Customer Reviews

Ambling into History: The Unlikely Odyssey of George W. Bush

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

On the 3 July 2004 Fox News Watch member Neal Gabler implied that Frank Bruni was something of a cheer leader for George W Bush in the 2000 election.

That is not something a dispassionate reader would claim after reading Bruni's account in this book, essentially a campaign journal of Bruni's travels on the 'Zoo plane,'and elsewhere during that frantic presidential election.

Overall Bruni is mildly critical of his subject, but often in a funny way, particularly with the then Republican candidate's mangling of the English language -something that Bush is able to laugh at himself over (a good trait).

The book is not a must-read, and is now dated being published in early 2002, but it does give some idea of how manic and maniac campaign life is for both journalists and candidates.

Bush is revealed as a man with an impish sense of humour but also one that developed newfound gravity after the horrific attacks on his country, in September 2001, and a leader who takes the trappings of the presidency seriously. On one occasion he forgot to salute a marine as he boarded his helicopter, Marine One, to go to Camp David but once inside he remembered his failure and so returned to salute the startled guard!

If you like a gossipy style account of elections then this book is an enjoyable enough light read

Frank Bruni followed George W. Bush throughout his presidential campaign, and was able to see the candidate up close and personal for months on end. This experience gives him a number of insights into the President's character and personality and has allowed him to write a fascinating insider's view of the campaign.

Bruni's assessment of the Bush Campaign's strategies and of how the candidate acted and reacted to his life on the campaign are excellent reading. Even more interesting is Bruni's candid assessment of how the press covers campaigns, and how the press tends to distort the campaign for the sake of keeping things interesting. He makes no excuses for this, and is refreshingly critical of a number of much of the press coverage.

His assessment of Bush is equally even handed. He doesn't try to cover up Bush's flaws, but neither does he try to bludgeon the reader with personal attacks. The picture of Bush that emerges is one that would be familiar to most of us, a person with strengths and weaknesses, who works to overcome his weaknesses and take advantage of his strengths.

The one area where the book fails, in my opinion, is when Bruni discusses September 11. Bruni attempts to use his knowledge of Bush from the campaign trail to assess Bush's actions following September 11, an assessment that seems remarkably premature. Bruni admits he hasn't seen Bush since his inauguration, yet he makes significant assumptions about Bush's behavior and the rationale for it based on his campaign experience. This detracts from the more interesting parts of the book, because he's replaced reporting and analysis with speculation. Still, it's a book well worth reading.

My husband is supposed to be reading Ambling ... for an on-line book group, but I borrowed it 2 days ago, and wouldn't give it back to him until I finished.

This book does a remarkable job of portraying a man who struggled with family expectations, addictions, and ambivalence about his race to the presidency. I think that what makes Bruni's criticisms of Bush seem fair even to this Republican is that Bruni frequently touches on his uncertainties regarding the man. Bruni shows a healthy scepticism toward journalists and his own prejudices, telling Bush's story with a remarkable even-handedness. He's sympathetic to Bush's good qualities, yet fair when dealing with the man's faults. This is a book I am strongly recommending to both my Republican and Democrat friends.

He refuses to travel anywhere without his cherished feather pillow. He has a habit of addressing individuals around him by affectionate pet names-even those he has only known for a short time. He enjoys drinking non-alcoholic beer, having given up the real thing over fifteen years ago. Once, he almost lost his temper at a reporter for accidentally eating his peanut-butter and jelly sandwich.

Observations and anecdotes such as these are the focus of New York Times reporter Frank Bruni's "Ambling into History: The Unlikely Odyssey of George W. Bush". Bruni was among a select group of journalists who had been permitted to accompany Bush on the 2000 presidential campaign trail. Wherever Bush traveled, whatever rallies and events he attended, Bruni and his colleagues were there, notepads and tape recorders at the ready. They rode with him on the campaign bus, flew with him on his chartered plane, and slept in hotel rooms close to his. Being in such close proximity to "Dubbya" over such an extended period of time gave Bruni a rare opportunity to study the man up-close, providing him with insight to the finer details of Bush's character that few outside of his family and campaign staff ever got to see. Thus, rather than offer an examination of Bush's campaign strategy or revisit the election scandal that will forever remain an unpleasant footnote in our nation's history, Bruni instead chose to make his work an exploration of "the personality behind the policies and the often offbeat character that flickered through the frippery and pomp."

