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The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty Paperback – May 17, 2005

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is a story of power, sex and betrayal--but mostly of power." –The New York Times Book Review

"A thoroughly researched piece of work. Ms. Kelley clearly devoured and digested the extant literature on the family." –The New York Times

"Kelley's account of the rise and fall of the Bush family is both inspirational and cautionary. She convincingly shows that good looks, energy, athleticism, ambition, felicitous marriages and social networking can compensate for intellectual ordinariness." –The Washington Post Book World

"The Family . . . has left few stones unturned. . . . Kelley has brought new information to bear on a family that, for better or worse, deserves her kind of royal treatment." –The New York Times Book Review

"A sweeping indictment of the mind-set of the [Bush] family, that they grew up feeling that this was their due." –Garry Trudeau, The Charlie Rose Show

"Despite the best efforts of the media, the public is gaining insight into their president as the facts leak out and as Kitty Kelley's The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty, tops the sales chart." –Newsday

"Kelley nails the evidence and, although the secretive Bush family will not like it, demonstrates beyond doubt what the American press dared not print." –The Guardian

About the Author

Kitty Kelley is the internationally acclaimed bestselling author of Jackie Oh!; Elizabeth Taylor: The Last Star; His Way: The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra; Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography; and The Royals. The last three titles were all #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Ms. Kelley has been honored by her peers with such awards as the Outstanding Author Award from the American Society of Jouranlists and Authors, the Philip M. Stern Award, and the Medal of Merit from the Lotos Club of New York City.  Her articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, People, Ladies Home Journal, McCall’s, the Los Angeles Times, and the Chicago Tribune. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her physician husband, Jonathan Zucker.
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 784 pages
  • Publisher: Anchor (May 17, 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1400096413
  • ISBN-13: 978-1400096411
  • Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1.5 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #684,571 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 73 people found the following review helpful By Chicago on August 14, 2005
Format: Paperback
I'm not really surprised by the number of people who gave this book one star just because they assumed it attacked their beloved President. Perhaps had they read it they might have learned something new.

There is a lot to be admired about the Bush family. Machiavellian at many times, rarely humble ever, this thorough study of the last four generations of business leaders and politicians presents a 'warts and all' picture of one of America's most powerful families. While any political biography may present a portrait of unethical behavior and personal screw-ups, it doesn't take much digging to find that the Bush family has more than most. Whether it's Prescott Bush's theft of a Native American skull as a part of a fraternity requirement or George W's sabotage of political rivals, the fluid values of this 'whatever it takes' group have never been clearer. Forget duplicity; their drive to get what they want spans the entire spectrum. From changing rivalries (Prescott was a founder of Planned Parenthood until a political rival called him on it and he changed his stripes for political gain) to country-club insularity to attempted destruction of naysayers (think Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame, for starters), the lengths to which this true dynasty will go knows no bounds. Their ability to climb the ladder of advancement is a force to be reckoned with, and for that I recommend this book. Ethical persons will use it as a cautionary tale; others will use it as a road map.

A survey of Americans has shown that George W. Bush is someone many people would love to have a beer with; I'm sure he's a fun guy to hang out with, but even his friends from Yale are appalled that this shockingly mediocre class clown and former chief party animal has the most powerful job in the world.
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25 of 34 people found the following review helpful By melianthusmajor on August 31, 2005
Format: Paperback
I'm not American, so had never even heard of Prescott Bush, let alone many of the other characters in this book. And yeah it's pretty gossipy and Kitty Kelley is obviously no fan, but if (like me) you just want an easy to read overview of the Bush family that doesnt get too bogged down in American politics, I say this is for you. I read every word and came out knowing far more about right wing American politics than I knew before. Let me tell you, it wasnt the Bushes that shocked me, (scratch the surface of any family and you're bound to find pay dirt) it was the ratbag right wing fundamentalists that really gave me the creeps.

Oooooh, scary.
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33 of 46 people found the following review helpful By FRANKLY FRANK on May 17, 2005
Format: Paperback
GREAT BOOK, FOR PEOPLE WHO LIKE THE TRUTH.

I AM NOT SUPRISED WITH THE CONTENTS. PEOPLE OF POWER DID NOT GET

THERE BY CHANCE. THE PROBLEM IS, THE MASSIVE SUPPORT THEY GET

FROM UNSUPPECTING FOOLS, WHICH RHIMES WITH TOOLS.

THE CHAPTER ON JR & MRS. IS INTERESTING. BUT I AM STILL NOT SUPRISED.
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14 of 20 people found the following review helpful By Victoria A. Grossack on November 7, 2007
Format: Paperback
I'll admit that I did not know what to expect when I encountered this book by Kitty Kelley. I only knew her works by reputation, and her previous subject matter - the Royals, Jackie Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor and Frank Sinatra - struck me as lightweight and gossipy. But I found myself unexpectedly with a few hours to kill and few titles from which to choose. So, I picked up "The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Family," which tells the history of three generations of Bush politicians, Senator Prescott Bush and Bush 41 and Bush 43.

First, let me say that the book is very readable. The only thing that might be a bit difficult is keeping track of the different names, as there are, for example, so many Georges and Prescotts. Kelley does what she can to assist by employing the nicknames used by Bush family itself. Some of them are actually endearing, such as "Poppy." Her prose carries the reader along easily.

Second, let me say that the book was far more substantial than I expected. There was plenty, yes plenty, of politics in it. Kelley brings information together to show coherent patterns, exposing contradictions and lies.

Third, I want to say that the book is, for the most part, fair. Kelley sometimes steps back to admire or acknowledge a deed or two. Prescott is admired for voting to censure Joe McCarthy (an act of political courage, as his constituents may have been pro-Joe). Bush 41 is admired for enlisting on his 18th birthday to fight in World War II (even though his parents were against his fighting in "Rockefeller's War"). Kelley also acknowledges that Bush 41's increase of taxes - and this hurt him badly in the re-election - put the economy in better shape for when Clinton entered office.
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Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
This volume may receive new attention with Jeb Bush's run for the WH in 2016. Will America confront a choice between two political dynasties in 2016?

Alice Roosevelt Longworth once said, "If you can't say something good about someone, sit right here by me." Alice would have loved sitting next to Kitty Kelley who dishes the dirt on everyone from Jackie O to Oprah!

The gossip gal, Kitty Kelley penned a vitriolic volume on the Bush clan that was published in 2005. Her readable book is a tell-all with a heavy emphasis on sex, drugs and scandal. Her work is heavily reliant upon the the contributions of anonymous sources, political enemies and unhappy ex-wives such as Sharon Bush (ex-wife of Neil) and Carol Elizabeth Gray (ex-wife of C. Boyden Gray). Kelley's early political experience was in the campaign for Eugene McCarthy so her political leanings will come as no surprise.

She is relentlessly hostile to George HW Bush and his son George W. Bush. She fails to give Bush senior much of any credit for the liberation of Kuwait in 1991. She seems to have almost no conception of the threat that Saddam Hussein represented. She writes, "He (GW Bush) declared Saddam a threat to international security and instigated no attacks outside his own borders in a decade." This may be technically true but ignores the fact that Saddam initiated a brutal war against Iran in the 1980s, invaded Kuwait in 1990 and launched SCUD missiles at Israel in 1991. Simply put, Saddam was a threat to international security who supported terrorism throughout the middle east (e.g. paying the families of suicide bombers).

The book seems to have been written at high speed with a high degree of sloppiness.
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