaglio believes is the driving force and reasons for our President's personality, politics, career choices, and other personal decisions.
Juicy. As in gossipy.
COME OUT OF THE CLOSET, Mr. Minutglio!.......2003-02-23
Maybe I'm slow...or too trusting. Previous reviewers kept insisting again and again that this book was "unbiased". WRONG. From the first page, the author had an attitude about Bush - and the GOP. It gradually became clear that the author is a passionate Democrat, as he approvingly whitewashed all personal Clinton and Democrat party issues and glorified people like Al Gore. The bias abounds throughout the book... RNC party strategists are called "political terrorists", while their DNC equals are portrayed as sincere victims at each turn of the two year campaign. And you Mom's and Dad's out there, tell me: what parent (such as George, Sr) would hug the son he loves (George W.) on the happiest day of his life, but instead of thinking of the incredibly close relationship of family love, pride, and respect that the father and son have always shared, the father is now thinking only of the three times in a lifetime that father/son had been briefly angry with each other. And why remind the reader again and again, as much as four times over hundreds of pages, of each small tidbit of negative information? Was he afraid we would forget? Why did it take me hundreds of pages of wasted time to finally realize that no matter what the Bushes say or do, this author is biased to hate Bush and the Bush family, and to love Gore - and the Democrats - and the RNC. Period. Every possible issue and personal examination is slanted toward contempt for the one, and pride in the other. BOTTOM LINE: This book was promoted DECEPTIVELY. If Mr. Minitaglio wanted to write a hate-piece, fine - but why not be up front about it? My recommendation for busy people who love to read is simply that you beware. Know before you go. I'm rating the book a 3, because my friends who are Democrats may enjoy this book. (but why waste time, since he is already president and there's nothing you can do about it?) BUT... my Republican friends, STAY AWAY from this book, because it is unfair, duplicitous, full of seething, underhanded bias that Bernard Goldberg courageously exposed in his excellent book "BIAS". The bias peeks out from - and underneath - every sentence. Hope this helps reverent readers like me who just want to read, and who just want the TRUTH.
Download Description
"
The early years of the twenty-first century were a tumultuous time in America. During this time the man beside the President was Ari Fleischer, his press secretary and one of his most trusted confidants. In this role, Fleisher was present for every decision and became an eyewitness to history. In this riveting account, Fleischer goes behind the scenes as he recalls his experiences in the West Wing, including such momentous events as the 2000 election, September 11, 2001 and its aftermath, the anthrax scare, the war in Afghanistan, the pressure-filled buildup to the war in Iraq, and the President's thoughts as the war began. Through the ups and downs of this time, he took the heat, fielded the questions, and brought the President's message into living rooms around the world.
The early years of the twenty-first century were a tumultuous time in America. The country faced a hotly contested presidential election, the largest terrorist attack in the nation's history, and the early stages of war. Through it all, President George W. Bush surrounded himself with a handful of close advisers. During this time the man beside the President was Ari Fleischer, his press secretary and one of his most trusted confidants. In this role, Fleisher was present for every decision and became an eyewitness to history.
In this riveting account, Fleischer goes behind the scenes as he recalls his experiences in the West Wing. Through the ups and downs of this time, he took the heat, fielded the questions, and brought the President's message into living rooms around the world.
In
Taking Heat, Fleischer, for the first time, gives his perspective on:
- The 2000 election, from the recounts to the transition to power
- September 11, 2001, its aftermath, and the anthrax scare
- The pressure-filled buildup to the war in Iraq and the President's thoughts as the war began
- Life in the White House, from learning to adjust to the pace of the West Wing and his early briefings to his relationship with the press
- The White House press corps, who they are, and how they report the news
- The factors that led to his decision to leave Washington behind.
This is the story of the men and women of the White House press corps and the cornerstones of democracy: freedom of speech and the freedom of the press. Fleischer presents an in-depth, insider's view on the Washington political arena from a perspective few have seen.
