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Rebel in Chief: Inside the Bold and Controversial Presidency of George W. Bush [Paperback]

Fred Barnes
3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (155 customer reviews)

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Book Description

September 26, 2006
“You can’t worry about being vindicated, because the truth of the matter is, when you do big things, it’s going to take a while for history to really understand.” —President Bush, in an exclusive interview with Fred Barnes for Rebel-in-Chief

With Rebel-in-Chief, veteran political reporter Fred Barnes provides the defining book on George W. Bush’s presidency, giving an insider’s view of how Bush’s unique presidential style and bold reforms are dramatically remaking the country—and, indeed, the world. In the process, Barnes shows, the president is shaking up Washington and reshaping the conservative movement.

Barnes has gained extraordinary access to the Bush administration for Rebel-in-Chief, conducting rare one-on-one interviews with President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and many other close presidential advisers. That access, along with Barnes’s extensive independent reporting and interviewing, produces an eye-opening look at this highly consequential—and controversial—presidency.

Rebel-in-Chief reveals:

• How Bush acts as an “insurgent force” in the nation’s capital—“a different kind of president” who is turning the Washington establishment on its ear

• How Bush is redefining conservatism for a new era—and creating a new Republican majority

• The inside story of how Bush has revolutionized American foreign policy—and how the president's crusade for democracy would have been anathema to Bush himself only five years ago

• When and why Bush decided to go into Iraq, even knowing that he was putting his political future at risk

• How a White House aide you've probably never heard of is shaping the Bush vision

• The surprising and important ways Bush's faith affects critical presidential decisions

• How Bush has outmaneuvered his political opponents and surprised members of the press who have dismissed him as an intellectual bantamweight

• How Bush routinely defies conventional wisdom because of his contempt for elite opinion and halfway reforms (“small-ball,” he calls them)—and why he usually wins

George W. Bush billed himself as a “different kind of Republican.” He has proved to be a different kind of president, too. And Fred Barnes’s riveting behind-the-scenes account helps us understand how much this “Rebel-in-Chief ” is reshaping the world around us.




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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The Weekly Standard executive editor and Fox News personality preaches to the Crawford choir in this analysis-cum-tribute to the Bush presidency. Readers who keep pace with current events will find little new in Barnes's take on the president's policies, but what's instructive are the surprising glimpses into the personality of a man Barnes celebrates as an "insurgent leader" who's "an alien in the realm of the governing class" that despises all things Washington and revels in his status as "a revolutionary with a revolutionary vision." Indeed, the capital is a locale he regards as a "job site" at best and a "detention center" at worst where the increasingly Republican-populated Washington establishment is "reactionary" (and "Bush ignores them"), and the national press corps "reminded Bush of the liberal students he detested in his years at Yale." His disdain for newspaper-reading is well-known, but Barnes goes to great lengths to detail the president's copious book-reading habit (five to every one that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reads), from Michael Crichton's State of Fear and Margaret MacMillian's Paris 1919 to Natan Sharansky's The Case for Democracy and David McCullough's 1776. However, Barnes's cheerleading proves wearying after a few chapters: no matter what the topic, the president is right and everyone else is wrong. Bush, like Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt, has been "prematurely judged to fall short of presidential specifications," leaving Barnes to conclude "Bush is a president of consequence." Ardent partisans will enjoy this polemical valentine, which should be read with care by readers seeking fresh insights into the mind of the 43rd president.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Here's a book the Bush administration will be happy about. Barnes, the executive editor of the Weekly Standard and a Fox news contributor, has written a political biography in which, to quote a cowboy song, seldom is heard a discouraging word and (with true Bushian syntax) the skies are not cloudy all day. Using a one-hour interview with the president as the core for this short book, Barnes hits the familiar notes: Bush is a loner, unbeholden and uninterested in the Washington establishment. He's a big thinker, a visionary. He is loyal. He likes to go to bed early. Nothing is said about CIA leaks or the standing of the U.S. in the world or Bush's sinking popularity polls; rather, the point is--made by both Barnes and President Bush--that this a presidency whose goals are so big, they are for history to judge, not snapshooting pollsters. The most interesting part of the book is Barnes' discussion of how much Bush is influenced by what he reads, especially Natan Sharansky's Case for Democracy. Barnes is preaching to the choir here--and the choir will love it. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Three Rivers Press (September 26, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0307336506
  • ISBN-13: 978-0307336507
  • Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.6 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (155 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,675,188 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Bush is redefining the conservative movement, but not in the way Barnes thinks. mrbig  |  18 reviewers made a similar statement
Fred Barnes provides an insightful analysis of George W. Bush, the man. Jerry Saperstein  |  15 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 24 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Barne's Perspective of President Bush November 28, 2007
Format:Paperback
Fred Barnes is a Fox television news analyst. He interviewed President George W. Bush and his top officials to report on the ways the Bush administration is using what he calls radical conservatism to effect change in the United States. This book is well written and covers foreign policy and faith-based initiatives. I will let you make up your own mind, but I will say that this book is an interesting read.
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122 of 169 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Amazon has removed negative reviews.. January 21, 2006
Format:Hardcover
including one that I wrote just a couple of days ago. My review was negative and rather sarcastic about TV personality Fred Barnes' contention that Bush is a courageous political outsider -- which you have to agree would be an eccentric way to describe the politican son of any former President. But my review was not offensive unless, perhaps, you are Fred Barnes and your mission in life is the production of neoconservative political hagiography. Something like two thirds of viewers had found the review useful. All the same, I am not surprised it is gone, there have been hissy fits from the Right about these and other comments. Oh how they piously decry the uncivility of these unhinged moonbats!

