List Price: $35.00 Details

Save: $22.62 (64%)

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime & FREE Returns

FREE delivery: Tuesday, Dec 14 on orders over $25.00 shipped by Amazon. Details

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

As an alternative, the Kindle eBook is available now and can be read on any device with the free Kindle app.

$$12.38 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Secure transaction

Ships from

Amazon

Sold by

JagLeo

Details

Ships from

Amazon

Sold by

JagLeo

Return policy: Returnable until Jan 31, 2022

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime

FREE delivery: Jan 4 - 8 on orders over $25.00 shipped by Amazon. Details

Fastest delivery: Dec 29 - 30

Used: Good | Details

Sold by Vivé Liber Books LLC

Fulfilled by Amazon

Share <Embed>

Other Sellers on Amazon

$9.00
+ $3.99 shipping

Sold by: Midatlantic Synergy

$9.98
+ $3.79 shipping

Sold by: 8 trax media

$13.90
& FREE Shipping

Sold by: jaxbeststore

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 3 images

Follow the Authors

See all

Veda Boyd Jones

William Thompson

George W. Bush: The American Presidents Series: The 43rd President, 2001-2009 Hardcover – February 3, 2015

by James Mann (Author), Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. (Editor), Sean Wilentz (Editor)

84 ratings

Part of: The American Presidents (42 books)

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$11.99

—

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$12.38

$9.00

$1.61

Enhance your purchase

The controversial president whose time in office was defined by the September 11 attacks and the war on terror

George W. Bush stirred powerful feelings on both sides of the aisle. Republicans viewed him as a resolute leader who guided America through the September 11 attacks and retaliated in Afghanistan and Iraq, while Democrats saw him as an overmatched president who led America into two inconclusive wars that sapped the nation's resources and diminished its stature. When Bush left office amid a growing financial crisis, both parties were eager to move on.

In this assessment of the nation's forty-third president, James Mann sheds light on why George W. Bush made the decisions that shaped his presidency, what went wrong, and how the internal debates and fissures within his administration played out in such a charged atmosphere. He shows how and why Bush became such a polarizing figure in both domestic and foreign affairs, and he examines the origins and enduring impact of Bush's most consequential actions-including Iraq, the tax cuts, and the war on terror. In this way, Mann points the way to a more complete understanding of George W. Bush and his times.

Print length

208 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Times Books
Publication date

February 3, 2015
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.62 x 8.5 inches
ISBN-10

0805093974
ISBN-13

978-0805093971
See all details

Frequently bought together

Total price:

To see our price, add these items to your cart.

Some of these items ship sooner than the others.

Show details Hide details

Choose items to buy together.

by James Mann Hardcover
$12.38
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Sold by JagLeo and ships from Amazon Fulfillment.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25.00.
by Michael Tomasky Hardcover
$9.98
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by 8 trax media.
FREE Shipping
by Jacob Weisberg Hardcover
$19.50
Only 2 left in stock - order soon.
Sold by Joshua Creek Services and ships from Amazon Fulfillment.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25.00.

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Michael Tomasky
61
Hardcover
75 offers from $1.82
Jacob Weisberg
90
Hardcover
45 offers from $2.00
Timothy Naftali
56
Hardcover
60 offers from $1.32
Douglas Brinkley
85
Hardcover
70 offers from $1.80
George W. Bush
2,309
Hardcover
923 offers from $0.12
Julian E. Zelizer
71
Hardcover
52 offers from $2.80

What other items do customers buy after viewing this item?

