Customer Reviews

Taking Heat: The President, the Press, and My Years In The White House

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Ari provides an interesting book in his autobiography as President Bush's White House Press Secretary. I always hate to review books like this because they are so politically charged and ideologues on either side tend to get in a huff over what you say. I will endeavor to keep this as neutral as possible. This book sets out to accomplish many objectives but only hits half of them. First and foremost it is one of the best looks at the role of the press secretary and the sheer stress the job has on a person. Whether you like or hate President Bush there is no one who can deny that the role of press secretary is a hard job especially under a tight lipped and secretive white House. Andy Card's goal as chief of staff was to keep leaks to a minimum which frustrates the press leaving their only source of information the press secretary. When the press secretary is instructed not to discuss military matters it becomes even more adversarial. One of the interesting things learned from the book is what viewpoint the Press Secretary is supposed to have. I found it fascinating that he is only there to represent the views of the president and that does not necessarily have to be the wishes of the branches of government that report to the president.

One of the other objectives was to provide a critical narrative of the press and give insight into the White House Press Crops. I found his look at the White House Press fascinating and he really does put you inside the room of the toughest reporters in the United States. He illustrates well his points about the adversarial nature of the press and the desire of the press to create conflict which leads to stories. Many times the same questions are asked over and over hoping for a slip that the Press Secretary cannot afford to give. One of the angles that I think he does handle poorly is the bias of the press. While there are voluminous studies to show that the press is slanted right Ari seems to not acknowledge that all media is biased in one direction or another. The White House press does not give passes to any president. People today do not trust the news they get from the press and rightly so due to the biases that are present be they Fox News or MSNBC. While he highlights the point of on the liberal media it is done far better by Benard Goldberg in his book Bias.

Finally Ari tries to make a defense of President Bush and his policies/leadership style. Some of his book seems to be aimed at knocking down the arguments in the Price of Loyalty. While this is another viewpoint again the truth probably lies in the middle. Some of his defenses of trying to shift blame to the press for starting up the Iraq war are fairly ludicrous. Ari does not sit in on any of the national security briefings and the president preferred himself to comment on those matters leaving Ari in a hard position to comment on them after the fact. One of the things he does refute well that many agree with is the loyalty that Bush shows to those who are loyal to him. There is a clear look that Bush's leadership style does work within his White House and he is respected by the staff. Ari also seems to take it upon himself to set the record straight and show the country that Bush did not think of the war in Iraq in a vacuum that many other people including the press also had the same idea along the way. He is largely successful in this although he glosses over one of the critical mistakes. The landing on the USS Lincoln with the banner Mission Accomplished was one of the great errors in the press of fighting the war and it is skipped over here. I think Ari is right in saying that the press views any war that is long as a quagmire and Vietnam and any war where we win quickly is Desert Storm and must be over in a week. There is a lack of reality by the press which filters to the country.

Overall an excellent book and very well done. Ari provides unique insight into the Bush White House and while it is biased it does not make it useless. He raises critical questions that require issues to be reexamined and while he is loathe to critize his former boss for the things he did wrong we still see a good look at Bush the man and the President.

The whiny left will cry foul and hope that the "unenlightened" middle America continues to stick their heads in the sand, and the stodgy right will brandish this book like a blade of righteous indignation. As a staunch independent, the insight into the left-biased media is vindicating for someone like myself who always has that nagging feeling that you're not quite getting both sides of the story. The writing itself was difficult to pick out a linear theme, more of a textbook to be studied than an autobiography to be leisurely enjoyed. The subject matter however is fascinating, giving you a fly-on-the-wall perspective into the most powerful office on earth.

I having nothing but praise for Ari Fleishcher's work as President Bush's press secretary. But unfortunately, his decision to treat his book like just another press conference makes for a very disappointing, unsatisfying read. What struck me the most was his failure to offer anything even remotely critical of the President. His hero worship/adherance to the party line as press secretary makes perfect sense, but as an independent minded author, one is forced to question how in his years with the President, he failed to see a single thing that had been handled incorrectly. Is this the immaculate Presidency? Could anyone be that perfect? As a supporter of President Bush, I was hoping to discern a more complete picture of his leadership skills and character. But all you get here is a campaign ad. He even spins the now infamous "Mission Accomplished" banner, using it as an opportunity to slam the press for failing to report the full breadth of the President's remarks. I supported the war, but c'mon Ari, this was a screw up of monumental proportions in terms of public perception. An honest statement like "we were right on the substance, but we made a big mistake in terms of giving our detractors ammunition" would have been welcome and refreshing. Instead, like with most campaign commercials, after a while, you just stop listening and want to change the channel.

