Decision Points

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Acquiring all the books written by U.S. presidents would result in a astoundingly little collection. Though there are galore anthologies of presidential papers and speeches from the 19th century, true autobiographies are rare, the most noteworthy being that of Ulysses S. Grant. That all changed beginning with Harry S. Truman. In fact, since Truman, each president with the evident exception of John F. Kennedy, has written a lot of sort of post-presidential memoir. Their writings provide an interesting look behind the fence of the White House and into the rarified atmosphere that is the U.S. presidency.

Of course, past presidents seem rather mesmerized in their bequest and might be accused of writing memoirs to burnish their effigy as they fade into history. As an novice student of history, I receive pleasure from reading these books; but, to me their real value is the portrayal of what is surely one of the most difficult and distinguishable leadership challenges any person may shoulder.

The reader of an autobiography ought to always keep in mind that the work is written by the subject, and hence ought to be more gravely analyzed. Presidential autobiographies have an further and added problem in that the author knows details regarding the events they relate that will have to be everlastingly withheld from the general public. With these cautions in mind, I read Decision Points by George W. Bush.

President Bush took office underneath a cloud. The election of 2000 was a attempting experience for the nominees in queer and the country as a whole. Though this cloud would stay with his presidency for the entire eight years, to his credit Bush did not let it sway his agenda. The keystone of that agenda was the push for education reform – until September 11, 2001.

As Bush details the events that followed that historic day the heavy weight of leadership without doubt or question emerges. He explains his thoughts without delay following the attack and why he took the actions he did. He demonstrated that a leader is most effective when capable to stay outwardly calm and do not forget that humans are relying on him or her for thoughtful leadership.

Many other events happened for the duration of the Bush years and he is refreshingly honorable in regards to what he feels he didn’t do well. In talking about Hurricane Katrina and the devastation the Gulf Coast, he without doubt or question lays out the errors that were made, including his decision to fly over New Orleans, rather of landing. Again, his comprehensible statement provides a good lesson for leaders.

Knowing that any presidential visit is very disruptive, and stopping at that time would pull people away from the primary task of attempting to save lives, it seemed like a good decision. However, leaders must always do not forget that the sensing of their action may have more affect than the action itself. Bush’s decision was based on his desire to not exacerbate the situation. His action was seen as the precise opposite; as lack of concern for suffering people.

In the 222 years since George Washington was inaugurated as the initial President in 1789 there have been only 44 presidents making that office one of the world’s most exclusive leadership clubs. The U.S. president accepts a leadership role more difficult, more wide ranging, and more publicly scrutinized than any other. How he performed in that role provides a treasure trove from which the rest of us may glean lessons to become better leaders.

For those who were paying attention for the duration of the Bush presidency, Decision Points provides no real historical revelations, even though Bush does talk about a lot of very effective policy to help African nations fight AIDs which didn’t get a lot of observe in the American press. There does seem to be a “set the record straight” agenda and perchance even a little bequest management, but I would suppose that and it surely doesn’t take away from the value of the book. Whether you thought George W. Bush was a outstanding president, a terrible president, or someplace in-between, if you have leadership responsibilities, you need to read this book. Its significance is the view of rare leadership challenges.

In this candid and gripping account, President George W. Bush describes the critical conclusions that shaped his presidency and personal life.

George W. Bush served as president of the United States for the duration of eight of the most consequential years in American history. The conclusions that reached his desk impacted humans around the world and specified the times in which we live.

Decision Points brings readers inside the Texas governor’s mansion on the night of the 2000 election, aboard Air Force One for the duration of the harrowing hours after the attacks of September 11, 2001, into the Situation Room moments before the start out of the war in Iraq, and behind the scenes at the White House for galore other historic presidential decisions.