"Ambling into History" is certainly less interested in the politics than in the politician. Bruni is particularly fascinated by the little quirks exhibited in Bush's behavior throughout the campaign, character traits that in Bruni's view simply beg interpretation. Hence, Bush's frequent bouts of homesickness while on the road equate to a longing for traditional and familiar values. His recovery from alcoholism and fondness for daily exercise makes him a model of personal discipline and self-improvement. His penchant for mid-afternoon naps and insistence on a certain amount of "personal time" each workday indicates an inherent understanding of the need to properly pace oneself to get through the long haul.

Not that Bruni's observations are always flattering. Indeed, the overall portrait Bruni paints of Bush resembles something of a cross between a frat boy prankster, an overly sensitive man-child and an uncultured yahoo. That is not to say that Bruni dislikes Bush. In fact, when compared to Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore-who Bruni portrays as "someone so intent on success that he would shift shapes and betray his principles to achieve it"-Bush comes out looking downright wholesome. It is quite apparent that Bruni has developed a certain affection and respect for Bush after spending over a year in his constant presence. He describes Bush as "fetchingly down-to-earth", someone who can often seem childishly playful but also serious and focused when the situation (such as Sept. 11) demands it. He describes a man with commendable family values, a solid display of integrity, and yes, even a strong sense of compassion. And if he isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, well, at least he gets points for trying.

Perhaps the most surprising revelation in the book, however, is Bruni's observation that Bush may not have been as zealous in his quest for the presidency as one might imagine. Bruni contrasts Al Gore's near-obsessive drive to win the election with Bush's at times almost "half-hearted" attitude about becoming president. Bruni furtively suggests that Bush's decision to run was not so much driven by political ambition but rather by a desire to gain approval from his parents (who, it is hinted at, had always thought of brother Jeb as the brainier, more motivated one out of the two) and restore a sense of pride to the family name-specifically referring to the elder Bush's defeat to Bill Clinton in the 1992 presidential election.

But the most important question of all is whether Bush has the makings of a great president, for as we currently enter into a protracted war against a new kind of adversary and our homeland security is under constant threat, we cannot accept anything less than greatness from our Executive-in-Chief. Bruni's answer is indecisive at best. He demonstrates that at times Bush can be a lot smarter than he appears but, more often than not, when the media suggests that he is doing a good job, it is merely a euphemistic way of saying he hasn't screwed up, that he has exceeded the expectations of his detractors. He may be competent, but is George W. Bush capable of leading our country in these uncertain times? Bruni is content to let history decide that. Meanwhile, the fate of our nation sits in the hands of a man who is decidedly decent and respectable but, ultimately, is still untested in his potential for true leadership.

Mr. Bruni's prose has the uncanny ability to make a reader feel as though you're sitting comfortably at home having a thoroughly enjoyable conservation with someone who just happens to know a great deal about the way politicians and journalists think and work. This book is filled with telling little gems about President Bush -- the kinds of things you'd just love to share with your colleagues at the water cooler, because they're interesting, funny and they're bound to make you look smart.
Thank you, Mr. Bruni for letting us into the "bubble" of presidential campaigns.

I liked this book because it paints the good and bad about George W. Bush. Bruni covered the Bush Campaign for the New York Times. In this book, he reveals the real George Bush and the close election of 2000. There were lots of colorful insight and also jokes played during this campaign. What this book revealed was an uncomplicated man who was seeking the presidency. Bush also could laugh at himself, including his fumbling of the English language. The Presidency was not his all consuming passion as it was for Al Gore. This knowledge validated my vote for Bush.
Bruni covers only the campaign and the aftermath of the election. There is only a little background history of Bush before his presidential run. There are no photos in this book. The book is strictly a look at Bush's run for the White House in 2000.

Bruni reveals nothing new or very interesting about George W. Bush. By now, his nicknames and mangling of syllables are legendary. We all know how much he values loyalty, how his campaign--and now administration--remained tightly focused on its message, how his deep faith influences him. But anyone who has watched the evening news, even off and on, for the past several years knows all this. There are no really penetrating insights, no revelations or new understandings of Bush as man or Bush as president.

Still, it is nice to have these stories in one place, told and strung together by good reporting. Bruni does cover a broad (though not necessarily deep) range of Bush, and his attempt to show some sort of continuity or progression from candidacy to presidency is mostly successful--but, again, not too groundbreaking. Bush easily steals the show, and the laughs in the book come from him rather than from Bruni's sometimes strained efforts to be humorous. The book also provides fascinating insights into the lives of reporters on the road, as they follow candidates and presidents all across the country and the world, trying to meet deadlines, trying to tread a middle ground between honest, fair reporting and remaining on good terms with the subject.