Helen Thomas: 'Fleischer forgets he gave spin, not facts'
Posted on Wednesday, April 06 @ 09:42:19 EDT Former Press Secretary Has Advice For Journalists

By Helen Thomas, The Boston Channel

Unlike some former White House aides, Ari Fleischer -- who served as President George W. Bush's press secretary during Bush's first term -- has not written a "kiss and tell" book.

In fact, Fleischer's White House memoir, "Taking Heat," is so worshipful of the president, Bush could have written it himself.

Fleischer says he left the White House because of burnout, a fatigue brought on mainly by sparring with the press -- that is the "biased," conflict-loving, predominantly liberal cadre of White House reporters.

Another perennial complaint in his book is that reporters focused only on the bad news and did not cover the good news "even in a land as hopeful and optimistic as America."



More in sorrow than in anger he ends his opus with an epilogue, expressing the hope that his book will challenge reporters and journalism schools "to think a little bit differently about how they report the facts."

If only he had provided the facts instead of the daily spin. But that's another story.

Fleischer did not completely spare himself and recounted some of his flubs. Reporters remember when he warned them that people "in this building" -- presumably Mrs. and Mrs. Bush -- were taking note of what they said.

His biggest boo-boo was in responding to critical remarks by "Politically Correct" host Bill Maher. Fleischer reminded Americans "that they need to watch what they say, watch what they do."

He also admitted a gaffe when he appeared to be advocating the assassination of Saddam Hussein, saying the "cost of one bullet is substantially less" costly than U.S. military action. He told reporters later he had misspoken.

His book does not mention the time he told a radio reporter he had listened to her broadcast and that she should "watch her tone."

Fleischer was one-dimensional in terms of the role he played, serving only one master. In remarks to reporters at a farewell briefing, he said his job was "to faithfully articulate what the president is thinking and why he is thinking it."

He said the job of the press is to "find out everything you can about everything under the sun."

Fleischer seemed to forget that he also was a public servant working for all the American people, who pay him. He reduced his job to that of a presidential advocate.

Fleischer made it clear that Bush runs a tight ship and is a boss who demands loyalty. He was impressed by Bush's "willingness to call things good and evil, to make powerful moral judgments -- and to act on them," adding, "That makes him a strong leader."

Fleischer said that one of the reasons the White House staff was so loyal to the president is that he is "loyal to us. He demands accountability from his staff, but we all found him to be so likable that we were driven to do our jobs well, not to let him down."

Fleischer devoted a whole chapter to me and our back-and-forth discussions at White House briefings during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. He said he believed the outcome was a draw.

My goal in those encounters -- some of them testy and contentious -- was to get the administration spokesman's on the record about exactly why we were invading Iraq.

But don't look for any remorse from Fleischer for his incessant campaign to link Saddam Hussein to lethal weapons and ties to terrorists, both later discredited as wholly without foundation.

"There is no question that we have evidence and information that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, biological and chemical particularly," he said. "This is the reason that the president felt so strongly that we needed to take military action to disarm since he would not do it himself."

However, he winds up his book acknowledging: "We never did find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq ... Yet President Bush still won reelection."

He said the voters who "worried about terrorism and keeping America safe voted overwhelmingly to reelect" Bush, despite the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Fleischer defends his role in pumping up the war. It was just a matter of time until Iraq "probably would have weapons of mass destruction and used them against our military forces," Fleischer wrote.

"From my perch at the podium, I took a lot of heat," he said. "I hope I also shed some light."

He did that. He showed us that this administration puts a low premium on credibility when it should mean everything.

Helen Thomas can be reached at the e-mail address hthomas@hearstdc.com

© 2005, Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc.

Reprinted from The Boston Channel:
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/helenthomas/4339482/detail.html

Getting a look behind the scenes from one of the top media relations professionals in the country is a real treat. Fleischer's experience in dealing with a high-profile supervisor (President Bush) on one side and some of the most aggressive and sometimes partisan press on the other is a great read.

