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Jon Meacham’s ‘Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush’

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By Jim Kelly

• Nov. 9, 2015

George H. W. Bush is unusual among modern American presidents in that after he left the White House in 1993 he never produced his own full-scale autobiography. True, he co-wrote a book about his administration’s foreign policy with Brent Scowcroft, his national security adviser, and then allowed a collection of his letters and diary excerpts to be published. But he showed no interest in writing the kind of doorstopper others have given us, nothing on the order of “RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon,” “Ronald Reagan: An American Life” or Bill Clinton’s “My Life.” Even Hillary Clinton, who may yet be president and thus get her own chance to add to the genre, has already written two thick memoirs, either of which, if you accidentally dropped it on your foot, might leave you limping.

It is a measure of Bush’s shrewdness that he cooperated so extensively with Jon Meacham on “Destiny and Power,” allowing his biographer not just access to his diaries and family members but sitting for a series of interviews from 2006 to 2015. Meacham — an executive editor at Random House, a former editor of Newsweek and the author of “American Lion,” a well-told account of Andrew Jackson’s presidency that won the Pulitzer Prize in 2009 — amply rewards his subject’s trust by producing a deeply empathetic, often moving book about the former president and what Bush calls the L-word, his legacy.

How does the reader fare in this affectionate transaction between president and biographer? Surprisingly well, since Meacham’s access and lack of ideological fervor allow him to paint Bush the man in unusually subtle colors. Bush, called “41” by friends to distinguish him from his son, the 43rd president, emerges from this book as more ambitious, more anxious and far more emotional than commonly perceived. He could easily give former House Speaker John Boehner a run for his money in the Kleenex sweepstakes.

Bush, who is now 91, also comes across as an acute and often witty observer of other people’s quirks; his anecdotes of touring Asia with Bill Clinton may be the most hilarious description of 42’s charm and egotism (“He talks all the time,’’ Bush 41 notes. “He’s just shameless”) I have ever read. And thanks to Meacham’s adroit questioning, Bush drops his customary refusal to second-guess his son’s administration and offers a devastating critique of Vice President Dick Cheney, an analysis that carries special weight since Bush himself served in that office during the Reagan years.

Raised in privilege, Bush is known to be allergic to introspection, and try as he might, Meacham unearths no “Rosebud” moment that illuminates what propelled Bush throughout his career. Perhaps it really is as simple as what Bush, in his telegraphic style, tells Meacham: “My motivation’s always been goal . . . you know, to be captain.” Pressed further, Bush is not exactly expansive: “Whatever you’re in. Be No. 1.” Bush’s father, Prescott, served as United States senator from Connecticut, but Bush did not inherit the political bug so much as the itch, as Meacham puts it, “to serve, to make his mark, to be in the game.” Despite his self-effacing style, Bush never doubted he was the best man for a job, whether it was as president of a Texas oil company, a twice-elected congressman (and failed Senate candidate) or in résumé-building positions under Nixon and Gerald Ford: United States ambassador to the United Nations, America’s envoy to China and head of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Meacham’s admiration leads him to glide quickly over some of Bush’s more controversial decisions, like his nomination of Clarence Thomas for the Supreme Court. Meacham is toughest on Bush for insisting in 1987 that he had been “not in the loop” on the Reagan administration’s arms-for-hostages deal, a lie that clearly appalls the author. But even then Meacham writes more in sorrow than anger, describing the incident as “unworthy of his essential character.”

This sympathetic approach allows Meacham to draw out Bush on the most emotional moments of his life and tell them with dramatic verve. In 1944, when he was 20, during one of the dozens of bombing missions Bush flew as a naval aviator, his plane was hit and Bush ordered his two fellow crewmen to “hit the silk!” After hours of bobbing about on a life raft in the Pacific, Bush was rescued by a submarine, but the other crewmen were never found. Decades later Bush teared up as he told Meacham, “I wondered — wonder still — whether I did all I could.”

