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careydnelson's review against another edition
5.0
I wrote a whole review for this then it got deleted.
It's a good, fair (?) book, and very interesting!
It's a good, fair (?) book, and very interesting!
mattneely's review against another edition
4.0
Long. Not a struggle, but one would need to enjoy Am. Political History to stick with it. Only 15 of the pages get into Cheney-Rumsfeld. Much more on the GOP (Eisenhower to W)
yreg's review against another edition
5.0
Coming closer to my goal of reading a biography about every US President, I was looking forward to reading this highly rated book by the Pullitzer-Prize winning author Jon Meacham. A truly enjoyable biography of the forty-first president of the United States, Meacham skillfully crafts a compelling narrative of George H. W. Bush's life, describing in enough (but not excessive) detail Bush's early life and moral upbringing so as to allow the reader to interpret his policy decisions based on his personality. I thoroughly enjoyed such behind-the-scenes insights as Bush offering Gorbatschew his personal month-long schedule, which the latter happily accepted noting that he had to modernize and make his own schedule and office more efficient.
While reading the book, I felt like I could grasp some of the personal struggles Bush 41 went through in his election campaign against Ronald Reagan, and then his decision to accept the Vice Presidential position on the Reagan-Bush ticket in 1980. While Meacham describes Bush as having his differences on policy with Reagan, I believe it would have been appropriate to expand on the either ignorance/naivety or the outright delusive campaign promise that under a Bush presidency there would be no new taxes. It was mentioned that Bush called out Reagan's 1980 campaign commitment of supply-side economics as "voodoo economics". While I can understand that Bush would not criticize then President Reagan for dramatically increasing the national debt through the so called "voodoo economics" in his position as VP, I believe it to be unfair to not question Bush's motivation in promising no new taxes. Surely Bush did not believe that keeping the US government on track with Reagonomics could in any way benefit the United States.
This being said, I still enjoyed the book. I believe Bush 41 will in several decades be considered one of the most honest, unpartisan and patriotic Republican Presidents of the 20th century. His generally moderate views and willingness to work together with Democratic leadership throughout his presidency are reasons as to why I hold George Herbert Walker Bush in high esteem.
While reading the book, I felt like I could grasp some of the personal struggles Bush 41 went through in his election campaign against Ronald Reagan, and then his decision to accept the Vice Presidential position on the Reagan-Bush ticket in 1980. While Meacham describes Bush as having his differences on policy with Reagan, I believe it would have been appropriate to expand on the either ignorance/naivety or the outright delusive campaign promise that under a Bush presidency there would be no new taxes. It was mentioned that Bush called out Reagan's 1980 campaign commitment of supply-side economics as "voodoo economics". While I can understand that Bush would not criticize then President Reagan for dramatically increasing the national debt through the so called "voodoo economics" in his position as VP, I believe it to be unfair to not question Bush's motivation in promising no new taxes. Surely Bush did not believe that keeping the US government on track with Reagonomics could in any way benefit the United States.
This being said, I still enjoyed the book. I believe Bush 41 will in several decades be considered one of the most honest, unpartisan and patriotic Republican Presidents of the 20th century. His generally moderate views and willingness to work together with Democratic leadership throughout his presidency are reasons as to why I hold George Herbert Walker Bush in high esteem.
christopherwilson13's review against another edition
4.0
I had to read this for work and honestly wasn't even planning on putting it here but it was pretty solid stuff. Would recommend if you ever want to read 600 pages about Bush 41.
weejane's review against another edition
5.0
4.5. I wish the end had focused less on GWB, and now about GHWB's thoughts on Obama and his successor. But overall an excellent biography on a downplayed president.
makraemer's review against another edition
4.0
Very well done and well researched account of Bush 41. Always liked him, like him more now.
jeremyanderberg's review against another edition
4.0
I came away from Meacham's Destiny & Power with more respect for Bush than any of the other presidents I've read about thus far. He was a fundamentally decent man through and through. Jeb Bush, after being in politics himself, once marveled at the fact that America, even 30 years ago, would elect such a good human as his dad.
And while his legacy has generally been as a failed one-term president tucked between Reagan (who defines the 80s) and Clinton (who defines the 90s), Meacham convincingly writes that he deserves much more.
When Bush lost in '92, it was really a generational changing of the guard from WWII's Greatest Generation (Bush volunteered for WWII service and was shot down over the Pacific) to the Baby Boomers. Bush is the first to admit that he didn't run a good campaign. But his heart wasn't in it. After holding the highest mantle for 4 years, he was tired. Sick of the partisan bickering and how politics was put ahead of making the country a better place.
When it comes to presidential legacies, time is everything. Clinton's seems to only get more tarnished (deservedly so), while Bush's seems to be on the rise. Yes, he followed Reagan's coattails, but was a decidedly different kind of conservative who made plenty of enemies in his own party. He ushered in the end of the Cold War and navigated what post-Soviet world leadership should look like, successfully and quickly got Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait — and didn't get stuck there (as his son would a decade later), got the Americans With Disabilities Act passed, and never even sniffed at any kind of scandal.
Destiny & Power is just a superb biography of a man who has been serially and seriously underrated as POTUS. Books can and do have effects on presidential legacies (see McCullough's Truman); here's to hoping that this one can do that for the late, great George Herbert Walker Bush.
And while his legacy has generally been as a failed one-term president tucked between Reagan (who defines the 80s) and Clinton (who defines the 90s), Meacham convincingly writes that he deserves much more.
When Bush lost in '92, it was really a generational changing of the guard from WWII's Greatest Generation (Bush volunteered for WWII service and was shot down over the Pacific) to the Baby Boomers. Bush is the first to admit that he didn't run a good campaign. But his heart wasn't in it. After holding the highest mantle for 4 years, he was tired. Sick of the partisan bickering and how politics was put ahead of making the country a better place.
When it comes to presidential legacies, time is everything. Clinton's seems to only get more tarnished (deservedly so), while Bush's seems to be on the rise. Yes, he followed Reagan's coattails, but was a decidedly different kind of conservative who made plenty of enemies in his own party. He ushered in the end of the Cold War and navigated what post-Soviet world leadership should look like, successfully and quickly got Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait — and didn't get stuck there (as his son would a decade later), got the Americans With Disabilities Act passed, and never even sniffed at any kind of scandal.
Destiny & Power is just a superb biography of a man who has been serially and seriously underrated as POTUS. Books can and do have effects on presidential legacies (see McCullough's Truman); here's to hoping that this one can do that for the late, great George Herbert Walker Bush.
icgerrard's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 It's a good biography. However, it is also extremely unreflective. As other reviewers have mentioned, you get the distinct impression that Meacham really liked Bush personally, from all the interviews, and that any complexity of character was lost. The one thing you learn about Bush in this book above all other things is that he was just *such a nice guy* who tried *so hard* to do the *right thing* in spite of the media and whatever else was making it difficult. I've read a lot of biographies of presidents and I can't think of one that was so invested in you seeing how *nice* and *good* the subject was. Very one dimensional. And didn't make me feel like I learned much about him or the time. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of options when it comes to biographies of George HW Bush yet, so I think this is probably still the best available one.