Did my opinion of the president change after reading this book? Not really. I read the book with a somewhat-open mind, in that the book is written from the personal perspective of someone who was there. Fleischer wrote from his perspective; gave his testimoy; in that respect, the books is very well written. We're also talking about someone who trusts the President implicitly, so he's going to defend him. So I can't consider this a totally "objective" account of what was going on in the White House during the time the war was being debated.

I don't particuarly appreciate President Bush's policies and his way of thinking, but I do appeciate the fact that he doesn't change his mind once he makes a decision. (Most might say he won't admit he's made a mistake - that's a risk that's run with standing your ground.)

What I did appreciate about the book was the insight into President Bush's character. It explains to me why he thinks the way he does, and helps me understand why he says what he does. Doesn't mean I appreciate what he says, but understanding a person goes a long way in formulating an opinion.

I also appreciated the behind-the-scenes view into what was going on in the White House during the tense fall of '01.

I loved the insight into the media. Do I think they're biased? Absolutely! The book explains the media as much as it does the White House. Being interested in journalism, I was wrapped up in that part of the book. Doesn't excuse their recent behaviors....but the atmosphere of pressure to get the news out as it happens makes people take corners. I can understand that too.

Bottom line: if you're a Bush supporter, you'll love the book. If you a Bush loather, I don't see this book changing your mind. I wish, however, that you might be able to read it to understand why he is how he is...

I am a political junkie that loves to read personal accounts of individual's experiences, regardless of their political persuasion. It is with this attitude that I approached Ari Fleischer's book TAKING HEAT. Though many will always think of him as a polarizing individual, I think this book does much to humanize him in a way that few accounts have done.

He went from being a person that respected the political process to being thrust into a world that had to convey the President's message to a press that was not always interested in what exactly that message was. I learned alot about Ari the man, from his relationship with his democratic parents and fondness of President Bush. He went into the White House with the goal of contributing something during his time there, and I think he accomplished that goal, though maybe with more challenges than he could have expected.

Whether it was dealing with addressing the press and the world after the controversial and heated election results or the tragedy that befell the nation on September 11, 2001, Fleischer took his role seriously.

Anyone looking to enter public life should read this book. Again, you might not agree with the politics, but you will be hard pressed to not appreciate the complexities and heart needed to be effective.

Definitely two thumbs up on this one. Highly recommended.

Because I have always thought a press secretary has to be the strangest job in the white house, and because Ari Fleischer seemed the most sincere among the recent victims, I decided, out of curiousity, to read about his stint during the Bush presidency.

It is almost painful to listen to a press briefing on cable television. How can the press secretary who is not a cabinet member, who is privy only to information the administration wants him/her to hear, possibly convey the exact meaning to the sometimes ridiculous questions as to what the President knows or thinks - really. All they can do is try not to give their own opinions and start a firestorm.

I enjoyed this book because Ari Fleischer comes across as sincere. He describes his trips all over the world, meetings with foreign leaders, the aftermath of 9/11, events leading up to the Iraq war, engaging with the press until he simply "burned out" and had to resign. No wonder, a press secretary is on call 24/7 as news is being made all the time.

The author has no axe to grind, no grand desire to diminish George Bush, and states he took a lot of heat and hopes he has shed some light. He feels the press can be too conflict-oriented most of the time, and I agree. Here is one press secretary who did his best during a tumultuous time in American history to interpret the news from the White House to the American people in a calm manner. A thankless task indeed. Forget party labels, just enjoy this book.

If you find yourself watching or reading the news and you are panicking about all that is wrong with the world, it would be helpful for you to read "Taking Heat". There are very few presidential press secretary's in the world and who better to explain how information given to the news is then reported by the news. Do yourself, your family and your friends a favor by reading and recommending this book.

Ari Fleischer should take a bow for having to deal with both sides...the White House and the media. It's a thankless job and you are always in hot water. I thought this was a good book. Not a great book. There were no major revelations and he slammed the media for being too liberal but overall, it was a book that is worth reading. It was interesting to read his first hand account of Sept. 11th and the lead up to both wars. Of course, he defends the reasoning behind most events but it was still interesting to hear why he believed that way. He talks about how he may know something but can't tell. However, what I found most fascinating is how much he didn't know because the Bush White House was afraid he would tell the press or they didn't want his views. Overall, it's worth buying the bargain book price book.