The worst tragedy of Bush’s life was the death from leukemia at age 3 of his daughter, Robin, his second child. Neither George nor his wife, Barbara, had even heard of leukemia when their doctor in Midland, Tex., gave them the news, and what followed was months of painful treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York. George W. was 6 and Jeb less than 1, and they stayed at home in Texas with their father while Barbara remained in New York. Bush sobbed as he discussed Robin with Meacham, and admitted that the grief remained so deep that “normally I push it away, push it back.”

Bush has never been accused of eloquence, and on two occasions when he did utter memorable phrases, they backfired. The colorful description of Reagan’s tax proposals as “voodoo economics” during the 1980 Republican primary campaign nearly wrecked his chances of becoming Reagan’s running mate that year. His pledge at the 1988 Republican convention, “Read my lips: No new ­taxes,” may have helped him into the White House, but when the threat of a government shutdown two years later forced him to backtrack, the reversal cost him dearly.

Yet one time his choice of words set the course for the singular achievement of his presidency, and it was unscripted. After Saddam Hussein overran Kuwait in August 1990, the administration and its allies were at a loss on how to react. Options were still being bandied about when Bush, arriving from Camp David on a Sunday afternoon and frustrated by the diplomatic shilly-shallying, announced to reporters: “This will not stand. This will not stand, this aggression against Kuwait.” Such an adamant statement shocked even his closest advisers. “Where’d you get that ‘This will not stand’?” Scowcroft asked. “That’s mine,” Bush replied. “That’s what I feel.”

This was Bush at his best: decisive, in charge, imbued with a mission. Can you be a born leader but not an effective president? That is the central question of the one-term Bush presidency, and Meacham tiptoes around a definitive answer. The flagging economy did not interest Bush as much as foreign policy did, and his hatred for campaigning to win a second term culminated in a disastrous ­presidential-debate performance against Clinton and Ross Perot, in which he stumbled over answers and looked at his watch. Meacham makes a persuasive case that Bush’s persistent health problems (his thyroid medication for Graves’ disease needed constant adjustment, and he had bouts of atrial fibrillation) contributed to his defeat, sapping his energy on the trail and making him snappish and cranky.

Bush took the loss hard, awash with those lifelong fears of letting down people who depended on him and of leaving a mission unaccomplished. “God, it was ghastly,” he told Meacham. “Your whole life is based on trying to accomplish stuff, and losing hurts.” But what also stung was who he lost to: a man he considered a “draft dodger” for avoiding service during the Vietnam War, an observation Meacham is too polite to say would dog Bush’s own son. So much for “duty, honor, country,” Bush wrote in his diary.

History has a way of making what happens look predictable in hindsight, but given Bush’s decisive drubbing by Clinton in 1992, it remains remarkable that eight years later George H. W. Bush would become, as Meacham puts it, “the only president since John Adams to see his son also win the ultimate prize in American politics.” Nearly all of Bush the elder’s friends thought the more studious Jeb had a better shot at the Oval Office than George W.; even James A. Baker, the secretary of state, had once jokingly described the older son as a “juvenile delinquent, damn near.”

Meacham interviewed both father and sons about the perception, and George W. is the most forthright, acknowledging he was a “cutup” and “irreverent,” uninterested in putting down roots. “It’s totally different from Jeb, who falls in love early and gets married in college and has babies early. He’s just a different kind of person.” His father is more succinct, using a barnyard epithet to dismiss “the whole idea that Jeb was the favorite one because he was more knowledgeable. . . . I thought Jeb had a better chance to win than George.” The 1994 gubernatorial elections in Texas and Florida settled the question, at least around the Bush dining room table: George W. won, surprisingly, and Jeb, just as surprisingly, lost. (Jeb would prevail in 1998 and serve eight years. Stay tuned to see if George H. W. Bush outdoes Adams on the offspring-in-the-Oval-Office front.)

