Bush, George Herbert Walker
Average customer rating:
- A brief overview of our 41st President.
- Light intellectual reading, politically factual with jokes
- Weak and Condescending
- This book is a real gem
- Less a biography and more a polemic
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George Herbert Walker Bush: A Penguin Life (Penguin Lives)
Tom Wicker
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0670033030
Release Date: 2004-05-03 |
Book Description
No one is more qualified to give a fully rounded, objective portrait of our forty-first president than Tom Wicker. A political correspondent for The New York Times for more than thirty years, Wicker was a first-hand witness to and reporter of George H. W. Bush's political rise and presidential reign. In George Herbert Walker Bush, Wicker provides a richly drawn and succinct overview of Bush from his New England roots, his decorated service in World War II, and his successful oil businesses to his shift to politics and rapid rise within the Republican party. As he describes changes within the Republican party in recent decades, Wicker charts Bush's career, including in-depth analysis of his campaign tactics and his gift for creating friendships and inspiring loyalty which, Wicker argues, has been the key to Bush's success. The result is a fascinating, timely glimpse into one of the most powerful families in America today, complete with insights into the current reign of George W. Bush, the continued legacy of the Bush family, and contemporary American politics.
Customer Reviews:
A brief overview of our 41st President........2006-12-21
Well, I think Wicker is a little down on our 41st President. Wicker describes Bush Senior as the person that would do anything to get elected. He also states that Bush had few convictions or beliefs. I will echo what previous reviewers have already said, journalism is sometimes not good history. My own opinion is that Bush Senior was probably a better President than the two men who followed him. However, historians will determine that and not some skeptical New York journalist.
The summary history of George H. W. Bush was nice but brief (excepting the critical remarks). The reader will get an overview history of Bush Senior in this book.
Light intellectual reading, politically factual with jokes.......2006-01-06
I always consider George Herbert Walker Bush the original President Bush, but I prefer to think of him as a person with a clandestine history that has been hidden on a more ominous level, as a prime character, along with Jack Ruby, James Jesus Angleton, E. Howard Hunt, and David Atlee Phillips in PLAUSIBLE DENIAL by Mark Lane, an investigation of the question: Was the CIA involved in the assassination of JFK? In the case of the original President Bush, the success of some of his children is the most obvious evidence that America is currently being ruled by children of the people who killed President Kennedy. Tom Wicker is not so outrageously opposed to the undercover aspects of modern despicabilities, but he is capable of considering plenty of deep doo-doo on the question of whether the original George Bush was a wimp, as implied by the cover of the October 11, 1987 `Newsweek' which is quoted as saying, "George Bush: Fighting the Wimp Image." (p. 86). There is no index for the Penguin Life series book, GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH by Tom Wicker, but source notes on pages 221-228 reveal books with many details to support Wicker's observations.
Not everyone in America has been paying close attention to the personality factors that are deemed important in modern politics. With a majority of the voting citizens being capable of putting anyone they choose into the presidency, and people they hardly know into every other position, intellectuals are in an absurd position of trying to find ideas that correspond to events which are much too complex to conform to easy explanations. Huge amounts of money, a trillion here, a trillion there, are still considered significant in trying to frame political arguments, but few people can articulate any basis for expecting such huge amounts of money to materialize. In the case of the Bush family, much of their wealth followed the formation of Zapata Petroleum, which paid $850,000 to lease land in Coke County, Texas, resulting in seventy-one oil wells pumping more than a thousand barrels of oil a day by the end of 1953. (p. 12). Bush had enough money to join a partnership that opened the Commercial Bank and Trust Company. In 1958 Bush became president of Zapata Offshore and went into undersea drilling. (pp. 12-13).
Tom Wicker hardly appreciates the satisfaction which becomes a part of the life of those people who are where the smart money is and who expect politics to be a continuation of social structures in which they have been successful. But most people don't measure up to the high standards of Skull and Bones, the CIA, or American foreign policy as conducted from the Oval Office. Tom Wicker has a depth of intellectual background which relies mainly on skepticism about policy assertions to arrive at behind-the-scenes explanations. A few things became public in instant headlines, such as Barbara Bush saying, "that four million dollar ----- I can't say it but it rhymes with rich" (p. 672) in 1984 when "Bush resented the fact that reporters then began to search his tax records," (p. 71). Wicker reports that the Mondale-Ferraro ticket lost by an electoral count of 525 to 13, without repeating the `Where's the beef?' line harped on by Walter Mondale, who was sure tax increases would be needed to avoid trillions of national debt now partly funded by baby boomer Social Security contributions that are considered worthless i.o.u.s in the Oval Office.
