Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush [DECKLE EDGE] (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From The Washington Post

Reviewed by Richard Wolffe

There are two questions any definitive account of George W. Bush's presidency must answer. One has dogged him from the very start of his presidential campaign in 1999: Is he as stupid as he seems? The other has dogged him for the last five years: Why did he decide to invade Iraq?

The first question about Bush's intelligence is relatively easy to dodge but exceptionally hard to answer. No, he's not stupid, but he is simplistic and sometimes sloppy. He has a sharp strategic mind when it comes to politics, and he can delve into policy details when he wants to. However, everyone who knows the president realizes that is only a partial answer. The deeper question boils down to this: How does he apply his intelligence? Why does he disdain the policy experts and the nuance in favor of his gut judgment?

The answer to this question might ultimately help Bush historians with the other challenge -- how to understand the abrupt shift from the war against al-Qaeda to the singular focus on Saddam Hussein and Iraq. At this late stage of his presidency, there really isn't much point in writing a book about Bush without grappling with these huge, unanswered questions. This is a daunting prospect for any biographer, and Bush himself is not exactly helpful here. He hates this kind of psychobabble, and his most loyal aides and friends do, too. At his getting-to-know-you lunch with author Robert Draper, the president declined to gaze into his own navel. "You're the observer," he said, "I'm not. I really do not feel comfortable in the role of analyzing myself." This is the kind of sly putdown that Bush performs effortlessly. After six sit-down interviews with Draper, Bush seems to have revealed little about the inner workings of his mind.

Draper emerges with a treasure trove of detail and anecdotes, but he often doesn't delve -- or isn't allowed to delve -- into the deeper questions. Early in his book Dead Certain, he tells the story of Bush's failed bid for Congress in 1978. Against all the best advice, Bush decided to run against a conservative West Texas Democrat, Kent Hance. He lost badly, but not embarrassingly. Explaining his decision to Draper, he said, "You can't learn lessons by reading. Or at least I couldn't. I learned by doing. I knew it was an uphill struggle. But see, I've never had a fear of losing. I didn't like to lose. But having parents who give you unconditional love, I think it means I had the peace of mind to know that even with failure, there was love."

Let 1,000 PhDs bloom. Here is a president who boasts of reading around 100 books a year, promotes reading standards and No Child Left Behind, graduated from Yale and Harvard, and is married to a librarian. Yet he thinks he can't learn lessons by reading. You can almost hear the critics scoff. Given his current situation, if the president had spent more time studying Iraq and less time doing Iraq, he might have emerged with a different conclusion about military action.

And what about that lack of fear, that nonchalance about failure? This might just explain the deep trust in his own snap judgments. But why the immediate connection to his parents' love? Are his relationships with his parents and siblings really so simple?

Sadly, you won't find the answers to those questions in Dead Certain. But there are plenty of eye-popping moments that Draper has uncovered, to his huge credit. It's not coincidental that the anecdote above comes from a race in Texas and is sourced to a pre-presidency interview in 1998. Draper is far more enlightening about these Texas moments than the Washington years.

For instance, he vividly trashes Bush's much-vaunted business experience as general manager of the Texas Rangers baseball team. He describes his groupie behavior with the team, painting a memorable picture of what he mockingly calls the First Fan and the Jocksniffer-in-Chief. But Draper spends just one paragraph on Bush's decision to give up alcohol, and even less space on his rigorous exercise regime. These are two pillars of the president's life and character.

He uncovers great anecdotes about Bush's love of punctuality (the president locked Colin Powell out of a Cabinet meeting for being late). He tells a wonderful story about Bush's new wardrobe, and his sartorial transformation from slob to governor (including his former love of beltless polyester slacks). Yet Draper doesn't try to reconcile the self-discipline with the slobbishness, even as he watches Bush stuff a hotdog into his mouth.

Dead Certain features a compelling account of the 2000 South Carolina primary and the destruction of the McCain campaign. Yet it reveals far less about the cold-blooded calculation inside the White House to exploit 9/11 and Iraq for campaign purposes in 2002 and 2004. Bush's disputed victory in 2000 and the impact on his presidency: half a page. The challenge of electricity generation in occupied Iraq: an entire chapter.

As for the most opaque relationship inside the White House -- the mystery of the Bush-Cheney axis -- the book is mostly silent. We learn that Karl Rove opposed Cheney as the VP pick because choosing one of Bush 41's Cabinet members would appear "needy" and off-message about the candidate's independence from his father. Then nothing more -- not the fateful discussions about Iraq nor the emotional talk about Cheney's hunting accident.