Fleischer writes of his belief that the press has a bias in Washington. It's not a question of partisanship or press-driven ideology. Instead, it's a focus on conflict, particularly if it's a conflict they can attach to the President. It's the nature of the White House press corps, regardless of who's in power. The members of the White House press corps are masters at being devil's advocate, able to take with passion the opposite side of whatever issue the President supports. Fleischer's job was to calmly field their questions, no matter how pointed.
Taking Heat is an introspective exploration of the top political events in the first half of the Bush administration, as well as the candid observations of a professional who stood in the bright lights of the world stage.
"
Customer Reviews:
I got to be honest here...........2007-08-05
When I found this book (on CD) in the sale rack I thought maybe I'd found a rare jewel. Figuring the early Bush years were old news and this book was sent to the sale rack been because of that.
First off Ari should have never read his own book. He came off as a real complainer. A man who had written a book to continue to make excuses for his decisions. Notice I didn't say mistakes. He rarely stated a move of his without showing us how he was forced to do so. It was very sad. Even at one point the old Clinton administration pushes him around.
The few moments he gives us of true inside action where wonderful. There may have only been three in the whole book. The Colin Powell condom story was one of them. Ari that's what the reader wanted in the book.
What scared me was that Ari came off as extremely angry at the press. There is one woman reporter who he mocks endlessly in his vocal impersonation of her. I hope she doesn't hear the CD version or she is going to be super mad. Ari spends a very long chapter expaining how the press is unfair and bias. He uses graduation numbers instead of true stories. We all saw the press eat Bill Clinton alive...so it was hard to believe they were nicer to Bill then they were to George. That chapter should have met the shreader.
Ari did show some spots of careless reporting but his use of "you should have believed the White House" was a weak response. After past White House administrations trying to "out sly" the press Ari should have known the press would not simply take him at his word. He came off sounding like a naive high school student.
Several of the world stituations that happened while Ari was in office where handled with amazing skill in real life but Ari made it sound like he was rolled over. The moment where Bush took the megaphone in NYC was the most powerful moment in his presidency. Luckily I saw it because Ari barely mentioned it.
Ari ducked and dodged the press for years. He's mad that he did it. He's still mad at them. The amazing strategies the Bush administration used to keep the American people informed are not mentioned in this book. I wanted to learn something. Instead I see Ari scolding a press member for a inaccurate story that hurt the White House then giving the same guy a hot breaking story in the next breath by accident AND letting the guy run it. What was his reasoning? It sounded weak and also like bad management.
Was Ari out of his league? The book makes it appear so. Luckily I watch all this on television as an American citizen. I know the book paints the wrong picture. To the public Ari did a stand up job and he worked well to keep the American people informed. So next time you write a book Ari stick to your guns and be proud of what you did. It would make for a much better read.
Very fine comedy!.......2007-05-13
Absolutely rip-roaring hilarious!! It appears that he is actually not trying to be comedic but when one reads "I will always admire the President's calm and self control" (pg. 140, referring to Bush listening to "My Pet Goat" after being informed that his contry is under attack), it should be obvious that we are in the presence of a comedic master or an idiot who manages to be very funny. Either way, one of the funniest books I have read! Minus one star for some tedious passages trying to show himself in a good light without being funny.
The dialogues of george bush that are presented are totally unrealistic and seemed to be calculated to put him in a good light. For eg., he says Bush was a superb military commander as he left all the major decisions to the generals but then conveniently ignores Shinseki. In fact, most of the Iraq war dialogue is very funny now that we know more about what actually happened.
The Rating Depends on Your Point of View.......2006-04-24
Did my opinion of the president change after reading this book? Not really. I read the book with a somewhat-open mind, in that the book is written from the personal perspective of someone who was there. Fleischer wrote from his perspective; gave his testimoy; in that respect, the books is very well written. We're also talking about someone who trusts the President implicitly, so he's going to defend him. So I can't consider this a totally "objective" account of what was going on in the White House during the time the war was being debated.
I don't particuarly appreciate President Bush's policies and his way of thinking, but I do appeciate the fact that he doesn't change his mind once he makes a decision. (Most might say he won't admit he's made a mistake - that's a risk that's run with standing your ground.)