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Michael Tomasky
61
Hardcover
75 offers from $1.82
Jacob Weisberg
90
Hardcover
45 offers from $2.00
Timothy Naftali
56
Hardcover
60 offers from $1.32
George W. Bush
2,309
Hardcover
923 offers from $0.12
Douglas Brinkley
85
Hardcover
70 offers from $1.80
Julian E. Zelizer
71
Hardcover
52 offers from $2.80

Special offers and product promotions

Create your FREE Amazon Business account to save up to 10% with Business-only prices and free shipping.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“[Mann weaves] extensive interviewing and archival research to produce insightful analyses and fresh perspectives on our own times.… George W. Bush is also the relatively rare book about our 43rd president that could be read appreciatively by both supporters and detractors.… Mann adopts an almost studied neutrality, adhering for the most part to the unbiased tone of the newspaper reporter.” ―The Washington Post

“[The American Presidents Series] offers brisk biographies of each president in crisp, straightforward prose, a formula Mann follows with precision.” ―The Christian Science Monitor

“The latest volume in the American Presidents series meets its goal of providing a concise yet thorough biography of the 43rd president. Mann's claim that Bush's tenure ‘was, by any standard, one of the most consequential presidencies in American history' is made from a balanced assessment of the facts.” ―Publishers Weekly

“An insightful biography” ―Kirkus Reviews

“[Bush's tenure] occurred ‘at a critical juncture in American history'…. As president, that critical juncture overtook him, first and foremost on 9/11 but as fatefully later with Hurricane Katrina and the 2008 financial crash…A sober overview.” ―Booklist

About the Author

James Mann is the author of several books on American politics and national security issues, including Rise of the Vulcans: The History of Bush's War Cabinet and The Obamians: The Struggle Inside the White House to Redefine American Power. A longtime correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, he is currently a fellow in residence at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., (1917-2007) was the preeminent political historian of our time. For more than half a century, he was a cornerstone figure in the intellectual life of the nation and a fixture on the political scene. He won two Pulitzer prizes for The Age of Jackson (1946) and A Thousand Days (1966), and in 1988 received the National Humanities Medal. He published the first volume of his autobiography, A Life in the Twentieth Century, in 2000.

Sean Wilentz, a professor of history at Princeton University, is the author or editor of several books, including Chants Democratic and The Rise of American Democracy. He has also written for The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The New Republic, and other publications. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Times Books; First Edition (February 3, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 208 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0805093974
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0805093971
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.7 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.62 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #543,219 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #437 in Historical Middle East Biographies
- #1,679 in US Presidents
- #26,012 in United States History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
84 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		59%
4 star		25%
3 star		10%
2 star		3%
1 star		2%

How are ratings calculated?

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Daniel Putman

A well-written introduction to George W. Bush's presidency

Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2019

Verified Purchase

It’s always shaky ground for an historian to write about very recent events but James Mann does a good job on the presidency of George W. Bush. Mann is careful to stick to the evidence as closely as possible and Bush’s decisions are carefully laid out and explained. This is the final book in the abbreviated biographies of the American Presidents Series. (Obama’s is not out yet as of this review.) Having read all of them, I think this is one of the better ones though not among the very best. As Mann notes, much of Bush’s presidency cannot be judged until more time has passed. But in the Epilogue Mann does makes judgments about two of the most important of Bush’s actions and Mann claims that these judgments will stand the test of time. Mann claims that the Iraq War was completely misjudged by the Bush administration and proved to be a divisive and destructive struggle after the first year or two of the war. He also says that Bush's tax cuts (and the war) were instrumental in creating a massive deficit and went a long way toward increasing the huge gap between the privileged few and the rest of the American population. Regardless of whether one agrees with Mann or not, the chapters up to the Epilogue are well-written and clearly explained given the nearness in time of the events. I thought he had an exceptionally clear summary of the thinking in the administration after 9/11. As with all the books in this series, this is really just an introduction to this president but it is a strong addition to the American Presidents Series.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Joel C. Tomski

Bit of a hack job

Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2020

Verified Purchase

Historically accurate, and I enjoyed remembering everything that happened during that period, but overall it was a lot of "Bush bad, made bad decision."