Here we have the story of a needy candidate who turns into a swaggering war president. Can one person be both needy and confident? Yes, if you're President George W. Bush. If only we knew why.

Copyright 2007, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

Review

"A fascinating...book. What Dead Certain does very nimbly is give the reader an intimate sense of the president's personality and how it informs his decision making."- The New York Times

"What Draper does with great skill in Dead Certain is debunk caricatures of George Bush, both positive and negative. In place of the dim-witted bogeyman of the left and the resolute hero of the right, Draper introduces a three-dimensional man full of contradictions." -- Salon.com

"A fascinating look at both [the Bush] presidency and his personality." -- Brian Williams, NBC Nightly News

"Draper is no apologist for the administration, and for Bush-bashers there are plenty of nuggets.... But the overall portrait sheds a humanizing light on a much-vilified president." -- Los Angeles Times

"An intimate portrait of a White House racked by more infighting than is commonly portrayed." -- The Washington Post

"Amazing...stunning." -- New York Post

"Washington's hottest dinner-party book this autumn." -- The Observer (UK)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; 1st Free Press Hardcover Ed edition (September 4, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743277287
• ISBN-13: 978-0743277280
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #281,468 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very well-written - covers a LOT of bases, September 7, 2007

By	David S. Rhodes (Scottsdale, AZ United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Like some other reviewers, I was thinking this might be a puff piece on GWB. It is not. The author has apparently gone to great lengths to expose the good, bad, and ugly - regardless of who it slams.

The Bremer/Bush issue is a particularly good read. Almost novel-like.

This author has a smooth but intense way of writing that keeps you wanting to get to the next page. I read it on a cross-country flight and got irritated everytime the stewardess asked if I was ready for dinner - I wanted to keep reading! :)

I would like to have seen a little more in the book relative to Dick Cheney just because of the fascinating relationship that is.

Overall, if you are a political junkie, this book will be a page-turner for you. Highly recommended.

86 of 101 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars From an author who tells the truth!, September 7, 2007

By	Eddie Dennison "Jrdenn" (Huntington, W.V.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

What makes this book so rare is the fact that GWB has had one of the most secretive administrations in history. Somehow to his credit, the author (Robert Draper) managed to get in and even get the president to open up to him. Very rare!

Most books about GWB are written by authors with an obvious agenda. However, in the case of Draper's 'Dead Certain' I believe he is toeing the line. While he is clearly not a liberal by any means he also doesn't come off as a Sean Hannity conservative either.

The book is written from personal conversations Draper had with the president in the oval office (six in all) and over 200 members of his staff. Over time GWB becomes comfortable with Draper and probably reveals some conversations he either regrets having or believed the author would never print. This is where Draper proves he is loyal to nobody but the reader!

In fact, you would think some of the things GWB said was leaked and then written by Al Franken or another liberal author. Conversation's about making million like his father Clinton are making. Or other conversation's where he blames John Robert's for the idea of appointing Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court which lost him his half his loyal base.

Draper even speaks about the disdain 1st Lady Laura Bush has for advisor Karl Rove in the book. It is said her nickname for Rove is "PigPin" from Charlie Brown. You can draw your own conclusion to why she labled him with that monicker which is hilarious!

Buy the book and read it! I give it only 3 stars because I don't enjoy reading anything about GWB quite honestly. However, as a person who likes politics when the truth is being told (which is rare) I am a fan. A book that give's the truth about the GWB administration is especially rare!

69 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Revealing!, September 4, 2007

By	Loyd E. Eskildson "Pragmatist" (Phoenix, AZ.) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

At first I thought "Dead Certain" would simply be a "puff-piece," or another one-sided "Bush-basher." I was very pleasantly surprised to learn a number of things in this balanced book - eg. that Bush claims to have been surprised by Bremer's disbanding the Iraqi Army and police (in retrospect, a disastrous decision - regardless, Bremer reacted angrily to this claim and released documents showing otherwise), that Bush didn't simply accept anything and everything that Rove suggested, and the startling (and very disturbing) statement regarding the Iraq troop surge that, "I'm playing for October-November," when he hopes the Iraq troop increase will finally show enough results to get us in a position where the presidential candidates will be comfortable about sustaining a presence and stay longer. (The latter statement is political dynamite!)

"Dead Certain" also reaffirms Bush as resolute (stubborn?) and not liking to receive bad news (Bush has "an almost petulant heedlessness to the outside world"), as well as totally committed to his exercise regime. More importantly, I believe that any book on the Bush presidency should devote considerable effort covering V.P. Cheney's role (this was not accomplished in "Dead Certain") and greater insight into the decision-making on executive power and the treatment of detainees.