What I did appreciate about the book was the insight into President Bush's character. It explains to me why he thinks the way he does, and helps me understand why he says what he does. Doesn't mean I appreciate what he says, but understanding a person goes a long way in formulating an opinion.
I also appreciated the behind-the-scenes view into what was going on in the White House during the tense fall of '01.
I loved the insight into the media. Do I think they're biased? Absolutely! The book explains the media as much as it does the White House. Being interested in journalism, I was wrapped up in that part of the book. Doesn't excuse their recent behaviors....but the atmosphere of pressure to get the news out as it happens makes people take corners. I can understand that too.
Bottom line: if you're a Bush supporter, you'll love the book. If you a Bush loather, I don't see this book changing your mind. I wish, however, that you might be able to read it to understand why he is how he is...
Like some people still watch TV: what do they know?.......2005-10-17
The author, Ari Fleischer, of TAKING HEAT / THE PRESIDENT, THE PRESS, AND MY YEARS IN THE WHITE HOUSE, having been close to events that may yet produce an indictment of presidential adviser Karl Rove, has a point of view which is in need of a form of analysis made possible in modern society by a heady mix of Freud's books on Thomas Woodrow Wilson and WIT AND ITS RELATION TO THE UNCONSCIOUS. People who appreciate this book are likely to be applying the synthesis at the center of the latter, on "The Pleasure Mechanism and the Psychogenesis of Wit" and "The Motives of Wit and Wit as a Social Process." A little old lady named Helen Thomas is so good at filling the role which clowns reserve for representatives of virtue that Chapter 13 (pages 246-258) gives her a platform capable of illustrating section 64 of Nietzsche's THE GAY SCIENCE on "Sceptics. -- I am afraid that old women in their most secret heart of hearts are more sceptical than all men:" only to have her observations about "turmoil in the Arab world, obviously, from all the things we've been doing" answered at the end of the chapter by:
ARI: I think there's a lot of silent rejoicing in the Arab world that Saddam Hussein is gone.
The silent majority was also used by Nixon to justify his policies, which took years and a Congressional action ending American bombing in Southeast Asia instead of the timetable that "Peace is at hand" usually implies. Fortunately for Karl Rove, people tend to allow advisers near the top to expect to get away with a variety of secret circus stunts, justified by ideals worthy of THOMAS WOODROW WILSON, as when George W. Bush stated in March, 2003, "The best thing we have going for us is that our values will unleash that freedom." (p. 335).
Now is hardly the time to use Carl Schmitt's book, THE CONCEPT OF THE POLITICAL, to illustrate what war signifies in modern society:
Hegel has also advanced a definition of the enemy which in general has been evaded by modern philosophers. The enemy is a negated otherness. But this negation is mutual and this mutuality of negations has its own concrete existence, as a relation between enemies; this relation of two nothingnesses on both sides bears the danger of war. ([Schmitt's Note], p. 63).
It was in answering a question about the cost of such danger, based on an estimate by the Congressional Budget Office of between $9 and $13 billion, that Ari Fleischer made a famous remark, on October 1, 2002, "The cost of one bullet if the Iraqi people take it upon themselves is substantially less than that." (p. 286). The form of apology demonstrates techniques Freud associated with wit: "I had only one bullet to give my country, and I used it to shoot myself in the foot." (p. 286). Back on May 1, 2002, Helen Thomas was told that regime change in Iraq had already been approved in a law, "passed by the House and Senate, signed into law by President Clinton. Regime change, in whatever form it takes, is the policy of the United States government, under President Clinton, continued under President Bush. . . . Helen, if you were the President, you could have vetoed the law. (Laughter) President Clinton signed it, and the President will keep it enforced." (p. 252).
