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The Bush Tragedy | 
 enlarge | Author: Jacob Weisberg
Publisher: Random House
Category: Book
List Price: $26.00
Buy New: $11.95
You Save: $14.05 (54%)
New (36) Used (19) from $5.55
Avg. Customer Rating:  54 reviews
Sales Rank: 22349
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.3 x 1.1
ISBN: 1400066786
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.931092
EAN: 9781400066780
ASIN: 1400066786
Publication Date: January 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Brand new. no marks.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 49 more reviews...
What About The Oil? August 11, 2008
This is an excellent psychological analysis of Bush and it's well written. For me, something doesn't add up. The book's core concept builds upon the idea that Bush invaded Iraq because of WMD or a desire to make up for his father not finishing the Saddam job or perhaps narcissist visions of glory. Nowhere in the book does it even discuss oil as a motivation for invading Iraq.
Dick Cheney as CEO of Haliburton in 1998 was focused on pipelines from the Caspian Sea through Afghanistan. Might oil have been the motivation for the Afghan war rather than fighting terrorism? Iraq has 10% of the world's remaining oil reserves. Might controlling oil in an era of depletion be a factor? Not according to this book - it's never discussed and I consider that omission a glaring deficiency because it never discusses and dismisses oil as the rationale.
I suspect the WMD and terrorism plotlines are wrong and a misdirection. I find it hard to believe that the US military, Congress, and federal public servants would go along with a maniacal misadventure. If Bush invaded Iraq for oil then his actions make some strategic sense however flawed. If he invaded Iraq without a strategic objective then the man is insane or criminally delusional. Even worse, it means the aforementioned parties are incompetent, timid, and corrupt and equally brain addled to let this misadventure continue.
Many people the world over believe America is in Iraq for oil. If the oil situation is truly dire then might Bush be a scapegoat willing to accept public humiliation for the greater good and to deflect criticism of the national security objective? That would make him a sort of heroic figure if this is all part of some world plan. That idea may be wrong but it's never addressed by the book. I can only conclude that that either Bush is a hero or he and the rest of our government are all crazy.
 The Bush Tragedy July 1, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
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.
A Family Madness ** June 16, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
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 W.'s actions are a reflection of his reactions to his President father.
The account opens with a summary history of the Bush and Walker families. Their rise, successes and especially their personalities lay the groundwork for what follows. Weisberg carefully follows W.'s life in Texas and his attempts at an education in the East. Yale was not a happy time for the young man, and his reaction to the alien world of "The Eastern Establishment" set patterns he would follow throughout his career. As he haltingly moves toward becoming the Republican nominee [although little is given of that process], Bush begins collecting the men - and a woman - who will become his "inner circle". Karl Rove is a sycophant with a dream, manipulating Bush while being subjected to W's banter. Rove is later joined by Dick Cheney, two men with a dream of remaking the Presidency and US society. It's a compelling, if highly disturbing picture.
The Iraq invasion is, of course, the pivot point for Weisberg's analysis, calling the crusade against Saddam Hussein a total blunder. Yet Weisberg, in his depiction, makes a major gaffe of his own. After making serious effort to show how Bush makes decisions with little consideration, then sticks to the choice against any contending opinions, tells us that the President had not chosen to invade until almost the final moment. This is an astounding reversal of what Weisberg has been presenting throughout the book. The author accepts that the Bush regime "honestly" felt Hussein was a threat and the war decision justified on those grounds. Weisberg lightly passes over those such as Richard Clark or Christopher Meyer who testified Bush had decided on "regime change" long before. He ignores Colin Powell's admission that he was fed a lot of "BS" to present to the UN. Indeed, the contrived WMDs the Bush regime touted so vehemently were declared missing by Hans Blix, who receives not a drop of ink here.
Nothing is offered for why US voters should have returned this misfit to the Presidency. It will be the greatest tragedy in US history if Bush leaves the Presidency without facing charges, but this eventuality never enters Weisberg's account. In fact, no real assessment of the long-term impact of the regime's many Constitutional violations is given. We are given the portrait of a vulnerable man, with the most superficial talents holding sway over government procedures and policies unfit for a democracy. Does Weisberg think any one or a generation of successive Presidents is going to be able to set right what the Bush regime has wrought? Any new President will not be able to purge the Supreme Court of the witless hacks Bush has placed there. Worse, the deep penetration of appointments vetted more for their sympathy to "Christian" evangelical views than for any abilities is not easily uprooted and dispensed with. Weisberg may have well fulfilled the mandate he set himself, but as far as the author's concerned, that will all pass into history's assessment when Bush leaves office. The effect on society will endure. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
** with thanks to Thomas Keneally
A different approach, a fantastic read June 12, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
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 dichotomy -- and Weisberg gives them all fair treatment. I probably hate Bush less as a person now, but I despise his impact on this country all the more.
You Won't See the Same Shrub June 11, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
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 smarter.
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