On the ragged edges of GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH, there is little doubt that competent people can engage in meritorious service to a common cause. Bush was brilliant as chairman of the Republican National Committee who showed up at a cabinet meeting on August 6, 1974 and "Nixon did not call on him, but Bush spoke up anyway. Watergate was the vital question, he said; it was sapping public confidence in the president, the party, the economy, the country as a whole. Therefore Nixon should resign, the party chairman told the president to his face--while the cabinet and others present sat in shocked silence." (p. 35). People listening to tapes could hear Nixon agreeing to `Bob Haldeman's cover-up plan for the FBI to stay out of a supposed "national security" incident.' (Note, p. 34). Senators like Barry Goldwater realized that Nixon could lose an impeachment battle on August 6, so Bush was capable of stating an obvious conclusion precisely when it needed to be acknowledged. Opinions among those who have been sampling deep doo-doo recently now differ mainly on what form the next disgrace to preside in the Oval Office will turn out to be.
Weak and Condescending.......2005-11-25
I found this book to be a mere thumbnail sketch of Bush's long service to America, and I found its tone insulting. Wicker constantly derides Bush for his geniality, his many friendships, and for his constant `thank you' notes. I guess the brusque Nixon to Wicker is `one of us', while the polite Bush isn't. Doesn't that say more about Wicker than it does about Bush?
Though Bush was a World War II veteran, a Congressman, a Senate nominee, Ambassador to the United Nations, Envoy to China, GOP Chairman, Director of the CIA, Vice President and President, Wicker seems to think that Bush was merely all `resume', and because he was so `nice' he was easy to lift, with his successes merely a result of the patronage of the powerful (mainly presidents.) What Wicker fails to understand is that Bush was appointed to those positions of power prior to the presidency because he is a man of intelligence and skill capable to preside over entire organizations with style and class.
Wicker grudgingly gives some credit to Bush for his leadership during the Gulf War, but not nearly enough. And Bush's expertise in foreign policy is dismissed by Wicker, who thinks that Bush merely stood back and allowed events to occur, thus giving a sense of `calm'. (Anyone seeking a real understanding of Bush's contribution to foreign policy should read the book he co-authored with Brent Scowcroft, `A World Transformed.)
In conclusion, I don't recommend this book at all. I could have put up with the condescension if it at least provided some sort of depth, but this book is unbelievably shallow.
This book is a real gem.......2005-09-08
Once again Tom Wicker has made American history accessible. In 219 pages of easy reading he has given us the essential George H. W. Bush. As a Democrat, I deem Wicker to completely fair. His major points are that Bush I's historical reputation rests on the decisions he made regarding the Gulf War. Even those who believe sanctions against Saddam should have given more time, will have to admit that the President may well have been right. Historically, his decision may have been the equivalent of the French kicking Hitler out of the demilitarized Rhineland in 1936 and avoiding WWII. However, Wicker has plenty of fodder for those of us who generally do not admire Bush I and Bush II. This includes the constant attack on opponents on phony issues rather than relying on their own merits. Wicker also takes us through the less laudible moments in Bush's career: kicking Geraldine Ferraro's ass in 1984; his cynical appointment of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court; his selection of Dan Quayle as VP, dropping bombs on Panamanian civilians for no good reason and Iran-Contra.
Less a biography and more a polemic.......2004-07-09
Wicker does a good job of concisely giving you Bush's early political life, his successful House campaigns, his unsuccessful Senate campaigns and what not. He also gives a decent description of Bush's role as ambassador, CIA director and chairman of the RNC in the 1970s. All through the era, Wicker paints Bush as a good soldier for the Republicans, and he comes off as an honorable man.
But once Bush becomes Vice President, Wicker is disappointed in him. Wicker sees Bush as a sell-out of his moderate Republican leanings for the red meat Reagan policies. He compares Bush to a chameleon that changes his colors to blend into the current campaign strategy. On top of that, Wicker contends that Bush could easily change political stripes because he lacked vision and purpose.
Okay, Bush lacked vision, but Wicker doesn't seem to value vision at all when it came from Ronald Reagan. In fact, in the middle of a biography of Bush, Wicker deems it necessary to tell us that Reagan's vision of a Soviet Free Europe had absolutely no role in bringing down that superpower. He's just got to tell us that Gorby saved the world not Reagan. That Gorby's goal was the opposite of Reagan's doesn't mean anything to this objective journalist. Does that mean that Gorby lacked vision too? Didn't that genius understand that people would be better off out from under his iron boot? Come to think of it, maybe Hitler would have fallen apart too if we'd just given him a chance. History is just replete with examples of totalitarian governments that renounce themselves and become free without outside agitation.