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Ricardo Mio

Unflattering and factual account

Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2017

Verified Purchase

America had never been stronger or as well off, when George W. Bush took office in January 2001. The nation was not at war. As a global power, America had no serious rival. At home, the U.S. economy had grown rapidly through the 1990s; the one major economic question was what to do about the large surpluses the federal budget was generating. Move forward eight years, to the end of Bush’s second term, and the nation was in quite a different state. The U.S. was fighting war on two fronts in the Middle East and facing economic collapse at home. How this happened is the subject of this relatively short (146 pages of text) and well-documented account of the Bush presidency, by journalist/author James Mann. Mann writes: “(The Bush presidency) was, by any standard, one of the most consequential presidencies in American history.”

When he took office—after an incredibly close election decided by the U.S. Supreme Court—the expectations were that Bush would proceed slowly, and work both sides of the isle in Congress, as he had as governor of Texas, where he achieved broad support as a moderate working equally with Republicans and Democrats alike. As it turned out, he didn’t. He appeased the Republican right wing by pushing for two big tax cuts, one in 2001, and the second in 2003. By then, the hopes in early 2001 of more budget surpluses had been dashed; the federal government was already running a deficit, and the only question was the extent to which any new tax cuts would increase the deficit. Bush’s Veep, Dick Cheney weighed in: “Reagan proved deficits don’t matter. . . . We won the (2002) midterms. This is our due.”

By the time of the second tax cut, Bush had already dispatched American troops to Iraq. Lowering taxes while engaged in war was something no president had ever advocated. Indeed, in every military conflict since the Civil War, U.S. presidents have raised taxes to help defray costs. Bush not only declined to raise taxes during wartime he lowered them. Overall, the Bush tax measures reduced income taxes to their lowest levels since World War II. At the same time the cuts ushered in a new era of budget deficits, in which the federal government was forced to borrow more and more money to pay for its operations. In fiscal 2000, before Bush took office, the government ran a surplus of $86 billion. By the fiscal year ending September 2008, just before the onset of the financial crisis, the government deficit had ballooned to $642 billion.

Which brings us to the cost of the Iraq war. One of Bush’s principle economic advisors speculated at the outset that the cost would exceed $100 billion. No one beloved him, and he was fired shortly thereafter. In fact, his estimate was vastly underestimated—by a factor of twenty. In 2013, ten years after military intervention in Iraq, direct U.S. government expenditures for the war had surpassed $2 trillion.

Without question, Bush’s push for the invasion of Iraq was supported in Congress by both Republicans and Democrats alike, swayed as they were by evidence the White House put forth of Iraq’s presumed stockpiling of WMD (weapons of mass destruction). As it turned out, such weapons were never found. Not only did the Bush White House err in justifying the war, it failed to plan properly for postwar operations in Iraq. In point of fact, the White House had no plan. Four days before the start of the war, in an interview on MEET THE PRESS, Cheney admitted as much. Asked whether he thought the American people were prepared for a long, costly and bloody battle with significant U.S. casualties, he replied: “I don’t really think it’s likely to unfold that way, because I really do believe that we will be greeted as liberators.”

Bush never dreamed of being a wartime president when he entered office, but the terrorists attacks orchestrated by Osama Bin Laden on September 11, 2001, and the choices he made that followed, led him to become one. The decision to invade Afghanistan was carried out to capture or kill Bin Laden. American forces took control of the region quickly, but failed in capturing the terrorist leader, who had fled into the mountainous caves of Tora Bora and escaped. In fact, he would not be located and killed until Barack Obama was president.

