Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush

It's obvious from the detail in Dead Certain: the Presidency of George W. Bush that Robert Draper did his homework in writing this book about our current president. There are many direct quotes and descriptions of situations provided by the people who were actually present. I wonder how many sitting presidents or presidential candidates, for that matter, would agree to such an inside look at who they really are...warts and all. No president could stand up under the scrutiny of our time and come out as we see them now: not Washington; not Lincoln; not the Roosevelts; no one. Dead Certain takes the reader from Bush's disastrous lack of understanding of the primary game in New Hampshire in 1999 through his questionable election in 2000 and on to the present time. During this time, this president has been thoroughly watched. He has been praised, criticized (even vilified), and quoted (mostly his misspeak). With all manner of communication devices and vehicles available in our modern day (including the latest, blogging), every president from now on will be lucky if they are not pursued into the most private areas of their lives. Bush is not perfect, but, then, who has been? He is human. He is flawed. He makes mistakes; some would say many. He is not smooth. He can be sophomoric, unsophisticated, and unyielding; but he is also compassionate, decisive, and bold. He doesn't live by polls. I admire that. It also happens that Bush is the only American president faced with a direct attack on our homeland and its unpredictable, tragic, and mind-numbing aftermath. Read this book and make up your own mind about our 43rd president. He, at least, deserves that. History will do the rest. Carolyn Rowe Hill

For all of the many books that have been published excoriating George W. Bush during his presidency, a new twist has developed.... the story told from within the White House and from inside the president's head. "Dead Certain", Robert Draper's vivid account of the workings of "43", brings to light Bush the decider, Bush the optimist, Bush the big thinker, stubborn Bush and as many facets as one can imagine. It's as resourceful and imaginative an approach as I've yet seen. The success of Draper's book is portraying the linkage between the stuff from which Bush is made and how it affects policy. We know, for instance, that Bush has an arrogant streak, and this (combined with what the author refers to as eternal optimism) propels Bush into decisions which many in the public view as unnecessarily narrow-minded. It's a wonder that with all this self-assurance and his wanting to be a creator of large schemes, Bush has failed on so many of the large issues...Iraq, Katrina, Social Security...while falling off the boat on other issues such as stem cell research and Terri Schiavo. Calvin Trillin wrote a book in humorous verse about the Bush administration a few years ago called "Obliviously On He Sails", and that seems to sum up the picture of "W" and the past six and a half years, mirrored to an extent by author Draper. It couldn't have come from a more definitive source than Laura Bush when she says of her husband, "George likes to do things to excess". (Gone are the days of the "prudent" father, #41) That is unsettling enough. But in taking some exception to the conclusions Draper draws in his Epilogue, I think that George W. Bush will always strike so many Americans as never being up to the task of being president. With so much available talent in this country we end up with him... a president who, whatever his good intentions may have been, will simply leave behind a failed legacy. The author states, toward the end of the book, "Bush was now, and would likely remain until the end of his tenure, a highly unpopular and divisive president"...he's right, of course. "Dead Certain" is well worth the read and I highly recommend it for Robert Draper's ability to peel back the curtain and give us a glimpse as to just what the emperor is really wearing.

A fellow Texan, Draper approaches Bush with a depth of understanding, fairness and access that renders his profile of an insecure, bullying, often-wrong but never-in-doubt President more powerful that any done to date. Well-researched, smartly told, quickly-paced, Dead Certain is an excellent read and a necessary snapshot of what makes this President run -- and bike. Instead of drawing an easy, partisan caricature, Draper shows his deep journalistic roots as a magazine reporter as he paints a real-life portrait, which may in fact be more damning than any lampoon. Highly recommended.

Like some other reviewers, I was thinking this might be a puff piece on GWB. It is not. The author has apparently gone to great lengths to expose the good, bad, and ugly - regardless of who it slams. The Bremer/Bush issue is a particularly good read. Almost novel-like. This author has a smooth but intense way of writing that keeps you wanting to get to the next page. I read it on a cross-country flight and got irritated everytime the stewardess asked if I was ready for dinner - I wanted to keep reading! :) I would like to have seen a little more in the book relative to Dick Cheney just because of the fascinating relationship that is. Overall, if you are a political junkie, this book will be a page-turner for you. Highly recommended.

This is an unbiased look at the president, not an ultra-conservative piece of propaganda, as some other reviewers (who have not read the book) seem to think. Just because you do not like George Bush, doesn't mean that the book is worthless. Quite the contrary. I, personally, despise the man. But the book offers a full view of GWB, which is important, whatever your political leaning.