Politics in America has become so Schmittian that it is not surprising to find that Ari's gratitude to his editor, Claire Wachtel, in the Preface, is primarily about their political differences:
I had the help of many people writing and editing this book. Thank you to my editor at William Morrow, Claire Wachtel. A self-described "knee-jerk liberal," Claire helped me--sometimes forced me--to carefully think through my arguments and back them up. She challenged my assumptions and helped me to move from assertions to reasoned statements supported by evidence. What may seem self-evident to a Republican wasn't good enough for Claire. One of the most helpful and effective "prods" I ever met, I couldn't have written this without her. Thank you for your wisdom. (p. xiii).
To rock and rollers, this might sound too much like the chorus of the song `got my own thing' on Liz Phair's recent `somebody's miracle' (2005) CD. "They say that we would get along. So let's just get along. Oooh boy, I'd love to help. Give you enough rope to hang yourself. And watch the silly things you do." The court of public opinion is not as narrow in its scope as the laws which are likely to come to the attention of a special prosecutor who investigates how secret information is used by those who saw a bit more intelligence than the President saw before he claimed that Congress saw the same intelligence he saw. "And I hope you're swinging this way too. Boy I do." Liz sounds like part of a war between sexes that becomes "freed from all particular personality" (Schmitt, p. 63), as Hegel put it in "This war is not a war of families against families, but between peoples, and hatred becomes thereby undifferentiated and freed from all particular personality." People at the top like to pretend that they have a frame of reference which is above Hegel's complicated formulation, but then we get a book like TAKING HEAT.
disappointing.......2005-09-21
I'm guessing that at least one-half of this book's nearly 400 pages are transcripts -- either of excerpts from the President's remarks or speeches and of the give-and-take at Ari's press briefings. Since Fleischer maintains that his job was never to make news, the transcripts typically illustrate his ability calmly to provide platitudinous non-answers to nearly every question. There are so many of these illustrations that it becomes as tedious and aggravating to the reader as it must have been for the news-hungry journalists. The many excerpts from GWB's remarks serve to reconfirm that -- whatever his other strengths -- it is undeniable (even by his strong supporters) that Bush's rhetorical skills are weak. On the other hand, Fleisher does ably document the naked pro-liberal, anti-conservative bias by so many reporters from the mainstream media; he also demonstrates very convincingly an overwhelming press agenda to create news by finding or exaggerating conflicts between government officials where none exist, i.e. to sensationalize at all costs rather than to inform readers of the real facts. He does a good job, too, of compiling many examples of blatant factual errors by major media, reminding us that, unlike newspapers, broadcast news never troubles to issue corrections. Although my impression of Fleischer from his TV appearances is that he is an interesting, witty, engaging personality, his book is very dry, revealing very little of his personal side and virtually none of the President in whose company he spent so much time. The book contains very few memorable behind-the-scenes anecdotes, and adds astonishingly little to the below-the-surface portrait of Bush (or Fleischer) as a person. The book could have been shortened by half and we would have learned no less about W or Ari.
Books:
- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
- Nellie Bly:: Daredevil, Reporter, Feminist
- Now Face to Face
- On the Way Home: The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, in 1894
- Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China's Past and Present
- Out of the Ballpark
- PLAYING WITH THE ENEMY: A Baseball Prodigy, a World at War, and a Field of Broken Dreams
- Reflections On A Mountain Lake: Teachings on Practical Buddhism
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Shrub : The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush
- How to Hear From God: Learn to Know His Voice and Make the Right Decisions
- You're Not You: A Novel
- Beyond the Camellia Belt: Breeding, Propagating, and Growing Cold-Hardy Camellias
- Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries
- Fundamentals of Physical Acoustics
- From Erdös to Kiev: Problems of Olympiad Caliber
- Travels and Other Writings: Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida
- Alaska Odyssey: Gospel of the Wilderness
- Main Economic Indicators: Comparative Methodological Analysis : Industry, Retail and Construction In
Laura Bush: An Intimate Portrait of the First Lady
Work Hard, Study...and Keep Out of Politics! Adventures and Lessons from an Unexpected Public Life
The Mr. & Mrs. Happy Handbook: Everything I Know About Love and Marriage (with corrections by Mrs. Doocy)
Culture Warrior
Our 50 States: A Family Adventure Across America
