Updated with a new afterword and including a selection of key documents, this is the explosive account of how the Bush administration makes policy on war, taxes, and politics -- its true agenda exposed by a member of the Bush cabinet.
This vivid, unfolding narrative is like no other book that has been written about the Bush presidency. At its core are the candid assessments of former Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill, the only member of Bush's cabinet to leave and speak frankly about ho... (show more)
Updated with a new afterword and including a selection of key documents, this is the explosive account of how the Bush administration makes policy on war, taxes, and politics -- its true agenda exposed by a member of the Bush cabinet.
This vivid, unfolding narrative is like no other book that has been written about the Bush presidency. At its core are the candid assessments of former Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill, the only member of Bush's cabinet to leave and speak frankly about how and why the administration has come to its core policies and decisions -- from cutting taxes for the rich to conducting preemptive war.
O'Neill's account is supported by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind's interviews with numerous participants in the administration, by transcripts of meetings, and by voluminous documents. The result is a disclosure of breadth and depth unparalleled for an ongoing presidency. As readers are taken to the very epicenter of government, Suskind presents an astonishing picture of a president so carefully managed in his public posture that he is a mystery to most Americans. Now, he is revealed.
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Incredibly detailed yet easy to follow, this book makes painfully clear that all the pieces that would be put together to form the worst Presidenti... (show more)
Incredibly detailed yet easy to follow, this book makes painfully clear that all the pieces that would be put together to form the worst Presidential Administration in the history of the republic were there right from the beginning. While reading it now, at the very end of Bush's Presidency, may not be very revealing, it does offer some important lessons about how to run the country which the incoming Obama Administration would be very wise to consider. (show less)
I found the book to be fairly unremarkable. Except in limited circumstances, books written during the course of an active and on-going administrat... (show more)
I found the book to be fairly unremarkable. Except in limited circumstances, books written during the course of an active and on-going administration are of limited value. Although, this book was written after O'Neill left the administration, Bush's economic policy, continued to evolve. O'Neill's fingerprints remained on some of those policy decisions, arguably, for several years after.
I admit that I found O'Neill a more compelling figure after reading the book. The premium he placed on analysis, if this is to be believed, was in short supply in certain departments during 43's tenure. He is portrayed as an unconventional figure in a conventional town.
Given O'Neill's past experience in the Ford Administration and in running Alcoa he should have come to the Bush Administration as a known quantity (ie. someone unpredictable), especially to Cheney. It seems to be implicit in the book that the Bush team was surprised by the actions and words spoken by O'Neill. I find that a bit hard to believe. O'Neill appears to have been a free-thinker, or loose cannon as some would suggest, throughout his career. While this independence can be refreshing, or troubling depending upon who you are, it should not have come as a shock to the Bush team.
I look forward to comparing what Suskind and others have written, both positive and negative, to more academic and disinterested books written with the benefit of distance to the Bush Administration. Despite the afterward of the author, this does not strike me as a dispassionate analysis. There is an axe to grind here. That being said, there are some troubling consistencies that are beginning to emerge in a number of Bush '43' biographies and histories. I look forward to reexamining some of these books over the coming years to see how much is axe grinding, how much is flat wrong, and how much is an accurate depiction of what happened during the Bush Administration. (show less)
Another scathing critique of the Bush administration from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind, featuring surprisingly candid interviews with former Alcoa CEO Paul O'Neill, who was recruited as Treasury Secretary and subsequently dismissed by Bush halfway through his first term in office for refusing to sacrifice his principles and play along with Dick Cheney's cabal who ran the White House.
Although the explanations of various economic policies are a little dense, this book picks... (show more)
Another scathing critique of the Bush administration from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind, featuring surprisingly candid interviews with former Alcoa CEO Paul O'Neill, who was recruited as Treasury Secretary and subsequently dismissed by Bush halfway through his first term in office for refusing to sacrifice his principles and play along with Dick Cheney's cabal who ran the White House.
Although the explanations of various economic policies are a little dense, this book picks up speed when, towards the end of his term, O'Neill tours Africa with Bono to learn about how US foreign aid is being spent and misspent, and the real improvements that could be made in the lives of the poor in developing countries for a fraction of the money that was spent invading and occupying Iraq. (show less)
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I checked this book out of the library and renewed it 'till I finished. It was the catalyst for many a lunchroom discussion and opened up quite a few of my co-workers' eyes.
Kudos to Suskind for this look into the most secretive White House in recent history.
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