Post by dustdevil28 on Dec 13, 2010 14:10:34 GMT -8
I recently finished former President Bush's book covering his early political career and the major events during his 8 years in office. Like him, hate him, remember him fondly considering what we have today or rejoice that "bushisms" are a thing of the past, one thing I think Americans of all political affiliations can agree on is that Bush's 8 years took place in some of the most important times for this country in decades. His decisions, his agenda, his policy were controversial and events which took place during his presidency will be remembered by Americans for generations to come. President Bush covered each of these and to my knowledge did not leave any event uncovered. Overall I found the book to be a great look at the inside of how the administration was run and a great look into the President's rationale that went into most major decisions.
The book starts out with an account of George's early upbringing by his father and mother in Midland, Texas. Some interesting moments to note are George's simple upbringing early in life as his father sought to make himself a success, which was contrasted by family visits to Connecticut where his Grandfather, Prescott Bush, then a US Senator from Connecticut. A very notable instance in this visits with his grandfather is a time when he was in the Senate chambers and was introduced by his grandfather to a Senator from Texas, his grandfather boasting "here's one of your constituents." That Senator from Texas being LBJ. Other notable items from Bush's youth was his being shipped off to a private school in Massachusetts which was followed by college at Yale and later attendance at Harvard Business school, interestingly in Bush's first run for political office his opponent would use his time in northern schools to paint Bush as a carpetbager yankee, a tactic that worked.
Before the Presidency we have the election, and as most remember the Presidential election of 2000 was a controversial one in which the Democratic challenger Al Gore won the popular vote, but lost the electoral vote and therefore the Presidency to George W. Bush. As Bush recalls the election campaign he notes that on the night of the election when it appeared that W would carry Florida, Bush received a call from Gore stating that he would concede the race to him. Gore than requested that W give Gore thirty minutes so that Gore can address his supporters. W gave it too him and waited.. and waited.. only to have Gore's campaign inform him that they were withdrawing their earlier concession. A month of court challenges later the Supreme Court ruled that the continued recounts were unconstitutional and that the earlier results would have to be accepted and the Florida and the Presidency were awarded to George W. Bush.
Covering the terrorist attacks of 9/11 Bush maintains that he wanted to project calm to the classroom and to the reporters. The last thing he wanted cameras to catch was a President jumping up and racing out of the room the moment he heard about 9/11. While Bush would later be criticised for this action I find his logic behind his decision acceptable, though I disagree with it overall and believe he should have excused himself from that classroom.
While covering the lead up to war in Iraq Bush devoted a good bit of time in his book to try and lay out the diplomatic courses of actions he took against Saddam Hussein's regime. He notes that in a world were the 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred he could not sit back and hope that the regime would remain in it's corner and not become a threat to the American people. Interestingly he notes that they received intel prior to the war that Abu Zaqub al Zarqawi was leading a group in Iraq that would have chemical weapons soon and that they would use in a future attack. When weighing whether to attack the plant Bush opted not to attack the area feeling that the attack could create sympathy in the world for Iraq and lesson their resolve to demand a full accounting for Saddam's WMDs.
While discussing bipartisanship President Bush notes that one of the first people he invited over to the white house for "family movie night" was the late Senator Ted Kennedy. He notes that while he and Ted disagreed on many things, they both shared a passion for reforming the countries education system. Bush would ultimately gain Kennedy's support on this legislation and noted with pride the improved test scores for America's youth following the passage of the no child left behind act. He notes other areas, but like any American also notes the difficulty he encountered from both the left and the right on many legislative issues such as extending medicare coverage to cover prescription pills for the elderly, or his attempt to reform Social Security.
Lastly I want to cover the President's comments on the current political crisis. Bush noted the beginning by stating it was Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson that broke the news to him about the failures of many banks and mortgage brokers that eventually required a bailout. In the early instances the government was able to intervene by finding a willing buyer in the free market to take up the slack and keep the failing company from falling under. Other banks could not be saved and required government intervention in order to save millions of lives. It was a decision at the time that Bush makes clear he did not wish to make, but in the end decided to make because the far reaching affect would hurt the American people more than an immediate government intervention. At the time Bush was attacked by both the left and right for this decision and the timing of this collapse likely served as the final crisis that caused any hope of a Republican victory in 2008 to disappear. Bush has since been vindicated though, as almost all institutions that received bailout money have paid it back with interest, making a profit for the government and keeping taxpayers from taking a permanent hit.