For the primary time, we learn President Bush’s perspective and perceptivities on:

His decision to quit drinking and the traveling that led him to his Christian faith

The selection of the vice president, secretary of defense, secretary of state, Supreme Court justices, and other key officials

His relationships with his wife, daughters, and parents, including heartfelt letters amongst the president and his father on the eve of the Iraq War

His administration’s counterterrorism programs, including the CIA’s intensified interrogations and the Terrorist Surveillance Program

Why the worst moment of the presidency was hearing accusations that race played a role in the federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina, and a critical assessment of what he would have done differently for the duration of the crisis

His deep concern that Iraq could turn into a defeat costlier than Vietnam, and how he decisive to defy public sentiment by ordering the troop surge

His legislative achievements, including tax cuts and reforming education and Medicare, as well as his setbacks, including Social Security and immigration reform

The relationships he forged with other world leaders, including an honorable assessment of those he did and didn’t trust

Why the failure to fetch Osama bin Laden to justice ranks as his biggest disappointment and why his success in denying the terrorists their fondest wish—attacking America again—is among his proudest achievements

A groundbreaking new brand of presidential memoir, Decision Points will captivate supporters, surprise critics, and modify perspectives on eight noteworthy years in American history—and on the man at the center of events.

From the Hardcover edition.

From BooklistGeorge W. Bush’s conclusions were all correct. It was just the aftermath that most times became muddled. That, at least, is the impression one gets after reading this breathtakingly robust memoir. For those who have missed “43” in the public eye (and for those who haven’t as well), his voice is evident on each page. Cocky, defiant, and, at times (especially when speaking regarding his family), emotional, this is the George Bush who insists that “everybody” believed there were weapons of mass destruction, that much of the blame for the post-Katrina fiasco must be put on Louisiana’s local governments, and that Harriet Miers would have made a fine Supreme Court justice, given the chance. He does confess a good deal of errors (“Mission Accomplished”), but he stands by his big conclusions and backs up his claims, which is more elementary to do when the other side isn’t chiming in with their views and/or facts. Those who have followed Bush and his presidency will find a heap of of the personal stories here intimate (how he stopped drinking; his whirlwind romance with Laura), but there are some arousing and attention holding reveals as well, including his affection for Ted Kennedy, his sometimes-complicated kinship with Dick Cheney, and his read-between-the-lines digs at Colin Powell. Some political memoirs (hello, Bill Clinton) are bloated journeys that devolve into pages and pages of, “and then I met . . .” Bush, smartly dividing the book into themes rather than telling the story chronologically, offers readers a authenti (and highly readable) look at his thought processes as he made big conclusions that will affect the nation and the world for decades. Many will ridicule his thinking and bemoan those decisions, but being George Bush, he won’t actually care. –Ilene Cooper

About the AuthorSince leaving office, PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH has led the George W. Bush Presidential Center at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. The center includes an active policy institute working to advance initiatives in the fields of education reform, global health, economic growth, and humane freedom, with a particular special importance and significance on furthering social entrepreneurship and creating probabilities for women around the world. It will also house an official government archive and a state-of-the-art museum that will open in 2013.

From the Hardcover edition.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.Excerpted from Decision Points Copyright © 2010 by George W. Bush

