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Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush by [Robert Draper]

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Robert Draper

Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush Kindle Edition

by Robert Draper (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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In this ambitious work of political narrative, Robert Draper takes us inside the Bush White House and delivers an intimate portrait of a tumultuous decade and a beleaguered administration. Virtually every page of this book crackles with scenes, anecdotes, and dialogue that will surprise even long- time observers of George W. Bush.

With unprecedented access to all the key figures of this administration -- from six one-on-one sessions with the president, to Laura Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleeza Rice, Karl Rove, and perhaps 200 other players, some well-known, some not -- Draper has achieved what no other journalist or contemporary historian has done thus far: he has told the story of the Bush White House from the inside, with a special emphasis on how the very personality of this strong-willed president has affected the outcome of events.

Bush loyalists and the growing number of Bush detractors will all find much to savor in this riveting political page-turner. We begin with a revealing lunch at the White House where a testy, hot dog-chomping president finally unburdens himself to the inquisitive reporter, a fellow Texan who well understands the manly argot that courses through this administration.

We revisit the primaries of election-year 2000, in which the character of the candidate and indeed the future of the Republican Party were forged in the scalding South Carolina battle with Senator John McCain. We proceed forward to witness intimately the confusion and the eloquence that followed the September 11 attacks, then the feckless attempts to provide electricity to a darkened Baghdad, the high- and lowlights of the 2004 re-election bid, the startling and fruitless attempt to "spend capital" by overhauling the Social Security system, the inept response to Katrina, the downward spiraling and increasingly divisive war in Iraq.

Though the headlines may be familiar, the details, the utterly inside account of how events transpired will come as fresh reportage to even the most devoted followers of mainstream media coverage. In this most press- wary of administrations, Robert Draper has accomplished a small miracle: He has knocked on all on the right doors, and thus become the first author to tell a personality-driven history of the Bush years. In so doing, he allows us to witness in complete granularity the personal force of a president determined to achieve big things, who remained an optimist in the face of a sometimes harsh unpopularity, who confronted the history of his time with what can surely be described as dead certainty.

Length: 482 pages	Word Wise: Enabled	Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Page Flip: Enabled	Language: English

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Review

"A fascinating...book. What Dead Certain does very nimbly is give the reader an intimate sense of the president's personality and how it informs his decision making." - The New York Times

"What Draper does with great skill in Dead Certain is debunk caricatures of George Bush, both positive and negative. In place of the dim-witted bogeyman of the left and the resolute hero of the right, Draper introduces a three-dimensional man full of contradictions." -- Salon.com

"A fascinating look at both [the Bush] presidency and his personality." -- Brian Williams, NBC Nightly News

"Draper is no apologist for the administration, and for Bush-bashers there are plenty of nuggets.... But the overall portrait sheds a humanizing light on a much-vilified president." -- Los Angeles Times

"An intimate portrait of a White House racked by more infighting than is commonly portrayed." -- The Washington Post

"Amazing...stunning." -- New York Post

"Washington's hottest dinner-party book this autumn." -- The Observer (UK) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Robert Draper is a contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine and National Geographic and a correspondent to GQ. He is the author of several books, most recently the New York Times bestseller Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush. He lives in Washington, DC. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product details

ASIN : B000W5MI26
Publisher : Free Press (4 September 2007)
Language : English
File size : 1671 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 482 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 581,236 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 263 in 21st Century American History
- 550 in President & Head of State Biographies
- 710 in Biographies of U.S. Presidents

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22 ratings

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russaac

Insightful

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 March 2012

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The author gives us quite an impartial look over the life and presidency of George Bush. It's neither pro nor anti, which is something rare nowadays when dealing with such polarizing public figures. I enjoyed it quite a lot and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a unbiased point of view.

Michel Thibodeau

A real president like no other in 70 years

Reviewed in Canada on 25 August 2016

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Great...Bush takes the BS out of the American presidency!
His approach is not that of a super hero.
He refreshingly comes across as a real human!

bubbapug

Bush....truly an american tragedy for the world

Reviewed in the United States on 4 July 2019

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While I am no bush fan, reading this book helped me understand just how much of an arrogant ignorant imbecile he really was. Should he go down as one of the worst leaders in modern times?

YES

One person found this helpful

Franklin the Mouse

Fills in some gaps about Bush's character

Reviewed in the United States on 20 April 2008

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As Mr. Draper stated, "Bush's virtues and his vices were one and the same." This statement pretty much sums it up for every person that has been our president. Mr. Draper has done a fine job of helping to make President Bush a more rounded character. However, I would not recommend the author's book as the definitive analysis of this controversial man. In fact, there is no such book that I am aware that can claim to be so. Mr. Draper's book has plenty of areas that could have been covered in more detail, but will have to be left to other historians. Ultimately, if you appreciate political books, you'll likely enjoy this one. The story moves along very well, is informative and quite entertaining.

3 people found this helpful

Quijote

Close Encounters

Reviewed in the United States on 2 November 2007

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Largely anecdotal rather than scholarly, this book gets more and more interesting as the comments of various players, observatons, and historical details accumulate. The author does not take a single political view of the people and events described, and at times is rather sympathetic to the President, who comes across as the kind of guy with whom a lot of us would enjoy downing a couple of (perhaps nonalcoholic) brewskis. Nevertheless, I found the final picture, or perhaps collage, of the Bush II administration to be very disturbing. What emerges is the image of an administration that is secretive, has deliberately isolated itself from dissenting opinion and is centered on a president who wants to be "the decider" but is decidely unprepared for the job, incurious and uniformed. What happens when when such an adminsitration prevents the Decider from confronting reality, as with the Katrina aftermath, while simultaneously claiming to be above the law in matters such as the torture of prisoners and political interference with the Department of Justics? Readers can write the final chapter for themselves.

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