So, when I noticed this, I checked a recent book by Michael Moore sold by Amazon. There are many equally partisan and rather less articulate reviews from the Right that are still there and that have been there for some time.

In other words, Amazon does not subject the Right to the same censorship.

Why? Does the publisher get to decide what reviews Amazon will publish? Does selective censorship add to the credibility of the process? Did you get a call from Karl?
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88 of 122 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Two Mints January 24, 2006
Format:Hardcover
Similar to the old Certs commercials, the main point of disagreement over Fred's book will be - is it a deadly boring love letter or is it sleep inducing sycophancy? Hint: it's two mints in one. Bush destroys the best of conservatism while Barnes shines his shoes.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars The President Was Perfect... Indeed
I deliberately picked up this book two years after the presidency of George W. Bush hoping to learn the mechanics of his decision making with the benefit of hindsight. Read more
Published on November 21, 2010 by Merlin
5.0 out of 5 stars FINALLY SOME APPRECIATION FOR A GREAT MAN
The main review at the beginning of this page states that everything in this book shows Bush to be right and everyone else to be wrong. I did not find that to be so. Read more
Published on January 14, 2009 by Wanda M. Keith Rn
3.0 out of 5 stars the devil is in the details
This is the second book I've read now regarding the politics surrounding the Bush Whitehouse. The first was Daydream Believers which offered a more critical assessment of Bush's... Read more
Published on September 6, 2008 by N
3.0 out of 5 stars Simplistic nonsense
Somehow, I suffered through this book. Yes, there were some interesting points. But I no longer remember them, as they were far outweighed by stupidity. Read more
Published on July 28, 2008 by Alyssa A. Lappen
5.0 out of 5 stars A Condensed Version of History
For those that don't know much about history, here is a condensed version.

Humans originally existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters/gatherers. Read more
Published on February 20, 2008 by S. Kulyk
1.0 out of 5 stars Sopranos
I could tell from watching Carmella Soprano reading this in one of the last episodes of the show that it'd be a propaganda piece. Read more
Published on June 26, 2007 by Ken Curran
1.0 out of 5 stars Fiction Posing as Biography
I wish I could give this book zero stars. Is there anything in here that is true? How can anyone take it seriously? Read more
Published on May 11, 2007 by Douglas W. Trabaris
1.0 out of 5 stars I actually read the book
I'm not a fan of those who simply come here to bash Bush without having read the book. I don't like people who criticize by merely calling Bush evil or a facist or some such... Read more
Published on May 10, 2007 by JLund
1.0 out of 5 stars 1984 is NOW: Doublethink as practiced by Fred Barnes
If you've read 1984 by George Orwell you will know the definition of doublethink:

...

Thought marked by the acceptance of gross contradictions and falsehoods,... Read more
Published on May 3, 2007 by James B. Montano
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Published on November 4, 2006 by Dr. Eigenvalue
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Are rebels ever good managers?
rebels are what built this country you moron ! rebels are the ones who tore down the Berlin Wall, rebels are the ones who have the guts to stand up for change ie. Martin Luther King Jr., Ronald Reagen, Mikail Gorbachev,J.F.K., George Washington, Rosa Parks, Abraham Lincoln, and yes good ol'... Read more
Feb 17, 2006 by Sandra Sherwood |  See all 6 posts
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