The decision to invade Iraq was not as clearcut. WMD aside, there was no connection between Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda. The Bush administration, however, felt the two would find each other eventually. Unlike his father, George H.W. Bush, who built an alliance of over 30 nations before invading Iraq (a short lived-war that did not tax the U.S. treasury one cent) George W. Bush failed to gather anything like the support his father had before him. Among the nations that mattered, only Great Britain supported the invasion. The others, Germany, France, Russia, advised Bush against it. Also unlike his father, he did not have a plan for getting out. Years later, Bush acknowledged that, even though he thought the U.S. was prepared to deal with postwar Iraq, “our nation building capabilities were limited, and no one knew for sure what needs would arise.” Writes the author: “(Bush) had, in fact, relied on his advisors for many of the judgements about war with Iraq.” He adds: “One of the tasks of an American president, however, is to be skeptical of the advice he is getting and to sense when the predictions of what will come are governed more by hope than by reality.” Had Bush examined a bit of history he would have realized how expert advice can mislead a president. Indeed, he could have looked no further than the Bay of Pigs invasion, the result of a decision based on fanciful evidence that very nearly destroyed the Kennedy presidency in its infancy.

The Iraq War, coupled with the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and a woefully slow federal response, and the economic collapse of 2008, which plunged the nation into its worst depression since 1929, throwing millions into unemployment and decimating the savings of millions more, and its little wonder that George W. Bush should find himself rated among our worst presidents ever. Time Magazine recently averaged the results of five polls and put Bush 31st on the list, ahead of Richard Nixon but behind the likes of Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and his father.

The author is not a fan of George W. Bush, which is clear at the outset. However, his presentation of the facts—financial and otherwise—paint a picture of a presidency that was quick to act and slow to consider the possible outcomes. Too late, Bush realized he would have been better served by a healthy dose of skepticism, relied less on the advice of aids and more on his gut. Bush hopes that with time his presidency will be seen in a better light, as it has for Truman’s presidency. As it stands, the facts give little reason for such optimism.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

wyopoke

well received by a teenager

Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2019

Verified Purchase

a very nice series of books on our presidents

Helpful

Mary N. Parker

W. Is for War and Wealthy

Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2016

Verified Purchase

This book is very well written. I expected a more biased viewpoint either for or against George W. or a dry read with only facts. However the author did a wonderful job of laying out the facts and then giving his logical evaluation of the consequences. While I still believe that Reagan and George W. Bush did a great disservice to America by giving unnecessary tax breaks to the wealthy and Bush made a huge mistake getting us into Iraq, I do have a higher opinion now of how Bush tried to ameliorate some the consequences of his bad decisions of his first term. Bush was simply unprepared to know enough to reject the bad advice of Chaney, Rumsfeld, Libby and Wolfowitz. I hope we do not elect another unprepared man who shoots from the hip.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

J Smith

Excellent and readable

Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2018

Verified Purchase

The book achieves a great level of neutrality and is nicely written. Well organized and narrated. I'll be getting more from the series!

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Dennis E

Good Review

Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2018

Verified Purchase

Good review of George W. Lite on facts and motivations. Not much insight into the man and his life story.

Helpful

Michael Lapelosa

Excellent Overview

Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2015

Verified Purchase

This book is an excellent addition to the American Presidents series. As President, George W. Bush grappled with unprecedented events in our history. The book highlights Bush's life and administration by covering all the main points in conscise, crisp prose that engages and informs the reader. All the essential events of his presidency are covered, the September 11 attacks, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Katrina, the tax cuts and the massive financial crisis. The author, James Mann, discusses how these events and the resultant decisions shaped his presidency, what went wrong, and the internal debates with skill and balance. The result is that the reader gains unique thought provoking understanding, prespective and context of the seminal events.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

michael Billington

Excellent and even handed biography of the 43rd President

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 11, 2015

Verified Purchase

This is a wonderful addition to the American Presidents series. The series provides a concise yet detailed biography of the life and career of Bush 43. This is no polemic or apologia and may leave those who see George W. Bush as a monster or a hero disappointed. The author provides the reader with an even tempered look at a presidency that produced fierce passions from beginning to end.

All the main issues of the Bush administration are covered and the author does not avoid giving his view on both the successes and failures of Bush's time in office. Overall this is about a good a short biography as I have read on George W. Bush.