Surge

Years from now, historians may look back and see the surge as a forgone conclusion, an inevitable bridge amidst the years of violence that followed liberation and the democracy that emerged. Nothing with regards to the surge felt inevitable at the time. Public opinion ran strongly versus it. Congress tried to block it. The enemy fought relentlessly to break our will.
Yet thanks to the skill and courage of our troops, the new counterinsurgency system we adopted, the superb coordination among our civilian and military efforts, and the strong aid we provided for Iraq’s political leaders, a war widely written off as a failure has a chance to end in success. By the time I left office, the violence had declined dramatically. Economic and political action had resumed. Al Qaeda had suffered a significant military and ideological defeat. In March 2010, Iraqis went to the polls again. In a headline unimaginable three years earlier, Newsweek ran a cover story titled “Victory at Last: The Emergence of a Democratic Iraq.”
Iraq still faces challenges, and no one may recognise with certainty what the fate of the country will be. But we do recognise this: Because the United States liberated Iraq and then refused to abandon it, the humans of that country have a probability to be free. Having come this far, I hope America will proceed to support Iraq’s young democracy. If Iraqis request a continued troop presence, we must provide it. A free and peaceful Iraq is in our critical strategic interest. It may be a priceless ally at the heart of the Middle East, a source of stability in the region, and a beacon of hope to political reformers in it is neighborhood and around the world. Like the democracies we helped build in Germany, Japan, and South Korea, a free Iraq will make us safer for generations to come.
I have oftentimes reflected on whether I must have ordered the surge earlier. For three years, our premise in Iraq was that political progress was the measure of success. The Iraqis hit all their mileposts on time. It looked like our scheme was working. Only after the sectarian violence erupted in 2006 did it become clear that more security was necessitated before political progress could continue. After that, I moved forward with the surge in a way that united our government. If I had acted sooner it could have invented a rift that would have been exploited by war critics in Congress to cut off funding and prevent the surge from succeeding.
From the beginning of the war in Iraq, my conviction was that freedom is universal—and democracy in the Middle East would make the region more peaceful. There were times when that seemed unlikely. But I never lost faith that it was true.

Financial Crisis

“Mr. President, we are witnessing a financial panic.”
Those were troubling words coming from Ben Bernanke, the mild-mannered chairman of the Federal Reserve, who was seated all over from me in the Roosevelt Room. Over the former two weeks, the government had seized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two giant housing entities. Lehman Brothers had filed the greatest bankruptcy in American history. Merrill Lynch had been sold beneath duress. The Fed had granted an $85 billion loan to save AIG. Now Wachovia and Washington Mutual were teetering on the brink of collapse.
With so much turbulence in financial institutions, credit markets had seized up. Consumers couldn’t get loans for homes or cars. Small businesses couldn’t borrow to finance their operations. The stock market had taken it is steepest plunge since the initial day of retail after 9/11.
As we sat beneath the oil painting of Teddy Roosevelt charging on horseback, we all knew America was facing it is most dire economic challenge in decades.
I turned to the Rough Rider of my financial team, Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson, a natural leader with decades of experience in global finance.
“The circumstance is extraordinarily serious,” Hank said.
He and the team briefed me on three measures to stem the crisis. First, the Treasury would guarantee all $3.5 trillion in cash market mutual funds, which were facing depositor runs. Second, the Fed would launch a program to unfreeze the market for mercantile paper, a key source of financing for businesses throughout the country. Third, the Securities and Exchange Commission would issue a rule temporarily preventing the short-selling of financial stocks.
“These are dramatic steps,” Hank said, “but America’s financial system is at stake.”
He outlined an even bolder proposal. “We need wide authority to buy mortgage-backed securities,” he said. Those complex financial sum totals had lost value when the housing bubble burst, imperiling the remainder sheets of financial firms around the world. Hank commended that we ask Congress for hundreds of billions to buy up these toxic sum totals and restore selfconfidence in the banking system.
“Is this the worst crisis since the Great Depression?” I asked.
“Yes,” Ben replied. “In terms of the financial system, we have not seen anything like this since the 1930s, and it could get worse.”
His answer clarified the decision I faced: Did I want to be the president overseeing an economic calamity that could be worse than the Great Depression?
I was furious the circumstance had reached this point. A comparatively little group of people—many on Wall Street, a great deal of not—had gambled that the housing market would keep booming forever. It didn’t. In a normal environment, the free market would render it is judgment and they could fail. I would have been happy to let them do so.
But this was not a normal environment. The market had ceased to function. And as Ben had explained, the aftermaths of inaction would be catastrophic. As unfair as it was to use the American people’s cash to prevent a collapse for which they weren’t responsible, it would be even more unfair to do not one thing and leave them to suffer the consequences.
“Get to work,” I said, approving Hank’s plan in full. “We are going to solve this.”
I adjourned the meeting and walked throughout the hallway to the Oval Office. Josh Bolten, Counselor Ed Gillespie, and Dana Perino, my gifted and effective press secretary, followed me in. Ben’s historical comparison was still echoing in my mind.
“If we’re in truth looking at another Great Depression,” I said, “you may be damn sure I’m going to be Roosevelt, not Hoover.”

