George w bush biography reviews

George bush book

The first two presidents in this journey took me nearly three months to get through. George W. Bush and his predecessor hardly took me three weeks. That will change as additional time passes, more documents are de-classified and presidential legacies and lives continue to marinate under the bright light of day. I read just two biographies of Bush 43, but was excited about each for different reasons: one was written by an author who ranks as one of my all-time favorite biographers…and the other was written by an author known for his indefatigable determination and uncanny ability to piece together a story.

George hw bush biography

No biographer has impressed me more often, or more consistently, than Smith. His biographies of Grant, FDR and Eisenhower are each my top pick among the thirty-six biographies I read for those three presidents. This biography quickly proved unique. In many ways it looks and feels like a traditional JES biography: it is well written, engaging, extensively footnoted and, with at least one or two curious exceptions, well-sourced.

But its very first sentence gives away the punchline: that George W. Otherwise, the two biographies are quite different in both tone and style. And Baker somehow convinced Dick Cheney to provide his thoughts for this book…. For better, and occasionally for worse, it often resembles a transcript with stretches of dialogue held together with narrative glue.

Fortunately, Baker never loses sight of their ever-evolving relationship. Both books are fine but neither is destined to become the definitive biography of George W. Christopher Saunders said:.