Politics

President Bush’s Memoir

I am eagerly anticipating the release of President George W. Bush’s memoir on November 9. It’s titled Decision Points, and it’s already available for pre-order on Amazon.com. In the promotional video above, President Bush offers a glimpse of what is to come. Earlier today, however, an anonymous source leaked the manuscript to Matt Drudge who has given even more details about what the book will contain. Drudge writes:

“Bush pulls back the curtain with a strikingly personal work that takes very few shots at his critics. The former president even stays clear of Obama! From 911’s ‘Day of Fire’ to ‘Katrina’ to ‘Financial Crisis’, Bush explains how he returned to his faith, time and time again.”

I found Drudge’s tidbits about Bush’s pro-life convictions to be particularly interesting. He writes:

“In the chapter ‘Stem Cells’, Bush describes receiving a letter from Nancy Reagan detailing a ‘wrenching family journey’. But ultimately, Bush writes: ‘I did feel a responsibility to voice my pro-life convictions and lead the country toward what Pope John Paul II called a culture of life.’

“In the book, Bush describes an emotional July 2001 meeting with the Pope at the pontiff’s summer residence. Savaged by Parkinson’s, the Pope saw the promise of science, but implored Bush to support life in all its forms.

“Later, at the Pope’s funeral — and after a prodding from his wife that it’s a time to ‘pray for miracles’ — Bush found himself saying a prayer for the cancer-stricken ABCNEWS anchor Peter Jennings.”

Drudge says that Bush even plans to make an appearance on Oprah to promote the book. That will be interesting, but this book isn’t going to need much promotion. It’s a must-read, and almost everybody already knows it.

8 Comments

  • Ryan

    I am not much for political writing but I too am looking forward to this book. Primarily because I do not believe there has been a President in recent memory who was censored an manipulated in message by the media, and simultaneously poor at communicating his message.

    I remember constantly during his Presidency wanting him to just take the mike and speak without all the speech writers and just level with people. You could sense at times he wanted to and it would have played to his strengths but I just felt like the combination of professional speech writers and a hostile media left him quite misunderstood.

    A little off topic but I am also eager to read the Mark Twain biography that will be dropping here shortly as well.

  • DennyReader

    I would not buy anything coming from the Bush family. At best this is nothing more than Bush’s stated intention to replenish his coffer once he leaves office. Bush 41 and 43 are the worst Presidents this country ever had. They are both IQ challenged. If we did not have Bush 41 and 43 we would not have Clinton and Obama the destroyers of this country. The Bush’s worst down fall is not only their pathetic communication skills but it is exponentially amplified by their self-righteous arrogance that they don’t need to justify their actions to the country. Thank you Mr. Bush 43 for Obama and a filibuster-proof Congress.

  • Derek

    It is hard for me to take Bush’s faith seriously after he told Charlie Gibson that Muslims and Christians worship the same God, are both going to heaven and that there are many paths to God. That really saddened me, because until I saw that quote, I thought his faith was unusually authentic (for a politician).

    I also think it is self-serving for him to be promoting his book right before the elections. This election season is a circus already, and now we have Obama, Clinton AND Bush adding to the craziness with their oversized egos … in a year none of them are even running!

  • Nate

    Well, let’s not gloss over the fact that W. increased federal spending more than Bill Clinton did, and arguably set the stage for Obama with the initial bailout money. Oh, and the Harriet Myers debacle!

    It will be interesting to see if he attempts to justify his increase of government in the book. His viewpoints on Iraq and Afghanistan should be inciteful. However, I bet he will stay away from his lack of leadership in allowing China to steal our technology and low-ball us in trade, or his impotent action on illegal immigration.

    It’s a good reminder that to be considered a great president you can’t simply be a one-trick pony. In W’s case that would be his initial response in Afghanistan after 9/11.

  • Ken

    Just put a “hold” on this title at my county library website.

    I am also looking forward to reading former VP Dick Cheney’s memoirs, due to come out next year.

    With respect to Derek’s comment in #4 above, publication dates aren’t always driven by the calendar, although I suspect that in this case the book is being made available in advance of the Christmas shopping season. Next Tuesday’s activities likely have very little to do with it.

  • David Vinzant

    I would be wiling to wager that the political calendar had everything to do with the release date. I’m pretty sure that Republicans begged him to release it a week after the election instead of a week befiore the election. Are any of them running on a platform to bring back the Bush years? How many are inviting him to campaign on their behalf?

  • Ken

    From what I understand, Mr. Bush deliberately keeps a low public profile and does not campaign for any candidate for office–unlike his predecessor, who cannot seem to quit jumping in the spotlight. Besides, in light of recent polling in Ohio suggesting that just as many people would prefer Mr. Bush as Mr. Obama in office, I’m not sure the former would be any kind of a drag on the Republican Party.

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