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The Bush Tragedy
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.931092
EAN: 9781400066780
ISBN: 1400066786
Label: Random House
Manufacturer: Random House
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 304
Publication Date: January 15, 2008
Publisher: Random House
Release Date: January 15, 2008
Studio: Random House
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Editorial Review:
This is the book that cracks the code of the Bush presidency. Unstintingly yet compassionately, and with no political ax to grind, Slate editor in chief Jacob Weisberg methodically and objectively examines the family and circle of advisers who played crucial parts in George W. Bush’s historic downfall.In this revealing and defining portrait, Weisberg uncovers the “black box” from the crash of the Bush presidency. Using in-depth research, revealing analysis, and keen psychological acuity, Weisberg explores the whole Bush story. Distilling all that has been previously written about Bush into a defining portrait, he illuminates the fateful choices and key decisions that led George W., and thereby the country, into its current predicament. Weisberg gives the tragedy a historical and literary frame, comparing Bush not just to previous American leaders, but also to Shakespeare’s Prince Hal, who rises from ne’er-do-well youth to become the warrior king Henry V.Here is the bitter and fascinating truth of the early years of the Bush dynasty, with never-before-revealed information about the conflict between the two patriarchs on George W.’s father’s side of the family–the one an upright pillar of the community, the other a rowdy playboy–and how that schism would later shape and twist the younger George Bush; his father, a hero of war, business, and Republican politics whose accomplishments George W. would attempt to copy and whose absences he would resent; his mother, Barbara, who suffered from insecurity, depression, and deep dissatisfaction with her role as housewife; and his younger brother Jeb, seen by his parents as steadier, stronger, and the son most likely to succeed.Weisberg also anatomizes the replacement family Bush surrounded himself with in Washington, a group he thought could help him correct the mistakes he felt had destroyed his father’s presidency: Karl Rove, who led Bush astray by pursuing his own historical ambitions and transforming the president into a deeply polarizing figure; Dick Cheney, whose obsessive quest to restore presidential power and protect the country after 9/11 caused Bush and America to lose the world’s respect; and, finally, Donald Rumsfeld and Condoleezza Rice, who encouraged Bush’s foreign policy illusions and abetted his flight from reality. Delving as no other biography has into Bush’s religious beliefs–which are presented as at once opportunistic and sincere–The Bush Tragedy is an essential work that is sure to become a standard reference for any future assessment. It is the most balanced and compelling account of a sitting president ever written.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - The Bush Tragedy
The service to get it to me was great, faster than expected. The book is outstanding. What an insight to the man we didn't elect twice.
Rating: - A Family Madness **
Drawing on some distorted form of Freudian analysis and dabbling in Shakespeare, Weisberg is at some pains to show how George W. Bush's family heritage formed the President's personality. The son is continually referencing his father in comments and actions, while at the same time trying to distance himself from the 41st President . This isn't the first effort along these lines, nor will it surely be the last. In this well-written, but terribly narrow assessment, the author carefully traces how ... Read More
Rating: - A different approach, a fantastic read
This is probably the most devastating critique I've read of the Bush president, and the reason it's so powerful is that the author isn't a hell-bent partisan. You get the sense that he truly would have preferred that Bush live up to all his best intentions, so when he fails (and fails spectacularly) Weisberg's critique is especially poignant. There are so many factors that lead to this tragic presidency -- the competition with his father, the unexamined substance abuse problems, Rove, Cheney, the Bush/Walker ... Read More
Rating: - You Won't See the Same Shrub
Molly Ivens warned us all about Dubya in the nineties, when he was wreaking havoc in Texas. So what has happened is no surprise. However, The Bush Tragedy makes me see him and his family entirely differently, as failed humans rather than as the characatures the world sees. The Senior Bush rises somewhat in stature as I see him now, and the son sinks even lower. But each newsclip, each Great Moment in Presidential Speeches, now seems three dimensional rather than like posterboard. Read this book. We have to get ... Read More
Rating:  - The U.S. -and the world- deserved this human tragedy?
As a translator from Mexico, I'm keen on all kinds of issues, from medical and psychological to sociological to political, etc. Having an especial interest in U.S. history and how the Bush Dynasty ended up wreaking so much havoc in the U.S. citizenry fabric as well as in peoples formed by human beings -not "illegal aliens"; not "collateral damage"- but Human Beings (i.e., for Christians, brothers and sisters), I find the existence of this kind of book almost offensive. I know already what unfortunate circumstances ... Read More
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