Peter Jones

It is very interesting to read I would recommend you read it

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 21, 2021

Verified Purchase

I like reading books for education purposes

Kindle Customer

Not my kind of guy

Reviewed in Canada on June 28, 2015

Verified Purchase

Like the other books in this series, this account of the career off Dubbya reads well in the context of where he sits in the family. Isn't it wonderful that a boy growing up, hampered by the fact that his father is an oil millionaire, and ex-President of the United States, and the brother of another Bush about to make his try, can rise to such heights. He was Governor of Texas by the same lights. He yielded to the influence of his advisor, particularly Dick Cheney and Rumsfeld to break off the effort in Afghanistan before it was finished and attack Iraq on the pretense of intelligence of WMD. There were none of course, and their failure to deal with Iraq after the conquering has probably resulted in the ISI and its horrors.

Not being an American, I feel a little reluctant to characterize Dubbya Bush as the worst-ever US President, but that's my impression.

Rule 62 Ken

A Reasonable Historical Assessment of a Controversial Contemporary Figure

Reviewed in Canada on March 15, 2015

Verified Purchase

The American Presidents Series biographies are concise (usually around 150 pages) summaries of the lives of US Presidents, written by reputable historians. It is a challenge for any author to fairly and completely encapsulate a president's life and and administration in this space, and yet amazingly, the authors of these volumes are generally able to do so in an interesting, clear and non-superficial way. It was difficult to conceive of how any author could meet these standards for a two-term president like George W. Bush, who was so controversial, and whose administration lacks the passage of a significant amount of time to afford historical perspective. Despite these challenges, James Mann has produced a volume that adequately and reasonably addresses the many issues faced by the Bush administration, as well as painting a portrait of the man that goes beyond mere caricature.

As president George W. Bush entered the office following the most controversial presidential election since the 1876 Hayes-Tilden contest. He was immediately tested with the first foreign attack on US soil since Pearl Harbor. This would lead to the struggle for a meaningful response to the terrorists who had planned the attack and resulted in two foreign wars that went beyond what the president's advisors had predicted. Bush also instituted massive tax cuts, the only time this was done by a president going into war. He was also confronted with a natural disaster at home (Katrina), significant domestic issues in the areas of education, social security and immigration. His tenure ended with the worst financial crisis since the great depression. James Mann covers all of these issues and despite the brevity of the book, he provides the reader with sufficient information to understand their complexity. He describes not only what decisions were taken, but the process in coming to those decisions, paying particular attention to when Bush was "the decider" and when he relied on the expertise of his advisors.

Mann is no bystander in his retelling the life of his subject. He has definite opinions on when he believes that Bush was wrong (Iraq and the tax cuts are first and foremost in this category),and when he was right (in resisting the call for a laissez-faire response to the economic crisis of 2008, in supporting the surge in Iraq, and in his program for combating the spread of AIDS in Africa). There will not be universal agreement with his conclusions, but Mann provides the reader with sufficient information to draw his or her own conclusions.

It is difficult to write a balanced biography of a contemporary figure and it is difficult to read such a biography without being affected by one's own opinions and beliefs. James Mann takes on this daunting challenge. He fairly touches on all of the issues of the Bush presidency and presents all of the relevant facts, including the choices that President Bush faced. He courageously offers his own opinion and assessment, even though in doing so he opens himself up to accusations of bias. He does so without any pressure on the reader to necessarily agree with his conclusions, but it should also be noted that he comes to his conclusions with the benefit of hindsight.

It was probably unfair of the American Presidents Series to publish a biography of so recent a president while passions have not yet cooled on the subject of George W. Bush's presidency, and at a time when political opinion seems to be more polarized than ever. In as much as one can meet that challenge, Mann deserves a great deal of credit for the book he had produced.

B. Cavener

Great book

Reviewed in Canada on October 1, 2015

Verified Purchase

Another great book to add to my collection.

See all reviews