Bush 43’s two-term presidency is the subject for a different book, but Meacham deftly sketches what the son learned from his father’s tenure, which included maintaining his conservative and religious base and above all projecting a vision. Meacham explores in depth how some of these lessons shaped Bush’s decision to invade Iraq in 2003, including how much he consulted his dad (more than he admitted, Meacham implies) and that contrary to some reports there was no daylight between the two men on the decision to oust Saddam Hussein militarily.

Where Meacham breaks new and startling ground is reporting how needlessly harsh Bush 41 thought the rhetoric was, including Bush 43’s characterization in 2002 of Iraq, Iran and North Korea as an “axis of evil.” And for that tone Bush 41 largely blames Dick Cheney, defense secretary during his own administration and a man Bush 41 believed had grown more hawkish over time, perhaps because of the influence of his wife, Lynne, who, Bush 41 speculates, is “a lot of the éminence grise here — iron-ass, tough as nails, driving.”

Cheney “had his own empire there and marched to his own drummer,” Bush says. “The big mistake that was made was letting Cheney bring in kind of his own state department. I think they overdid that. But it’s not Cheney’s fault, it’s the president’s fault.”

Meacham shows a transcript of these remarks first to Cheney and then to Bush 43. “A small smile” crossed Cheney’s face as he read them. “Fascinating,” he said. He acknowledged that he did become more hard-line after 9/11, and insisted that the way he structured the office of the vice presidency, so unlike the way Bush did under Reagan, was because Bush 43 wanted it like that. “W. is the one who made the decisions. To the extent I was a consequential vice president is because that’s what he wanted.”

Bush 43 seems more taken aback by the comments than Cheney, insisting that his father “would never say to me, ‘Hey, you need to rein in Cheney. He’s ruining your administration.’ It would be out of character for him to do that.” It is hard to tell how stung Bush 43 is by these remarks, since he quickly adds that “in any event, I disagree with his characterization.” Yet Meacham wisely points out that by the second term Bush had clipped Cheney’s wings and become less bellicose. “Though they never spoke of it, then, Bush 41 and Bush 43 may have been more in sync all along than even they knew.”

“Destiny and Power” reflects the qualities of both subject and biographer: judicious, balanced, deliberative, with a deep appreciation of history and the personalities who shape it. If Meacham is sometimes polite to a fault, “Destiny and Power” does not suffer for it. His kinder, gentler approach succeeds in making George H. W. Bush a more sympathetic — and more complex — figure than if the former president had written his own doorstopper after all.

DESTINY AND POWER: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush

By Jon Meacham

Illustrated. 836 pp. Random House. $35.

A review last Sunday about “Destiny and Power,” Jon Meacham’s biography of George H. W. Bush, misstated the year that Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. It was 1990, not 1991.

How we handle corrections

Jim Kelly, the managing editor of Time magazine from 2001 to 2006, is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair.

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The 10 Best Books on President George H. W. Bush

Essential books on george h. w. bush.

There are countless books on George H. W. Bush, and it comes with good reason, after being elected America’s forty-first President , he brought to the White House a dedication to traditional American values and a determination to direct them toward making the United States “a kinder and gentler nation” in the face of a dramatically changing world.

“A new breeze is blowing, and a world refreshed by freedom seems reborn; for in man’s heart, if not in fact, the day of the dictator is over. The totalitarian era is passing, its old ideas blown away like leaves from an ancient, lifeless tree,” he remarked.

In order to get to the bottom of what inspired one of history’s most consequential figures to the height of political power, we’ve compiled a list of the 10 best books on George H. W. Bush.

Destiny and Power by John Meacham

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.

41: A Portrait of My Father by George W. Bush

Forty-six men have served as President of the United States. Countless books have been written about them. But never before has a President told the story of his father, another President, through his own eyes and in his own words.

A unique and intimate biography, the book covers the entire scope of the elder President Bush’s life and career, including his service in the Pacific during World War II, his pioneering work in the Texas oil business, and his political rise as a Congressman, U.S. Representative to China and the United Nations, CIA Director, Vice President, and President.