Overall, Ambling Into History is too much retelling, too little analysis.

Read this fun, meaty, fast-paced portrait of George W. at your own risk. Those who voted for Bush, who saw him as the kind of guy they'd like to have a beer with, will find themselves wincing -- again and again -- at his juvenile behavior and shocking lack of in-depth knowledge about almost everything save the flora and fauna on his beloved ranch. They will be forced to admit that they helped elect a lightweight class clown. Then again, those who enthusiastically voted against Bush, as I did, will come away with from this incredibly nuanced, insightful and entertaining biography feeling something akin to real respect for the man (did I write that?) -- for his flexibility, his deep love of family and country and perhaps most importantly, his new-found focus and commitment to ridding the world of terrorism. Frat boy or Zen master? You decide. Bruni's book is about as balanced and fair as journalism gets. And he writes with great wit and intelligence and a healthy dose of self-deprecating humor as he drags us with on the exhausting campaign trail -- where every journalist gains weight, outgrows his clothes, resumes smoking and drinks too much on little to no sleep. I went willingly. What a blast.

Frank Bruni, a New York Times reporter, wrote a perceptive and eloquent book about the candidate whose campaign he covered in 1999-2000 and the president of the months previous to 9/11, when he was part of the White House press corps. With eye for the big and the small details, he tries a search for George W. Bush. But, as seems always the case in this kind of books, he succeeds, but only partially. Nevertheless, the answers to these failures stand clear in the book itself. I think it has to do something with misunderstimation.

Analysts, journalists and all kinds of pundits, it seems, start at the wrong place: they measure Bush against the traditional political standards and, when he just doesn't fit into them, well, the problems begin. "In many regards, the Bush I knew did not seem to be built for what lay ahead. The Bush I knew was part scamp and part bumbler, a timeless fraternity boy and heedless cutup, a weekday gym rat and weekend napster, an adult with an inner child that often brimmed to the surface or burst trough". What Bruni and others see as limitations, I think, could well be the essence of the success behind George W. Bush in the eyes of many people. In a time where professional politicians are always so self-righteous and pretend to have the right answers to all the problems around, Bush and his unpretending and fallible human nature are a breeze of fresh air.

So, when reading this book, you have to look for the real Bush, the one whose own self and voice keeps joyfully and intelligently jumping out here and there troughout the text, no matter what his disciplinarians (like Karen Hughes) do to enforce him, or the journalists (like Bruni himself) think about it.

Bruni's book deserves five stars because he tries really hard to measure Bush against those all traditonal standards and, in the way, inadvertently discovers Bush to the reader. Another plus is his exceptionally intelligent assesment of the role the press plays in "constructing reality" and not just reporting it. Sure it does. And it's part of the misunderestimation of George W. Bush.

Read it, you won't be dissapointed.

Contrasted with the egomaniacal meanderings of Joe Klein in "The Natural", Frank Bruni's treatise on President Bush is what true journalism is all about. He approaches his subject correctly -- as a subject, not a friend.

Throughout the book, which is basically what you might hear if you had a bar tab and several hours of Bruni's time, the author makes clear the line between himself and Bush. He describes the events as a journalist interacting, following, and writing about a candidate for the President of the United States. It is less about any personal interaction between Frank and George -- although there is some in there, simply as a matter of course -- but much more about a New York Times reporter, a would-be President, and the inane process of running for the highest office in the land.

And this is where the book shines. It gives informative details about pack journalism, how journalists can influence the coverage and voters views on particular candidates, and the messy details about how the sausage is really made. And it also gives insight into the 43rd President, warts and all. Bruni's approach to writing this -- casual, laid-back -- makes it pleasant to read as well.

To be sure, the book has its flaws. Bruni sometimes strays into psychobabble, as he freely admits. Not that there is anything wrong with that -- but Bruni is a journalist, not a psychologist. I could give dimestore analysis of Bush, but no one, hopefully, would pay to read it. Also no excuse for better sourcing; instead Bruni slacks off, and just types something at the end of the book, with nary a page reference included. And there is no index, which attests more to the fact that this is a campaign journal rather than a scholarly work. I like indexes in my non-fiction though.

Still, for what it is, it gives a good, nuanced look at how GW made it to the White House, and how Bruni -- and the rest of the journalists -- covered the 2000 campaign.