• George H W Bush Memoir
• George Hw Bush Autobiography
• George Hw Bush Book

Decision Points is a memoir by former U.S. PresidentGeorge W. Bush.^[1] It was released on November 9, 2010, and the release was accompanied by national television appearances and a national tour. The book surpassed sales of two million copies less than two months after its release,^[2] breaking the record previously held by former President Bill Clinton's memoir My Life. Decision Points also opened at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list.^[3]

Content[edit]

Bush's 481-page memoir is broken up into 14 chapters. The first two chapters are about his life before the presidency. The first chapter is about notable events in his earlier life such as his decision to quit drinking in 1986. The second chapter is about his decision to run for Governor of Texas, and then President of the United States. The remaining twelve chapters are about events during his presidency: the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, aid to developing countries, the Iraq troop surge of 2007, domestic issues (including Medicare Part D, Social Security reform, No Child Left Behind, and Immigration reform), the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, embryonic stem-cell research, and the financial crisis of 2008. He wrote with the research assistance of former White House Deputy Director of Speechwriting Christopher Michel.^[1][4][5]

In the book, Bush described his moral dilemma over stem-cell research. He extensively consulted members of his administration about the pros and cons of the issue, learning about the benefits of stem-cell research while trying to find ways to avoid encouraging abortions. He likened his concern of the wrong application of the policy to the Aldous Huxley novel Brave New World. Bush writes that his decision to only use existing lines has been vindicated by recent successful research undertaken with non-embryonic stem cells.^[6]

Decision Points is a memoir by former U.S. President George W. It was released on November 9, 2010, and the release was accompanied by national television appearances and a national tour. And in a new biography, former President George H.W. Bush tells Jon Meacham just what he thinks about Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld’s work in his son’s administration, as reported by Fox.

Bush also talked about the 2000 election in detail and mentioned that he thought he had lost until Karl Rove called to say that Florida was too close to call. The closeness of the election led to the 36-day legal battle over Florida and its 25 electoral votes. Bush was eventually declared the winner when the Supreme Court stopped a court ordered recount in a controversial 5–4 decision on December 8, 2000. Bush notably did not mention losing the popular vote but did make note of the controversy surrounding the election, including the presence of protesters at his 2001 inauguration.

Bush also discusses his decision to send troops to Iraq, initially and again in 2007, arguing that Saddam Hussein's refusal to comply with the United Nations needed to end, as well as arguing that failure to send more troops to Iraq in 2007 could have resulted in a situation similar to the Vietnam War. In Afghanistan, he noted the difficulties of capturing former Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. He states that a few months before the end of his term his administration planned a strategy of sending more troops to Afghanistan and increasing drone strikes on Pakistan. He felt it was best to wait until his successor took office for the U.S. military to employ this strategy.

Bush explains how he had to have long conversations with some Republican members of Congress, during the financial crisis of 2008, who were reluctant to support the bailout. Bush expressed to them his anger that the government had to take such a drastic measure but reminded them that he is supporting the bailout because he felt a risk of an economic depression was not worth taking.

Bush expressed his views of the 2008 election. He stated that he was disappointed that 2008 U.S. Republican presidential candidate John McCain was reluctant to accept his endorsement and he believed that he could have helped McCain's campaign. He referenced Barack Obama several times, but positively and without criticism.

He wrote about his backward-looking last days in office,

I reflected on everything we were facing. Over the past few weeks we had seen the failure of America's two largest mortgage entities, the bankruptcy of a major investment bank, the sale of another, the nationalization of the world's largest insurance company, and now the most drastic intervention in the free market since the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt. At the same time, Russia had invaded and occupied Georgia, Hurricane Ike had hit Texas, and America was fighting a two-front war in Iraq and Afghanistan. This was one ugly way to end the presidency.^[7]

Advance and publicity campaign[edit]

Bush has stated that he began writing the book the day after he left office.^[8] He was paid $7 million for the first 1.5 million copies.^[9]

In tandem with book-publication appearances, Bush hosted a November 16 groundbreaking ceremony for the George W. Bush Presidential Center at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.^[10] The event gathered some 2,500 guests, including hundreds of former administration officials. Former Vice President Dick Cheney said at the event, 'When times have been tough or the critics have been loud, you've always said you had faith in history's judgment, and history is beginning to come around.' In turn, Bush said of the recently hospitalized Cheney, 'He was a great vice president of the United States, and I'm proud to call him friend.'^[11]

Reactions[edit]

Reaction to the book began far in advance of its earliest release, even a sneak peek at a draft, as reported by Tim Dowling of The Guardian in April 2010, six months before its publication. Quotations from the draft were published without comment, except for proposed cover pictures for the book.^[12]

George H W Bush Memoir

The New York Times'Peter Baker, who was given an advance copy of the book, assessed Bush's political standing as the book release rolled out in appearances with Oprah Winfrey, Matt Lauer, and Candy Crowley.