The book shines new light on both the accomplished statesman and the warm, decent man known best by his family. In addition, George W. Bush discusses his father’s influence on him throughout his own life, from his childhood in West Texas to his early campaign trips with his father, and from his decision to go into politics to his own two-term Presidency.

The Quiet Man by John Sununu

In this major reassessment of George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st president of the United States, his former Chief of Staff offers a long overdue appreciation of the man and his universally underrated and misunderstood presidency. Though George H. W. Bush is remembered for orchestrating one of the largest and most successful military campaigns in history – the Gulf War – Sununu argues that conventional wisdom misses many of Bush’s other great achievements.

During his presidency, the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union collapsed. Bush’s calm and capable leadership during this dramatic time helped shape a world in which the United States emerged as the lone superpower. Sununu reminds us that President Bush’s domestic achievements were equally impressive, including strengthening civil rights, enacting environmental protections, and securing passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the 1990 agreement which generated budget surpluses and a decade of economic growth.

When the World Seemed New by Jeffrey A. Engel

The end of the Cold War was the greatest shock to international affairs since World War II. In that perilous moment, Saddam Hussein chose to invade Kuwait, China cracked down on its own pro-democracy protesters, and regimes throughout Eastern Europe teetered between democratic change and new authoritarians. Not since FDR in 1945 had a U.S. president faced such opportunities and challenges.

As the presidential historian Jeffrey Engel reveals in this page-turning history, behind closed doors from the Oval Office to the Kremlin, George H. W. Bush rose to the occasion brilliantly. Distrusted by such key allies as Margaret Thatcher and dismissed as too cautious by the press, Bush had the experience and the wisdom to use personal, one-on-one diplomacy with world leaders.

Bush knew when it was essential to rally a coalition to push Iraq out of Kuwait. He managed to help unify Germany while strengthening NATO. Based on unprecedented access to previously classified documents and interviews with all of the principals, When the World Seemed New  is a riveting, fly-on-the-wall account of a president with his hand on the tiller, guiding the nation through a pivotal time and setting the stage for the twenty-first century.

The Man I Knew by Jean Becker

As chief of staff, Jean Becker had a ringside seat to the never-boring story of George Herbert Walker Bush’s life post-presidency, including being at his side when he died and subsequently facing the challenge – and great honor – of being in charge of his state funeral. Full of heart and wisdom, The Man I Knew is a vibrant behind-the-scenes look into the ups and downs of heading up the office of a former president by one of the people who knew him best.

This book tells the story of how, after his devastating loss to Bill Clinton in 1992, President George H.W. Bush rebuilt his life, found a way to make a difference, and how, by the time he died in November 2018, was revered by his country and the world.

Bush’s post-presidency journey was filled with determination, courage, love, hope, humor, fun, and big ideas. He became best friends with the man who defeated him; developed the odd habit of jumping out of airplanes; and learned how to adjust to life in a wheelchair, after having lived most of his life as a high-energy athlete. He joyously saw two sons become governors of their states, one of whom would go on to become President of the United States.

All the Best, George Bush: My Life in Letters and Other Writings

“Who knew that beneath George Bush’s buttoned-up propriety pulsed the warm heart of a prolific and occasionally poetic writer with a wacky sense of humor?” ( People ) Though reticent in public, George Bush openly shared his private thoughts in correspondence throughout his life. This collection of letters, diary entries, and memos is the closest we’ll ever get to his autobiography.

Organized chronologically, readers will gain insights into Bush’s career highlights the oil business, his two terms in Congress, his ambassadorship to the UN, his service as an envoy to China, his tenure with the Central Intelligence Agency, and of course, the vice presidency, the presidency, and the post-presidency.

They will also observe a devoted husband, father, and American. Ranging from a love letter to Barbara and a letter to his mother about missing his daughter, Robin, after her death from leukemia to a letter to his children written just before the beginning of Desert Storm, this collection is remarkable for Bush’s candor, humor, and poignancy.

