First Son: George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Bill Minutaglio (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 6, 1999

In one of the most unprecedented developments in the history of national politics, George W. Bush abruptly emerged to lead all presidential aspirants in the national polls for the 2000 election. Yet voters know very little about the man, beyond his famous name and his place in one of the nation's most powerful political dynasties.

First Son is a true, riveting family saga about extraordinary power and politics in America and in the unharnessed state--a state of mind--called Texas. The story begins with the turn-of-the-century emergence of the influential Bush-Walker clan and of Prescott Bush, the Connecticut patrician who ingrained in his family an ethos that continues to exert influence on his son, former President George Bush, and his grandsons, George W. and Jeb. How these scions of the Bush dynasty struggle to live up to their enduring legacy is the central theme of this colorful and perceptive portrait the first authentative book on the governor of Texas.

In the past year, award-winning Texas writer Bill Minutaglio has met with George W. Bush and interviewed dozens of people close to him, from his brother Governor Jeb Bush of Florida to uncles and cousins, from current and former political advisers to high-ranking insiders from his father's years in the White House. Fraternity buddies, political operatives, George W.'s employers, and even ardent critics of the Bush family bring this story to life--from the society circles in his native Connecticut to the family compound in Maine to the backwaters of his adopted Texas. The result is a book that is nuanced, insightful, and surprising in the contradictions and complexities it reveals about this man.

First Son vividly reconstructs George W. Bush's boarding-school days at one of the country's most exclusive institutions; his tenure in one of Yale's secret societies and as president of his unfettered fraternity; his attempts to follow his family's million-dollar path into the wide-open Texas oil patch; his role in major league baseball as the public face and head cheerleader for the Texas Rangers; and, finally, his rise to governor of Texas and national political force, executed with more hard-edged calculation than many people realize.

Written with precision, verve, and fair-minded balanace, First Son will be the political story of 2000--the eye-opening tale of a natural-born politician.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The first of several Y2K biographies on Texas governor George W. Bush offers an in-depth look at both the Republican presidential candidate and his political family: Bill Minutaglio interviewed more than 300 people for First Son, including Bush and many members of his inner circle. The book focuses on the life of "Dubya" (the nickname used by the press and others to distinguish him from his father) and includes a combination of original material and information that has been reported elsewhere. It is neither pro- nor anti-Bush, simply reportorial and largely nonjudgmental. Readers won't find an answer to one of the season's most burning questions: Has Bush ever used illegal drugs? In a preface, Minutaglio piously says he won't stoop to such low levels. Yet one gets the sense that he won't go there because he doesn't have any hard evidence, as stories of Bush's heavy drinking are related without apparent reservation. Minutaglio, a writer for The Dallas Morning News, spends most of his time describing Bush's amazing and unexpected rise to fame. Dubya's own family, for instance, thought that younger brother Jeb would be the first to win an important public office. Yet Dubya exploited his family ties and personal charisma to have a successful business career in the 1980s and then beat a popular incumbent in 1994 to become Texas governor. (Jeb became governor of Florida in 1998, while his brother won a second term in Austin.) Minutaglio's narrative goes light on Bush's gubernatorial record and ends before his formal entry into the presidential race in 1999. Readers hungry for an overview of the man who would be president, however, could do much worse than start by looking here. --John J. Miller

From Publishers Weekly

How did George W. Bush, "the turbulent cosmos inside every family gathering in Maine," rein in his impulsiveness and his temper, his resentment and his considerable wild side, to become the smiling prophet of "compassionate conservatism," two-term governor of Texas and current front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination? In a detailed but poorly organized biography, Minutaglio, a reporter at the Dallas Morning News, delves sympathetically into the blessings and disadvantages that George "Dubya" experienced growing up as the grandson of the formidable Connecticut senator Prescott Bush and as the son of the 41st president of the United States. Bush's youth was not normal: President Nixon once ordered a military plane to pick up Bush for a date with his daughter. Minutaglio presents Bush as a man who has overcome the burdens of crushing expectations and a recurrent identity problem, a man with strong Texas roots, superior political skills and hot emotions. Readers who care about the summer's most popular political question (Did Bush snort cocaine?) won't find an answer here, though Minutaglio is quite candid about the first son's former proclivities for liquor (Bush says he has been sober since 1986). In the end, however, the book is diminished by Minutaglio's apparent inability to separate important points from inconsequential details. More personal than political, this slightly unfocused character study makes no strong assessment of Bush's performance as governor and no predictions about what a Bush presidency might look like. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Crown; 1st edition (October 6, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812931394
• ISBN-13: 978-0812931396
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,598,708 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bill Minutaglio is the author of several critically acclaimed books, including biographies of President George W. Bush, Molly Ivins and Alberto Gonzales, and a narrative retelling of the greatest industrial disaster in American history. An anthology of his writing about race and injustice in America is entitled "In Search of The Blues: A Journey To The Soul of Black Texas."