At the same time as Baker, on the Times opinion pages columnist Maureen Dowd focused unfavorably on repeated instances in the book of Bush feeling 'blindsided' but concluded that while his 'decision-making leaves something to be desired, his story-telling is good.' To illustrate the last point, Dowd recounted the story in which Vladimir Putin had bragged that his black Labrador, Koni, was '[b]igger, stronger, and faster than Barney.' Stephen Harper later 'drolly noted [to Bush], 'You're lucky he only showed you his dog.'^[13]

Journalist Tim Rutten wrote for the Los Angeles Times recommending the book, which he found 'unexpectedly engrossing' and better 'than many of his detractors expected.' Rutten particularly highlighted Bush's expressed concerns about faulty intelligence on Saddam Hussein's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction as well as Bush's regrets about the Hurricane Katrina. Seeing a 'disarming candor' combined with an 'almost alarming off-handedness about the implications of what's being said', Rutten compared Bush's attitudes to the characters in Shakespeare's Macbeth.^[7]

The former Chancellor of Germany, Gerhard Schröder, stated, 'The former American president is not telling the truth.' He was referring to Bush's allegation that Schröder had promised to support the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Schröder responded that he had promised only that he would support action against Iraq if Iraq were found to have been involved in the September 11 attacks. 'This connection, however, as it became clear during 2002, was false and constructed.'^[14]

The Daily Telegraph ran a negative review by journalist Mick Brown. Brown remarked that 'Bush is no great literary stylist' and that the 'writing seldom rises above the workmanlike' while some 'language is distinctly odd.' Brown stated that Bush comes across as 'likeable', but Brown concluded that 'conspicuously absent from this book is any acknowledgement, or even honest appraisal, of the larger failings of his presidency'.^[8]

Journalist Michael Barone wrote for National Review praising Bush for admitting to 'serious errors up front'. Barone cited Bush's statement that he should have stayed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and deployed active-duty troops quickly in order to assist Hurricane Katrina victims as well as Bush's admission that he failed to see the 'house of cards' in America's financial sector.^[6]

See also[edit]

• A Journey by Tony Blair
• Spoken from the Heart by Laura Bush
• Known and Unknown: A Memoir by Donald Rumsfeld
• At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA by George Tenet
• In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir by Dick Cheney

George Hw Bush Autobiography

References[edit]

1. ^ ^ab'Decision Points: George Bush's Memoir Coming Soon'. The Huffington Post. Associated Press. April 25, 2010. Retrieved April 26, 2010.
2. ^'Chart-topping George W. Bush memoir Decision Points sells 2 million copies'. Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. December 23, 2010. Retrieved December 27, 2010.
3. ^Halper, Daniel (December 27, 2010). 'Media Ignores Bush Success with Decision Points'. The Weekly Standard. Retrieved October 23, 2012.
4. ^'Christopher Michel – President Bush Memoirs Collaborator and Speechwriter'. OneDublin.org. August 7, 2010.
5. ^Curtis, Bryan (March 9, 2010). 'Bush's Ghostwriter'. The Daily Beast. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
6. ^ ^abBarone, Michael (November 15, 2010). 'Bush's Decision Points'. National Review. Retrieved October 23, 2012.
7. ^ ^ab'Book review: Decision Points by George W. Bush'. Los Angeles Times. November 10, 2010.
8. ^ ^abBrown, Mick (November 12, 2010). 'Decision Points by George Bush: review'. The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved December 31, 2011.
9. ^Simon, Mann (November 11, 2010). ''Man of Steel' barely rates a mention in Bush memoirs'. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved November 15, 2010.
10. ^Baker, Peter (November 6, 2010). 'Now Appearing: George W. Bush'. The New York Times (NY ed.). p. WK1. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
11. ^Baker, Peter (November 16, 2010). 'Bush and Cheney Reunite at Library Groundbreaking'. Caucus blog. The New York Times. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
12. ^Dowling, Tim (April 26, 2010). 'First look at George Bush's memoirs'. The Guardian. London.
13. ^Dowd, Maureen (November 6, 2010). ''Blindsided': A President's Story' (NY ed.). p. WK9. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
14. ^'Ex-Chancellor Schröder Says Bush 'Is Not Telling the Truth''. Der Spiegel Online. November 9, 2010. Retrieved November 11, 2010.