I Call Him “Mr. President” by Ken Raynor

Ken Raynor – head professional at Cape Arundel Golf Club for thirty-eight years – tells the story of how the President befriended him during Bush’s annual summer sabbatical to seaside Kennebunkport, Maine. Raynor’s personal relationship with Bush led him to experience everything from fishing trips to the wilds of Newfoundland to countless outings on the golf course, including Bush’s last as commander-in-chief.

Along the way, Raynor assisted Bush, a WWII veteran, in welcoming world leaders, former presidents, celebrities, and PGA Tour stars to the quaint Cape Arundel Golf Club and saw the excitement in their eyes during the outings. But he most cherishes his time after the rounds, in the Bush family home on nearby Walker’s Point or in a tiny fishing boat, when the president would put his feet up, stare out at the Atlantic, and recount the days’ events.

In this gem among books on George H. W. Bush, Raynor reflects on the life lessons he gained from a friendship born outdoors that has continued to develop over decades, during golf outings that have ranged from Maine to Augusta National to the White House putting green, international fishing trips, retreats at Camp David, flying in Marine One, and many other unforgettable experiences. Raynor has likely played more rounds with a POTUS than any PGA professional in history.

Texas Titans by Charles Denyer

The friendship between George H.W. Bush and James A. Baker, III began over fifty years ago on the tennis courts of the Houston Country Club when they found themselves paired as a doubles team, winning back-to-back championships in 1966 and 1967. While both men were admittedly weak servers, Bush was the net-and-volley guy, with Baker holding down the baseline with his groundstroke skills. That same approach of complementary skill sets and teamwork spilled over into their political careers for decades to come.

As Bush’s exploits are more commonly known, for those unaware, Baker served as undersecretary of commerce, secretary of the treasury, secretary of state, and White House chief of staff – twice, while also chairing or playing a lead role in five successive presidential elections for three different candidates from 1976 to 1992.

Texas Titans is a story about two of America’s most consequential statesmen of the past fifty years. Two men from opposite areas of the country who found friendship on the tennis courts at the Houston Country Club. Two men who helped transform a world during an era of immense challenges and change. Two men who became – and still are – Texas titans.

A World Transformed by George H. W. Bush and Brent Scowcroft

Within these pages, the former President and his national security advisor, Brent Scowcroft, provide a fascinating account of an administration faced with unprecedented obstacles and unrivaled opportunities as they forged a foreign policy at the end of the Cold War. Solidarity comes to power in Poland. East and West Germans dance on the wall that separated them for half a century. And on Christmas Day, 1991, the hammer-and-sickle flag descends from the Kremlin for the last time.

Being Poppy by Richard Ben Cramer

The forty-first president of the United States and the patriarch of America’s most powerful political dynasty never wrote a memoir. But bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Richard Ben Cramer took the full measure of President Bush in his thousand-page epic. The book traces how seminal moments in President Bush’s life formed his character and foretold his legacy. The result is a loving portrait that remains as fresh, relevant, and insightful as the day it was first published.

George and Barbara Bush by Ellie LeBlond Sosa

“To begin with I was in love and I am in love so that’s not hard,” Barbara Bush told her granddaughter Ellie LeBlond Sosa on her porch in Kennebunkport, Maine.

Sosa had asked for the secret to her and President George H. W. Bush’s 77-year love affair that withstood World War II separation, a leap of faith into the oil fields of West Texas, the painful loss of a child, a political climb to the highest office, and after the White House, the transition back to a “normal” life.

Through a lifetime’s worth of letters, photographs, and stories, Sosa and coauthor Kelly Anne Chase paint the portrait of the enduring relationship of George and Barbara Bush. Sharing intimate interviews with the Bushes and family friends, this is a never-before-seen look into the private life of a very public couple.

If you enjoyed this guide to essential books on George H. W. Bush, check out our list of The 10 Best Books on President Ronald Reagan !

