#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this brilliant biography, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Jon Meacham chronicles the life of George Herbert Walker Bush.NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • Time • NPR • St. Louis Post-DispatchDrawing on President Bush’s personal diaries, on the diaries of his … Post-Dispatch
Drawing on President Bush’s personal diaries, on the diaries of his wife, Barbara, and on extraordinary access to the forty-first president and his family, Meacham paints an intimate and surprising portrait of an intensely private man who led the nation through tumultuous times. From the Oval Office to Camp David, from his study in the private quarters of the White House to Air Force One, from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the first Gulf War to the end of Communism, Destiny and Power charts the thoughts, decisions, and emotions of a modern president who may have been the last of his kind. This is the human story of a man who was, like the nation he led, at once noble and flawed.
His was one of the great American lives. Born into a loving, privileged, and competitive family, Bush joined the navy on his eighteenth birthday and at age twenty was shot down on a combat mission over the Pacific. He married young, started a family, and resisted pressure to go to Wall Street, striking out for the adventurous world of Texas oil. Over the course of three decades, Bush would rise from the chairmanship of his county Republican Party to serve as congressman, ambassador to the United Nations, head of the Republican National Committee, envoy to China, director of Central Intelligence, vice president under Ronald Reagan, and, finally, president of the United States. In retirement he became the first president since John Adams to see his son win the ultimate prize in American politics.
With access not only to the Bush diaries but, through extensive interviews, to the former president himself, Meacham presents Bush’s candid assessments of many of the critical figures of the age, ranging from Richard Nixon to Nancy Reagan; Mao to Mikhail Gorbachev; Dick Cheney to Donald Rumsfeld; Henry Kissinger to Bill Clinton. Here is high politics as it really is but as we rarely see it.
From the Pacific to the presidency, Destiny and Power charts the vicissitudes of the life of this quietly compelling American original. Meacham sheds new light on the rise of the right wing in the Republican Party, a shift that signaled the beginning of the end of the center in American politics. Destiny and Power is an affecting portrait of a man who, driven by destiny and by duty, forever sought, ultimately, to put the country first.
Praise for Destiny and Power
“Should be required reading—if not for every presidential candidate, then for every president-elect.”—The Washington Post
“Reflects the qualities of both subject and biographer: judicious, balanced, deliberative, with a deep appreciation of history and the personalities who shape it.”—The New York Times Book Review
“A fascinating biography of the forty-first president.”—The Dallas Morning News
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It’s a fine blessing to devour the engaging work of a seasoned historian, and Jon Meacham qualifies handsomely. This biography of President George H. W. Bush makes you wistful for the days when tough but realistic men and women sat across from each other in political offices, drew up bargaining chips on yellow legal pads, and refused to get up from their chairs without forging a deal to make their shared nation better. Today not many presidents epitomize that more than Bush 41, often now described as America’s most successful single-term president.
Tomes like this one always start clear back at the beginning of a dynasty family’s Mayflower history, and it’s a temptation to skip ahead to the subject’s own White House years. And the three campaigns where Bush sought the White House are the most interesting part of Meacham’s story. But it’s also instructive to dissect the entire Bush lineage on both sides, and get a sense of how he grew up always harboring the idea of getting to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Meacham does well in capturing George Bush’s heady romance with Barbara, and then the young family’s grief at losing a daughter. A long-time editor of Newsweek, Meacham is skilled at compiling a story and getting details right; Bush contributed years of diaries and notes and recollections, and the writer’s skills as an interviewer are legendary. Interestingly, even though Meacham has often written about issues of faith and the role of religion in America, e.g. the “Wall of Separation,” this biography is often graphic and earthy. President Bush was a religious man, but also at ease with the sometimes raw intrigue and flavor in a White House or a rough political campaign.
The two most interesting points in this portrait are, first, Bush’s globally successful campaign to drive Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait. The second was his clear-eyed but wrenching choice to abandon his glib “Read my lips, no new taxes” pledge in order to craft a durable budget during America’s economic crisis of 1991.