That's the main problem with Wicker's book. It's less a biography of Bush than a step by step criticism of Republican ideology and its failings. How dare a Republican administration treat Saddam Hussein nicely when he was beating up on the hated Iranians. Surely they knew 10 years in advance that he would invade Kuwait and we'd have to go to war with him.
Bush certainly lacked vision compared to Ronald Reagan. But after 8 years of Clinton, a person can sure grow found of decency, loyalty and personal honor. Wicker says as much during the last paragraph of the book. His conclusion is that Bush may have been a mess, but at least he was a brave guy who won the Gulf War. It was almost like the Penguin editors added that at the end so as not to upset Bush enthusiasts.
Every public figure should have positive and negative books written about him/her in order for students of history to get a wide picture. Books are part of the great debate. The trouble with this book is that it's not a good place for conjecture over substance. In a 200 page Penguin Lives' book, I would like to have an outline of the guy's life not a political fight. Wicker could have easily written a larger biography of Bush somewhere else and told us what a numbskull he was. It seems out of place in this series. Am I going to suffer this again if I read Penguin's books on Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther?
Average customer rating:
- Bought this by mistake
- Watch Out For The Fuzzy Ones!
- Bushisms/President George Herbert Walker Bush in his own wor
- An hilarious homage to the not-so-eloquent former president
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Bushisms/President George Herbert Walker Bush in His Own Words
Manufacturer: Workman Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1563053187 |
Customer Reviews:
Bought this by mistake.......2003-06-01
I though this was George W's gaffes, but it turns out his father mispoke quite a bit himself. A little bit too politically motivated, these people obviously had no idea how much worse things could get when his son would be elected, er, annointed, or ah, democratically- you know what I mean!
Watch Out For The Fuzzy Ones!.......2001-02-27
Is intelligence learned or inherited? It's a question that has puzzled scientists and philosophers since the beginning of time. On the one hand, you can argue that this book proves the latter conviction, since it's obvious that Papa Bush is as grammatically challenged as baby Bush, but on the other hand, who taught Baby to speak? Seriously though, this book is hilarious, a welcome companion piece to more recent versions attacking the more recent Bush. I've owned it since it came out and it still makes me laugh. If you can find it, buy it.
Bushisms/President George Herbert Walker Bush in his own wor.......2000-03-02
If you are looking for symbolism or imagery I might suggest a different book, but for some of the funniest quotes this side of Yogi Berra I definitly recommed "Bushisms". (Of course if you are a big Bush/Republican fan AND have NO sense of humor this one may not be for you.)
An hilarious homage to the not-so-eloquent former president.......1997-08-29
When it comes to public speaking, most modern presidents have their speeches written for them. But when the time arrives for them to speak their own thoughts, take cover. In "Bushisms", the editors of the 'New Republic' have collected some choice examples of the 41st president's sometimes incomprehensible, often hilarious words of wisdom. A sample: "When I need some free advice about Saddam Hussein, I turn to country music." You may not believe this phrase and others far more zany were spoken by the commander-in-chief, but you will be rolling on the floor in laughter
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- An Insider's View of the Presidency of George Bush
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George Herbert Walker Bush: A Photographic Profile
Manufacturer: Texas A&M University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0890967792 |
Customer Reviews:
An Insider's View of the Presidency of George Bush.......1998-12-02
I think Dave Valdez, President Bush's Official White House photographer, did an outstanding job depicting President Bush, the statesman, the family man, and the friend, beautifully in his book of pictures and very few words. Dave Valdez captures it all: from vital moments in world affairs, to lighter family times--all the while gaining an insight into George Bush, our 41st President. A wonderful coffee table book and gift book.
Average customer rating:
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Bushisms -
President George Herbert Walker Bush -
Manufacturer: Workman Publishing -
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OMJWSK |
Average customer rating:
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First Day Cover Signed
George Herbert Walker b.1924 Bush
Manufacturer: United States Postal Service
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unbound
ASIN: B000I74966 |
Product Description
In this revealing biography of the elder George Bush, Tom Wicker, a political correspondent for The New York Times for more than thirty years, draws a sympathetic and insightful portrait of the man at the helm of one of the most powerful families today. From his New England roots and his decorated service in World War II, to his oil business and transition to politics, Bush has had the fortunate gift for creating friendships and inspiring loyalty - this, as Wicker makes the case, being the key to his success. While charting Bush's career and providing in-depth analysis of his campaign tactics, Wicker also offers a glimpse into the workings of the current administration and the continued legacy of the Bush family.
United States Presidents:
- Bush, George Walker
- Carter, James Earl
- Cleveland, Grover
- Clinton, William Jefferson
- Coolidge, John Calvin
- Eisenhower, Dwight David
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- Garfield, James Abram
- Grant, Ulysses Simpson
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