My Journey Through the Best Presidential Biographies

The Best Biographies of George H.W. Bush

07 Monday Jan 2019

Posted by Steve in Best Biographies Posts , President #41 - GHW Bush

≈ 9 Comments

American history , biographies , book reviews , George HW Bush , Herbert Parmet , Jon Meacham , presidential biographies , US Presidents

But now, despite his heroics in combat, his business acumen, his extraordinary capitalist grit and his unobtrusive but earnest political ambition, George H.W. Bush suddenly seems a quiet and unassuming figure from a long-passed era.

Bush 41’s presidency ended nearly a quarter-century ago but it still seems premature to consider the “best biographies” of him due, in part, to the recency of his death, his still-evolving legacy and the scarcity of biographies covering his life. And, in my opinion, the definitive biography of Bush 41 has yet to be written…

I read two biographies of Bush: a relatively dated book by noted historian (and author) Herbert Parmet and a much newer one by renowned biographer (and historian) Jon Meacham. In many ways the biographies are yin and yang , seemingly very different…but exceptionally complementary. Neither is ideal, but together they are clearly worth more than the sum of their parts.

* “ Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush ” (2015) by Jon Meacham

The author’s proximity to his subject is the defining feature of this biography. Meacham came to know Bush (and his family) extremely well during the decade-plus he spent writing this book. Meacham was even selected to eulogize Bush at his recent funeral. Thus, “Destiny and Power” affords readers the opportunity to see the world through Bush’s eyes. And in a very palpable way this biography reads like the memoirs Bush never wrote for himself.

But Bush’s pre-presidency passes too quickly and with too little depth. And while his presidency is covered at a more deliberate pace it often feels too forgiving. While Meacham is critical of Bush on occasion, pointing out flaws or failures, the book exudes an undeniable air of sympathy and affinity.

Nevertheless, Meacham is able to provide insight into Bush’s character and his world view that is likely to prove unique among Bush 41’s biographers – past and future. And although it failed to live up to my high expectations, this is a must-read on George H.W. Bush — 4 stars ( Full review here )

* “ George Bush: Life of a Lone Star Yankee ” (1997) by Herbert Parmet

Parmet was a long-time historian, professor and prolific author who died recently. His biography of Bush is not quite cradle-to-grave; it ends with the Bush presidency (leaving aside his retirement years and political legacy). But, otherwise, it is both comprehensive and thorough.

The best aspect of this biography is Parmet’s review of Bush’s early years. Nowhere have I seen better coverage of Bush 41’s ancestry, his military service, his congressional career, his service with the UN or the CIA. By comparison, Bush’s national political career is fine but not exceptional; pages devoted to President Bush’s response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait is particularly noteworthy, however.

What Jon Meacham does well in “Destiny and Power” tends to be in short supply here; Meachem sees the world from his subject’s perspective (but not from a distance) while Parmet observes events through a reporter’s eyes. To Parmet, things just happen ; understanding why is comparatively unimportant. For Meacham, understanding Bush’s mindset is of paramount importance; seeing things from an impartial third-party point of view is less critical.

In the end, Parmet’s and Meacham’s coverage of Bush’s life are surprisingly synergistic. But for Bush’s pre-presidency, Parmet’s coverage gets the nod — 3¾ stars ( Full review here )

Best Biography of George HW Bush: ***Too early to call***

Solid “One-Two” Punch: Parmet’s “George Bush” followed by Meacham’s “Destiny and Power”

Follow-up :

– “ George H. W. Bush: The American Presidents Series ” by Timothy Naftali

9 thoughts on “The Best Biographies of George H.W. Bush”

January 7, 2019 at 12:14 pm

Follow-up suggestion: 41: A Portrait of My Father by George W. Bush

January 7, 2019 at 12:19 pm

Thanks, great suggestion! For the moment I’m only including on my “follow-up” list biographies that veer toward history and away from memoirs / autobiography. But I do need to go back and read memoirs, autobiographies and books like this which provide a personal perspective inaccessible in traditional biographies.