His work has appeared in The New York Times, Esquire, Newsweek, Texas Monthly, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Outside and many other publications. His work has been featured, along with that of Ernest Hemingway, in Esquire's list of the greatest tales of survival ever written.

Reviewers have compared his work to that of Tom Wolfe, Herman Melville and Hunter Thompson. His work has been optioned by Tom Cruise, published in China and lauded by Oliver Stone. Among the writers who have offered praise on his book jackets: Buzz Bissinger, David Maraniss, Sir Harold Evans, Douglas Brinkley, Gail Sheehy, James Lee Burke and Mario Puzo.

He has won numerous awards for his writing, including recognition from The National Association of Black Journalists and The National Conference of Christians and Jews, which saluted his work in fighting prejudice.

His work has been called "excellent" by The New York Review of Books, New Republic and others. The NYTimes has called his work "fascinating." The San Francisco Chronicle has called his work on Bush Administration officials "chilling." The Texas Observer said his book "City On Fire" was one of the "finest books ever written about Texas."

"Minutaglio has long been regarded as one of the great writers in Texas journalism . . . he wrote exquisite long-form pieces about Texas poverty in a time of plenty"
The Austin American-Statesman

"Reading Bill Minutaglio is like listening to one of the great Texas blues legends. His reporting brings forth stories of suffering and resilience, while at the same time his dazzling writing evokes the brilliantly effusive guitar solos of masters like T-Bone Walker and Lightnin' Hopkins."
Steven L. Davis, Series Editor
Southwestern Writers Collection Book Series

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific and well-balanced, November 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: First Son: George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty (Hardcover)

This biography ought to be read by everyone, "W" supporter or not. It's insightful, clear, colorful and gives a great sense of background about this man's early years. Minutaglio is a real WRITER who doesn't have any apparent political agenda other than giving readers the information they need to make their own decisions. Since it looks like the man may be president, this book will -- without doubt -- become THE info. source. I've lent it to several friends who also praise it highly. If it were out in paperback, they would have bought copies for themeselves...

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening, October 19, 2002

By 

paul (Tarnell, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: First Son : George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty (Paperback)

It was fascinating to read the true story of the Bush family, not the assumptions often reported. Who knew that he came from such a downtrodden background, worked so hard to rise from the ashes and achieve greatness at Yale? It's no small wonder that we have this great man leading our country through the holy wrath of war!

Like his father, George W. is a stern and honorable, if not particularly well-spoken, fella'. He reads a teleprompter with unequalled ease and skill, a testament to his ability to comfortably rely on others. AS this book shows, these are all traits he learned while growing up with the help of many other wealthy and able men who were able to take the burden off of poor George W.'s shoulders. He truly is great, not to mention lucky, and he has strutted his lightened shoulders into the White House with only the slightest help from his father's friends in the Supreme Court.

Were it not for men like Bill Minutaglio, the world would be in horrible danger of being exposed to the false and misleading face of the truth. Buy this book!

35 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars well balanced, well written, well thought out, November 2, 1999

By 

Mark (Newark, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: First Son: George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty (Hardcover)

If you are looking for tabloid like Bush Bashing, don't look here (you might try The Father's Son, that one is quite good at trying to instill some what outdated class war fare dribble). This particular book is extremely well balanced. If you love the Bush clan, or hate them, you will find something within. Personally, I found it an insightful and interesting tale of one of our nations most powerful pollitical families. Is George W qualified to be President? Well that is a question that only time will answer. My thoughts are he is as qualified as the guy we have recently given the nod to twice, except, maybe George will actually care more for the country than himself. He does seem to learn and grow. Now that would be a pleasant change. However one thing is for certain, the Bush family is a political dynasty (now more impressive than the Kennedys) and the people of Texas sincerely love both of their Georges.