The Presidency of George W. Bush - (American Presidency) by John Robert Greene (Hardcover)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

The Presidency of George W. Bush is the first balanced academic study to analyze the entirety of his presidency--domestic, social, economic, and national security policies--as well as the administration's response to 9/11 and the subsequent War on Terror. In so doing, John Robert Greene argues persuasively that the judgment of most scholars--that the Bush administration was a complete failure--has been made in haste and without the benefit of primary sources. This book is the first scholarly work to make wide use of the documents at the George W. Bush Presidential Library, many of which have only recently been made available to researchers through the Freedom of Information Act.

John Robert Greene offers a balanced assessment and nuanced conclusions supported by documentary evidence. Yet in doing so he does not absolve the Bush administration of its shortcomings. The Presidency of George W. Bush shows that the administration could be vindictive, as demonstrated by the Plame Wilson affair and the firing of the US attorneys. It all too often moved too slowly, as shown by the National Security Council's lethargic handling of terrorism pre-9/11, the failed attempt to revise Social Security, and the sluggish reaction to Hurricane Katrina. It was an administration that accepted, and acted on, the highly suspect theory of the unitary presidency as advocated by Dick Cheney and accepted by the president. On the other side of the balance sheet, however, the evidence also makes it eminently clear that the Bush administration was responsible for many positive achievements: No Child Left Behind set the nation on the road toward affecting serious educational reform. In healthcare reform, the Bush administration both strengthened the Medicare system and extended its benefits for millions of Americans. And Bush did more to combat the worldwide scourge of AIDS, particularly in Africa, than any other president. In sum, the actions of this presidency continue to affect the presidencies of each of his successors as well as the trajectory of world history to the present day.

Review Quotes

"Greene excels at providing objective, informative, and brief descriptions of the significant events, legislation, issues, and personalities associated with the Bush White House, making the book an invaluable resource for scholars of modern politics and diplomacy."--Journal of Southern History

"Sets the bar for future attempts to understand Bush's two terms."--Southwestern Historical Quarterly

"Greene clearly demonstrates the consequential nature of Bush's presidency, something that is not always remembered or evident to the wider public."--Congress & the Presidency

"John Robert Greene has produced an exceptional work of scholarship. This sweeping examination of the presidency of Bush 43 is likely to remain the seminal account of a controversial and remarkably significant administration. Strikingly fair-minded, Greene's book challenges the conventional narrative of those on the Right and the Left regarding the Bush presidency. This is a gem of a book--a must-read for all those interested in contemporary history and the American presidency."--Stephen F. Knott, author of The Lost Soul of the American Presidency: The Decline into Demagoguery and the Prospects for Renewal

"John Robert Greene's biography of George W. Bush hits all the high notes--the good and the bad--of a straightforward life but complicated presidency. Neither friend nor foe of the forty-third president, and based on archival records only recently available, Greene's well-written presidential biography makes a strong case that, like him or hate it, the presidency of George W. Bush mattered, and we ignore it at our (scholarly) peril."--Charles L. Zelden, author of Bush v. Gore: Exposing the Growing Crisis in American Democracy, Third Expanded Edition

"The Presidency of George W. Bush is a perceptive, richly documented, and thoroughly fair analysis of a controversial chief executive. Anybody who wants to understand the momentous events of the Bush administration should read this excellent book."--John J. Pitney Jr., author of After Reagan: Bush, Dukakis, and the 1988 Election

"We live in a world forged by the George W. Bush administration. That is John Robert Greene's thoughtful conclusion to his insightful new assessment of the nation's forty-third president, one in which new records and evidence provides a clearer picture of this tumultuous time in American history and a more nuanced, more balanced, and ultimately indispensable assessment of a man whose eight years in office continue to reverberate now two full decades later. Future historians will be thanking Greene for his diligence and judgment for generations to come."--Jeffrey A. Engel, director, Center for Presidential History, Southern Methodist University

"This study presents a comprehensive and judicious analysis of the highly consequential George W. Bush presidency. It evaluates leadership choices, initiatives, and challenges from the start of Bush's political career through his two-term presidency, from elections to domestic policy to war and combating terrorism to economic crisis. With detailed scrutiny of the archival record, memoirs, interviews, and other research sources, the book deftly explains the philosophy of governance that informed Bush's decisions and their enduring influence on US and world politics in the twenty-first century. The lucid and engaging evaluation is essential reading for scholars of the American presidency and well-suited for course instruction on presidents and American politics."--Meena Bose, Peter S. Kalikow Chair in Presidential Studies and professor of political science, Hofstra University