Customer Reviews

In His Father's Shadow: The Transformations of George W. Bush

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1 star:		(4)

 

 

GWB is a remarkably polarizing president, and the storm of emotion that surrounds him makes getting a handle on the man and his presidency extremely difficult. And yet, the context of war makes understanding what makes him tick particularly urgent. Renshon's book arrives at just the right time. And his careful, thoughtful analysis should be fascinating reading even to political junkies who thing they know this president well.

Renshon explores the story of what it was like to grow up as a Bush, of his struggle to make something of himself, and of his conquest over an addiction to alcohol. Most interesting, however, is Renshon's description of the president as an agent of transformational change dealing with the question of national survival in a deeply divided society. To an unexpected and startling degree, Bush has been willing to risk his political future by going against the grain of much of the public, liberal and conservative alike. There will be lots of books on Bush written by talking heads who mistake political warfare for careful analysis. Renshon's book, however, should stand the test of time as a work of scholarship and integrity.

Reading this book, I didn't start out liking Bush very much, but
afterwards I had learned a lot that was new and sort of interesting about him. After reading this book, you may not end up voting for Bush, but you probably will see that there is a lot more to the man than his critics say.  The author has clearly reached some conclusions about the man, but lays out the evidence on both sides of the issues carefully. I thought both sides got a fair hearing and that the author let the reader make his or her own judgments, and that overall the book was surprisingly balanced.

I have taken a course with Renshon, and read portions of his writings on this subject before the book was published. It's not so much that I'm opposed to his partisan perspective -- he's entitled to that if he wants it.

The real problem is his complete disregard for any standard of social science research methodology. He has given up on trying to explain what happens in reality, and instead focuses on the alleged psychological issues of Bush as they relate to his father (presumably all emanating from some sort of ultimate Oedipal complex).

His research relies almost entirely on media reports and Bob Woodward's 2 journalistic accounts of Bush. Renshon attempts to put Bush on the couch from afar, and utterly fails.

This is a pro-administration book. The author's presentation in the book is very sympathetic to the President and his administration. The polls show the public trusts Bush according to the author. The book lays out a very upbeat analysis of the President. The author is a psychologist and the author attempts to psycho-analyze the President from afar. He spoke at an author event in January where the attendees seemed to be underwhelmed. The author added that people have underestimated George Bush for over ten years, in his opinion.

MR. RENSHON IS A PART OF ADMINISTRATION'S PEROPAGANDA MACHIN . HE EVEN DOESN'T UNDERSTAND THAT THE PLAN FOR OCCUPYING IRAQ WAS DISCUSSED AND PLANED EVEN BEFOR MR. BUSH CAME TO OFFICE.

This book is a thinly veiled attempt to make the reader believe that because the author is a 'psychoanalyst', that this is a professional analytical assessment of Dubyah's thought processes.

NO- It's not, and this author, Stanley A. Renshon is even a FINANCIAL BACKER of the Bush campaign! Check it out- go to fundrace dot org and punch his last name into the 'neighbor search' box.

This is just another Dubyah LOVE FEST! BEWARE!

I can't believe this "author" lists issues where Bush has "flip flopped" on his prior conservative beliefs (amnesty for illegal immigrants, higher tarrifs on steel, etc.) and the author admits Bush did it simply for "political advantage" (i.e votes). Then the author concludes that "If saying no to your allies on policy issues is one measure of presidential character integrity, Bush has given clear and repeated evidence of it". Changing your mind on policy in order to secure more votes is an example of integrity? Amazing......