In His Father's Shadow: The Transformations of George W. Bush

Reading this book, I didn't start out liking Bush very much, but afterwards I had learned a lot that was new and sort of interesting about him. After reading this book, you may not end up voting for Bush, but you probably will see that there is a lot more to the man than his critics say.  The author has clearly reached some conclusions about the man, but lays out the evidence on both sides of the issues carefully. I thought both sides got a fair hearing and that the author let the reader make his or her own judgments, and that overall the book was surprisingly balanced.

GWB is a remarkably polarizing president, and the storm of emotion that surrounds him makes getting a handle on the man and his presidency extremely difficult. And yet, the context of war makes understanding what makes him tick particularly urgent. Renshon's book arrives at just the right time. And his careful, thoughtful analysis should be fascinating reading even to political junkies who thing they know this president well. Renshon explores the story of what it was like to grow up as a Bush, of his struggle to make something of himself, and of his conquest over an addiction to alcohol. Most interesting, however, is Renshon's description of the president as an agent of transformational change dealing with the question of national survival in a deeply divided society. To an unexpected and startling degree, Bush has been willing to risk his political future by going against the grain of much of the public, liberal and conservative alike. There will be lots of books on Bush written by talking heads who mistake political warfare for careful analysis. Renshon's book, however, should stand the test of time as a work of scholarship and integrity.