External links[edit]

Tags

American history, biographies, book reviews, George HW Bush, Herbert Parmet, Jon Meacham, presidential biographies, US Presidents

In numerous ways, George H.W. Bush seems to have spent his life preparing for the presidency. A man of almost supernatural decency, Bush was the oldest-ever living president until his death thirty-eight days ago at the age of 94. (With fair winds and following seas, Jimmy Carter will inherit that title in just over ten weeks.)

But now, despite his heroics in combat, his business acumen, his extraordinary capitalist grit and his unobtrusive but earnest political ambition, George H.W. Bush suddenly seems a quiet and unassuming figure from a long-passed era.

Bush 41’s presidency ended nearly a quarter-century ago but it still seems premature to consider the “best biographies” of him due, in part, to the recency of his death, his still-evolving legacy and the scarcity of biographies covering his life. And, in my opinion, the definitive biography of Bush 41 has yet to be written…

I read two biographies of Bush: a relatively dated book by noted historian (and author) Herbert Parmet and a much newer one by renowned biographer (and historian) Jon Meacham. In many ways the biographies are yin and yang, seemingly very different…but exceptionally complementary. Neither is ideal, but together they are clearly worth more than the sum of their parts.

* * *

* “Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush” (2015) by Jon Meacham

The author’s proximity to his subject is the defining feature of this biography. Meacham came to know Bush (and his family) extremely well during the decade-plus he spent writing this book. Meacham was even selected to eulogize Bush at his recent funeral. Thus, “Destiny and Power” affords readers the opportunity to see the world through Bush’s eyes. And in a very palpable way this biography reads like the memoirs Bush never wrote for himself.

But Bush’s pre-presidency passes too quickly and with too little depth. And while his presidency is covered at a more deliberate pace it often feels too forgiving. While Meacham is critical of Bush on occasion, pointing out flaws or failures, the book exudes an undeniable air of sympathy and affinity.

Nevertheless, Meacham is able to provide insight into Bush’s character and his world view that is likely to prove unique among Bush 41’s biographers – past and future. And although it failed to live up to my high expectations, this is a must-read on George H.W. Bush — 4 stars (Full review here)

* *

* “George Bush: Life of a Lone Star Yankee” (1997) by Herbert Parmet

Parmet was a long-time historian, professor and prolific author who died recently. His biography of Bush is not quite cradle-to-grave; it ends with the Bush presidency (leaving aside his retirement years and political legacy). But, otherwise, it is both comprehensive and thorough.

The best aspect of this biography is Parmet’s review of Bush’s early years. Nowhere have I seen better coverage of Bush 41’s ancestry, his military service, his congressional career, his service with the UN or the CIA. By comparison, Bush’s national political career is fine but not exceptional; pages devoted to President Bush’s response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait is particularly noteworthy, however.

What Jon Meacham does well in “Destiny and Power” tends to be in short supply here; Meachem sees the world from his subject’s perspective (but not from a distance) while Parmet observes events through a reporter’s eyes. To Parmet, things just happen; understanding why is comparatively unimportant. For Meacham, understanding Bush’s mindset is of paramount importance; seeing things from an impartial third-party point of view is less critical.

In the end, Parmet’s and Meacham’s coverage of Bush’s life are surprisingly synergistic. But for Bush’s pre-presidency, Parmet’s coverage gets the nod — 3¾ stars (Full review here)

George Hw Bush Book

* * *

Best Biography of George HW Bush: ***Too early to call***

Solid “One-Two” Punch: Parmet’s “George Bush” followed by Meacham’s “Destiny and Power”

Follow-up:

– “George H. W. Bush: The American Presidents Series” by Timothy Naftali