After biting the bullet, the President and aides went to the Rose Garden to announce what had been brokered between the two parties. “Sometimes you don’t get it just the way you want, and this is such a time for me,” he soberly confessed. “But it’s time we put the interest of the United States of America first and get this deficit under control.” He later mused to friends: “Sometimes you have to govern; you have to make things come together; you have to join with responsible leaders on both sides to get something done for the country.”
It’s interesting to note that a brash new House leader named Newt Gingrich announced that this was an ideal time for brinksmanship, and a threat to “shut down the government” if necessary. “I think the Democrats would have blinked,” he boasted later.
It’s a vignette that seems to describe two starkly different approaches to governing, and I suspect a myriad of readers of this finely crafted book will look back respectfully to that more dignified era when patriots in both parties cared most about the nation’s reputation and health.
If you appreciate thoughtful analysis delivered with a dose of wit and savvy style, anything written by Mr. Meacham has got to be high on your list.
Great subject. Great author.
This is an excellent biography about President George Herbert Walker Bush. It starts a little slow but the author does a nice job getting the facts in a readable style. He took several years collecting material and interviewing his subject. The author gives the reader a different viewpoint of President Bush than what the media sometimes portrayed.
author delivers a great narrative of GHWBush’s full life, domestic and political. Easily read and captured interesting nuances from contemporaneous diaries and documentation. Terrific!
Far reaching history. Of Americans in power
Informative book about a wonderful man, president and public servant.
Especially in these trying political times it’s wonderful to see what a caring person George H. W. Bush was, and how he believed in diplomacy, respect, and dignity. I believe his legacy will grow with time.
Loved this book! I gained a new respect for GHW Bush.
this was an interesting book about the way politics worked. If you have an interest in that subject it is a great book.
Slow reading Not very interesting!
insightful and non polarizing from a political point, but tells events that don’t make the news. It made me rethink the impact that George HW Bush had on our nation, and how underappreciated he has been. The Senate and Presidency are no longer clubs of “gentlemen”, and this is really brought to light in this book. It also gave me a more tolerant view of those who went to exclusive private boarding schools, and the east coast money and influence of his background. Much of it was character building. It almost made me soften my thoughts of his son!
Uplifting. An optimistic historian reminds us of tough times America has overcome in the past and why we can choose to do it again.
While there is nothing in this book that fundamentally enlightened my view of George HW Bush, there are enough anecdotes and details about his life to make this an interesting read. I’ve especially enjoyed the parts that related to his relationship with Barbara Bush, who essentially was a single mom to a man who was chasing his career and often gone. He knew it and appreciated her.
This book caused me to upgrade my opinion of Bush 41.
I loved this book! Having read Barbara Bush’s autobiography many years ago, I wanted to read this one about the 41st President. A fan of Meacham’s writing, he captures another president with human frailties and fears… humor, pride love in our country and his family. I came away with a deeper understanding and appreciation of a commander-in-chief making the decision to adhere to the coalition agreement and not march into Baghdad. Worth reading.
I am currently reading this book. I find it particularly interesting because I remember so much about the times in which President Bush was in office. There are few politicians anymore with such a strong moral compass.
Meacham’s scholarship and writing have kept me reading — even got it from the library when I missed the purchase. 816 pages, but 201 are detailed footnotes. Well worth the time, and gives this independent voter an even greater sense of respect for a president whose years in office I had not appreciated enough. History has a way of giving new perspectives.
This was an excellent book about George HW Bush. Not sure how biased Meacham is towards Bush. Full disclosure: I worked for Howard Baker in the late 70s and 80s and knew some of the characters in the book. It’s a very good read.
Currently being a devoted “cozy mystery fan” this is completely out of my normal interests. I seldom get caught up in anything anywhere near political but find this book so much more than that. The personal insight into the life of a respected figure, including his family and friends, has raised my opinions on political figures. There are actually “good guys” in an arena where that perspective is frowned upon or more often ridiculed. This book definitely is a good read, regardless of political leanings, about a good man.
A good understanding of a good president