With unprecedented candor, one of George W. Bush's closest aides takes readers behind the scenes of the Bush presidency, and what exactly happened to take it off course.
Scott McClellan was one of a few Bush loyalists from Texas who became part of his inner circle of trusted advisers, and remained so during one of the most challenging and contentious periods of recent history. Drawn to Bush by his commitment to compassionate conservatism and strong bipartisan leadership, McClellan served the president for more than seven years, and witnessed day-to-day exactly how the presidency veered off course.
In this refreshingly clear-eyed book, written with no agenda other than to record his experiences and insights for the benefit of history, McClellan provides unique perspective on what happened and why it happened the way it did, including the Iraq war, Hurricane Katrina, Washington's bitter partisanship, and two hotly-contested presidential campaigns. He gives readers a candid look into who George W. Bush is and what he believes, and into the personalities, strengths, and liabilities of his top aides. Finally, McClellan looks to the future, exploring the lessons this presidency offers the American people as we prepare to elect a new leader.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Alternate Title: Not Much Happened-Not in This Book:
Scott McClellan spends the first 100 pages of this 200 odd page book telling us about childhood, his powerful mom and his early political education. He assumes that he is an important enough historical figure that we really care know about his collegiate tennis career, etc, etc. These revelations are not why I read this book and I doubt it is why many others have chosen to either. He spends the next 100 pages saying virtually nothing that we don't already know if we have been following the news for the last... more info
What Happened: A Story About Scott McClellan:
This book is more about Scott McClellan than George Bush. It is not a tell-all book, almost everything in this book was in the news and the wrong facts are told about. This book suffers from a great lack of brevity.
For example when Bush hired him he tells how they ate a sandwich and talked for 20 minutes without saying what they talked about. I would rather know what was said; I don't care about them eating a sandwich. On 9-11 it is mostly about him and how he had to ride back from Florida in car... more info
He Seems Sincere:
I got interested in this book when I saw Scott McClellan on "Meet the Press" one morning. It was either Tim Russert's last or next-to-last show before he died suddenly. I didn't know what to expect from Mr. McClellan, so I watched. I was amazed to see a guy that seemed to be expressing genuine regret to the American people for letting them down. It wasn't exactly his fault, but he does seem to blame himself to some degree. Anyway, I was intrigued by his sincerity--and not only that, but his apparent... more info
This Book Is Mistitled:
This book should have been titled "What Happened?" A question mark in the title would have been much more apropos. Scott McClellan, in his haste to publish a book, seems to have spent little or no time contemplating what did happen during his time in the White House. Like his idol, George W. Bush, McClellan is a product of the "unexamined life" that Socrates warned about centuries ago. After reading the book, which is not recommended here, one can easily draw the conclusion that no amount of time would... more info