From the Hardcover edition.

Most helpful customer reviews

440 of 497 people found the following review helpful.
The Liberal rating.
By R. Young
So first off I’m pretty left. I didn’t buy this book with the intention of hating President Bush. In fact despite the policy problems and the damage to the economy under his administration I don’t “hate” him or anyone.

So with that being said I found it nice to gain a personal perspective with a person who is challenged daily with decisions the average person couldn’t fathom. What makes this man and his mind work? Why did he make choices that made me so angry? Why did the press constantly berate him regardless of what he did? These things I wanted answers on and I got them in this book.

There are many things that none of us ever hear about and those things were better clarified here. I can understand the challenges the man faced and from a historical perspective I actually feel I’ve learned a lot about the way the upper ranks of US Government act in the present day. I’ve seen some comments on here about not telling the truth and whatnot but feel those are from left wing fanatics that just cant open their mind to the truth that a president is a human.

The writing at times is somewhat childish but I’m also happy it’s not over the wall in a “Rhodes Scholar” kind of way. It’s in a basic story telling format with dips and dives into major events that we all know about by now if we’ve bothered to buy this book. I’m happy that it’s not a bang on the drums Republican story that tries to shove ideals down my throat. In fact it’s simply this man sharing what he feels and why he did what he did. I was particularly drawn to the Stem Cell chapter because I followed that closely when it happened and always felt the president was lambasted for the press, the Democratic party, and the bloggers benefit.

This tells me a lot of what I already know about the current political climate and the way people are so polarized. It clears up many lies from the media that I knew were lies as they graced the TV on various channels. It also clarifies the truths that I knew and the reason I didn’t vote for him.

Either way it’s good to crawl inside the mind of a president for a few hours and understand what makes them tick.

1210 of 1404 people found the following review helpful.
Not what you might expect…
By William E. Liberatore
“That is the nature of the presidency. Perceptions are shaped by the clarity of hindsight. In the moment of decision, you don’t have that advantage.” -G. Bush

In a lot of ways this statement just about sums up the book. The President of the United States, maybe more so than any other person on the face of the Earth, has his/her every decision microscopically analyzed by just about everyone… after the fact, when the results are known and more information is available. I thought this to be a very interesting premise for a presidential memoir. It doesn’t come across as an apology nor does it come across as an excuse. President Bush gives you the situation as he saw it and lets you make your own decision.

I am not a huge fan of President Bush, but I don’t think he is the utter failure as President that some consider him. I come away with some empathy (though short of being President, I don’t think anyone could truly grasp the reality) for President Bush. Could things have been done better… more than likely. Could they have been worse… almost certainly… but how many of us couldn’t apply those phrases to our own lives?

If you are a Bush fan, I’d almost guarantee you’ll like the book. If you aren’t a fan…. you’ll probably find some more ammunition to bash him. For myself, I don’t at all regret the time spent reading the book and that is usually the measure that I put on literary material.

590 of 701 people found the following review helpful.
Review of the Book, not the President
By David S. Davies
Most of the reviews here are not of the book but of the President, so typically the reviews are falling along party lines (similar to way too many things these days). It should be possible to review the book as an autobiography and not a political commentary. That said, the book is an interesting reflection by President Bush on his perception of his life and actions. It is not a work of master prose. The President writes like he speaks. The thoughts are straight forward and often simple, but they are his. It is not insightful but it is revealing. If you are looking for insight into the workings of Washington or an assessment of policy, this book is not for you. If you want to read about how President Bush views his life and presidency, the book does a pretty good job of that. It often leaves the reader with questions and certainly does not contain deep reflection (that will take many more years to develop), but it is the George W Bush talking about George W Bush as he sees himself and his presidency today.