Decision Points

 

Decision Points – George W. Bush

I recently read President Barack Obama’s presidential memoir titled “A Promised Land” and it dawned on me that, although I’ve read more than 60 biographies of U.S. Presidents, Obama’s was the first book I’ve read written by the actual president.  There have been many books written by presidents, but I guess I shy away from them because I don’t think they can be very objective when dealing with their presidency. Obama’s “A Promised Land”, however, was outstanding and I thoroughly enjoyed his recollections of his first term as president (there will be a part 2 at some point). Sadly, though, I didn’t think as highly about this book by former president George W. Bush. It seemed to lack much of the depth and objectivity the I encountered when reading Obama’s remembrances.

Now, I must stop here and throw out a disclaimer.  My enjoyment around reading a presidential biography has absolutely nothing to do with how I regard the subject matter and/or their politics. My goal is to only read reputable authors and not the blowhard loudmouths; such as the ones who somehow manage to get fired (with no explanation to the public) from high profile universities or that need pardons (again, no explanation) from presidents who they then write about. There’s too much mud slinging out there.  So when it comes to a book written by the politician himself, you expect it to be somewhat biased, but my opinion of the person doesn’t reflect my taste for the book.  What I’m trying (and failing) to succinctly say is that had this book been written by someone whose politics were a 180 from George W. Bush, I’m confident that my overall opinion of the book would have been the same.

Although this is a book that mainly focuses of Bush’s presidency, it’s not a linear account. Nor is it really an autobiography. As the title implies, this book focuses on many of the decisions that Bush found himself wanting or needing to make as leader of the free world.  Each chapter is devoted to a different “decision” such as Iraq, Katrina, or the 2008 Financial Crisis. Despite what many of Bush’s critics claim, the man isn’t a spoiled hayseed who is ignorant about the affairs of the world.  No, as he dictates, he has a very firm grasp and understanding of what is happening under his watch as president, and he details for his readers his in-depth thoughts and how he came to the conclusions that he did.

He admits when he makes mistakes, and subtlety takes credit when he’s right, but I guess this just misses the mark for my tastes.  I would prefer much more transparency and wanted to read about what others thought of when he made many of his key decisions. We do read about some of the other main players, but not much. I don’t recall much at all about Dick Cheney, and yet most other books that I’ve read about the Bush 43 presidency seem to indicate that Cheney was always whispering in Bush’s ear. This is a particular “hot point” for me because I always believed that if Bush didn’t listen to his VP so much, he just might have walked away from his presidency a tad more popular that he actually did. So if this is the only book you read about George W. Bush, you really won’t come away with anything indicating how influential Cheney was.

Reading these recollections, one really can’t distinguish Bush’s failures (such as Iraq and Katrina) from his successes (such as PEPFAR and the TARP initiative). When he and John McCain squabble near the end of his second term, Bush can’t seem to realize that the reason McCain doesn’t want him campaigning for him is because Bush is such a huge liability by that point. To be truthful, maybe Bush DID know, but he seems to sugarcoat this, as well as many other instances, an awful lot in this book.

Although Bush is more learned that many give him credit for, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s a scholarly writer. I felt this book could have used a co-author to smooth out a lot of the rough edges. A big part of George W. Bush’s appeal as president was his down to earth manner that came across as “someone you’d like to go have a beer with”.  His writing emulates those sentiments as well.  Maybe that was his intention, but I just didn’t enjoy the simplicity of his observations.  There were times where I thought this would be a much better book to LISTEN to as opposed to reading.  I really don’t mean that in a condescending way.  If this is truly how the man is, you really can’t fault the writing if it is, in fact, a genuine reflection of his style.

If you happen to read this book and come up with many of the same conclusions as I did, I would highly recommend Jean Edward Smith’s bio (“Bush”) as well as Peter Baker’s account of Bush and Cheney (“Days of Fire”). Both books seem to paint a much better picture of the true atmosphere during the Bush presidency and capture a lot more of the many nuances that this memoir basically ignores.