Shortly after the 2008 election, I came to the conclusion that I had allowed myself to get to emotionally invested in the outcome of the election and I allowed to much of my identity to be wrapped up on partisan politics. Since that revelation, I have stepped back from politics and I now hold it at arm’s length. I have yet to define what level of participation, if any, I will have in the political process. However, I have had an interest in politics for a very long time. Even if I completely cut myself off from the political game, there will always be a part of me that itches to be involved.
Because of my past interest in politics, I have always enjoyed reading political books. In particular, I am fascinated by books that go behind the scenes to give a glimpse of the inner workings of a campaign machine or the daily operations of an officeholder and staff. As much as I want to distance myself from the partisan nature of politics, I am still interested in the nuts and bolts of how it actually works.
When George W. Bush’s Decisions Points came out in 2010, I immediately knew I would want to read it. His presidency was the first to begin in my adulthood and the first that I truly paid attention to. I volunteered for his reelection campaign in 2004. Although I was disillusioned with his presidency by the time he left office, I generally felt he did a good job in the midst of historical and challenging circumstances. I hoped the book would give some great insight into his years in office.
The book is organized thematically with each chapter devoted to a particular area of policy. As Bush states in the introduction, his purpose is to highlight a particular decision or series of related decisions by describing how and why those decisions were made. After the first couple of chapters briefly describe his childhood and his career prior to politics, the book describes the most prominent events of his administration ranging from his various staffing choices to 9/11 to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and an overview of his major domestic policies.
Each chapter begins with an poignant anecdote central to the content of that chapter. The rest of the chapter describes the background of a policy and the decisions that were made with respect to that policy. Several chapters conclude with Bush’s thoughts on how a particular policy should continue to play out now that he is out of office.
I found the organization of the book beneficial. Rather than a chronological reading that bounces back and forth between different policies, the reader is able to follow the entire arc of once particular subject through Bush’s terms in office. Bush uses this structure to slip in interesting anecdotes about an individual without disrupting the flow of the discussion too terribly. For example, in the chapter on stem cell research, Bush recounts his meeting with Pope John Paul, II to discuss the issue. Bush momentarily deviates from the main discussion to give his impression of the the Pope and to describe his funeral before returning to the subject at hand. Bush takes this approach several times in the book and seamlessly slips in minor details that help bring texture to the book without detracting from the greater narrative.
I guess this was to be expected, but the book was little more than an apologetic defense of his major policies as President. The majority of each chapter was a justification and defense of the policy in consideration. The book comes across as an attempt to set the tone and preemptively frame the debate over how his presidency will be remembered in history. On this basis, the book will not have much value as a history book. The book offers mostly opinion and very little in the way of factual information. The book may have value to historians as a first hand explanation of why Bush did many of the things he did, but they will have to look to other sources for accounts of what happened during his presidency.
Bush seems to attempt to address every criticism that came his way by either defending his position or providing information that he obviously feels was not properly presented to the public. For example, he addresses the infamous “mission accomplished” banner that was hanging on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln as he announced the end of major combat operations in Iraq. Bush asserts that he did not notice the banner when he stood up to speak. He further asserts that the banner was intended for the crew of the ship and was misconstrued by the media. He offers similar explanations for other “blunders” during his term such as the decision to fly over New Orleans in Air Force One rather than viewing the devastation in person.
One can understand why Bush would feel the need to address such criticisms. Bush is the first President whose entire term played out under the glare of a 24/7 news cycle broadcast instantaneously across the internet and other platforms. Due to the news networks’ need to fill airtime and the rise of blogs and other electronic publishing avenues, the American people have the ability to dissect and analyze every thing a President does while in office. After hearing them constantly repeated, one can understand why Bush felt the need to address some of these criticisms even though many of them were the product of a media with too much time on its hands.
The tone of the book is very defiant. Bush understands that many decisions he made in office were not popular in the public or on the national stage. Yet he is unafraid to state his case with conviction and explain why he did the things he did. He is also not afraid to take swipes at people and express his displeasure. It is apparent that he was not a big fan of Jacques Chirac of France. He also reveals his true opinion of Kathleen Blanco, Harry Reid and others. When discussing the events of his second term in which he had a much difficulty accomplishing his goals, he is not slow in laying the blame for policy failures at the feet of others such as when he discusses his inability to accomplish his desired reforms to Social Security.
I think the book was a good way to get inside Bush’s head to understand why he made the decisions that he made. But the book was missing something. It was clinical at times and had very little personal insight. There is some humor in the book, but the reader doesn’t really walk away understanding how the presidency affected Bush. The most insightful chapter in this respect was chapter 1 when Bush discusses his youth and his decision to give up drinking. Other than that chapter and fleeting moments in other chapters of the book, I didn’t feel transported into the oval office like I have with other books. In that respect, Bush left me wanting more and disappointed that I didn’t get it.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. While reading the section on dealings with North Korea, which take up about four pages of the book, I realized that this was a refreshing way to learn about America’s relationship with North Korea during the Bush years. These four pages gave a nice summary of what happened over 8 years away from the chatter and noise of the media and internet. This is true for many of the topics covered in the book. Of course, one has to understand that the viewpoint presented is biased to some extent. But it is still nice to pick up the book and get a relatively short summary of a particular topic.
I doubt the book will change very many minds about President Bush. With the exception of Chapter 11, which discussed health and aid initiatives in Africa, I felt pretty comfortable and familiar with the material discussed in the book. I did not have much awareness of the contents of Chapter 11 prior to read the book. Those who were opposed to the President’s policies will not find any new arguments and very little new information that will cause them to change their minds about President Bush. Those that supported him will find their beliefs affirmed.
I enjoyed the book due to my own interest in the subject matter. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys politics and to anyone who is a fan of George W. Bush. If you are not one of said fans, stay away from the book unless you enjoy being angry and arguing with no one in particular.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book through Blogging for Books from WaterBrook Multnomah in exchange for reviewing this book. I was not paid and did not receive any other compensation for this review.