Overall the book covers many topics, a bit too many for this book review. I enjoyed it and I think readers of both political affiliations could enjoy it, though I would only recommend it as a Christmas gift for conservatives.
-BB
The book starts out with an account of George's early upbringing by his father and mother in Midland, Texas. Some interesting moments to note are George's simple upbringing early in life as his father sought to make himself a success, which was contrasted by family visits to Connecticut where his Grandfather, Prescott Bush, then a US Senator from Connecticut. A very notable instance in this visits with his grandfather is a time when he was in the Senate chambers and was introduced by his grandfather to a Senator from Texas, his grandfather boasting "here's one of your constituents." That Senator from Texas being LBJ. Other notable items from Bush's youth was his being shipped off to a private school in Massachusetts which was followed by college at Yale and later attendance at Harvard Business school, interestingly in Bush's first run for political office his opponent would use his time in northern schools to paint Bush as a carpetbager yankee, a tactic that worked.
Before the Presidency we have the election, and as most remember the Presidential election of 2000 was a controversial one in which the Democratic challenger Al Gore won the popular vote, but lost the electoral vote and therefore the Presidency to George W. Bush. As Bush recalls the election campaign he notes that on the night of the election when it appeared that W would carry Florida, Bush received a call from Gore stating that he would concede the race to him. Gore than requested that W give Gore thirty minutes so that Gore can address his supporters. W gave it too him and waited.. and waited.. only to have Gore's campaign inform him that they were withdrawing their earlier concession. A month of court challenges later the Supreme Court ruled that the continued recounts were unconstitutional and that the earlier results would have to be accepted and the Florida and the Presidency were awarded to George W. Bush.
Covering the terrorist attacks of 9/11 Bush maintains that he wanted to project calm to the classroom and to the reporters. The last thing he wanted cameras to catch was a President jumping up and racing out of the room the moment he heard about 9/11. While Bush would later be criticised for this action I find his logic behind his decision acceptable, though I disagree with it overall and believe he should have excused himself from that classroom.
While covering the lead up to war in Iraq Bush devoted a good bit of time in his book to try and lay out the diplomatic courses of actions he took against Saddam Hussein's regime. He notes that in a world were the 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred he could not sit back and hope that the regime would remain in it's corner and not become a threat to the American people. Interestingly he notes that they received intel prior to the war that Abu Zaqub al Zarqawi was leading a group in Iraq that would have chemical weapons soon and that they would use in a future attack. When weighing whether to attack the plant Bush opted not to attack the area feeling that the attack could create sympathy in the world for Iraq and lesson their resolve to demand a full accounting for Saddam's WMDs.
While discussing bipartisanship President Bush notes that one of the first people he invited over to the white house for "family movie night" was the late Senator Ted Kennedy. He notes that while he and Ted disagreed on many things, they both shared a passion for reforming the countries education system. Bush would ultimately gain Kennedy's support on this legislation and noted with pride the improved test scores for America's youth following the passage of the no child left behind act. He notes other areas, but like any American also notes the difficulty he encountered from both the left and the right on many legislative issues such as extending medicare coverage to cover prescription pills for the elderly, or his attempt to reform Social Security.
Lastly I want to cover the President's comments on the current political crisis. Bush noted the beginning by stating it was Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson that broke the news to him about the failures of many banks and mortgage brokers that eventually required a bailout. In the early instances the government was able to intervene by finding a willing buyer in the free market to take up the slack and keep the failing company from falling under. Other banks could not be saved and required government intervention in order to save millions of lives. It was a decision at the time that Bush makes clear he did not wish to make, but in the end decided to make because the far reaching affect would hurt the American people more than an immediate government intervention. At the time Bush was attacked by both the left and right for this decision and the timing of this collapse likely served as the final crisis that caused any hope of a Republican victory in 2008 to disappear. Bush has since been vindicated though, as almost all institutions that received bailout money have paid it back with interest, making a profit for the government and keeping taxpayers from taking a permanent hit.
Overall the book covers many topics, a bit too many for this book review. I enjoyed it and I think readers of both political affiliations could enjoy it, though I would only recommend it as a Christmas gift for conservatives.
-BB