January 7, 2019 at 12:25 pm

“When the World Seemed New” would be a good follow-up as well. It does cover his whole life, but the prime focus is Bush’s presidency, specifically his foreign policy and its impact on the world.

August 2, 2020 at 9:03 am

I agree “41” is a good follow-up, as offers a rare opportunity to read such a personal biography of one president written by another. It’s also a quick read, and Steve will can do it in one sitting. I also get that it is a bit of a memoir of W. himself. It can be put in it’s own sub-category of bios written by family members or close friends. I’ve just recently picked up Margaret Truman’s portrait of her father, after enjoying “41” so much.

January 7, 2019 at 10:50 pm

Steve, as one of the avid readers of your site, I can’t help but think that Bush I is one of those that I will probably have more choices than your’s by the time I get to certain presidents, due to my reading schedule (one bio per president, and four or five a year). I won’t hit Bush until 2026 and there are almost certain to be more bios of him by that time. Probably even a new Carter or two, not to mention Ford.

August 2, 2020 at 9:10 am

I like your pace, Teach! I am hopefully wrapping up my one-of-each this year, completing my journey that began in 2015. GHWB lived such a full, fascinating life, that it’s hard to imagine there won’t be some brilliant biographies to come. I’ve preordered Jonathan Alter’s new bio of Carter due out next month!

June 1, 2022 at 8:44 am

Suggestion to add to your follow-up list for POTUS 41: “The Man I Knew” by his post-presidency Chief of Staff, Jean Becker. It is one of my favorite president-related books I have ever read. My wife (who doesn’t read books often) and I both read it, and we both cried while reading certain portions of it. Not only is the book really informative (about POTUS 41, but also POTUS 43, 42 and 44), but it is quite inspirational. It made me long to have a man of that type of charcter in the White House again. It is more y about George H.W. Bush as a person than as a political figure, but it was an absolutely delightful read. One of my favorite books of any kind that I have read over the past decade.

February 5, 2024 at 11:36 pm

It might not be a traditional biography but how about What It Takes by Richard Ben Cramer? Focused on the 1988 election, but I think it goes pretty deeply into the backgrounds of the candidates including GHWB.

February 6, 2024 at 4:58 am

Great suggestion – I’ve never read this one and had almost forgotten about it until you mentioned it. Well…another post-it note with a good book idea going up on the wall… 🙂

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A Portrait of My Father

By George W. Bush

By george w. bush read by george w. bush, category: political figure biographies & memoirs | domestic politics, category: political figure biographies & memoirs | domestic politics | audiobooks.

Nov 11, 2014 | ISBN 9780804194716 | 5-1/2 x 8-1/4 --> | ISBN 9780804194716 --> Buy

Nov 11, 2014 | ISBN 9780553447781 | 5-1/2 x 8-1/4 --> | ISBN 9780553447781 --> Buy

Nov 11, 2014 | ISBN 9780553447798 | ISBN 9780553447798 --> Buy

Nov 11, 2014 | 462 Minutes | ISBN 9781101913154 --> Buy

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Nov 11, 2014 | ISBN 9780804194716

Nov 11, 2014 | ISBN 9780553447781

Nov 11, 2014 | ISBN 9780553447798

Nov 11, 2014 | ISBN 9781101913154

462 Minutes

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#1  NEW YORK TIMES  BESTSELLER •  George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, has authored a personal biography of his father, George H. W. Bush, the 41st President.   Forty-three men have served as President of the United States. Countless books have been written about them. But never before has a President told the story of his father, another President, through his own eyes and in his own words. A unique and intimate biography, the book covers the entire scope of the elder President Bush’s life and career, including his service in the Pacific during World War II, his pioneering work in the Texas oil business, and his political rise as a Congressman, U.S. Representative to China and the United Nations, CIA Director, Vice President, and President.  The book shines new light on both the accomplished statesman and the warm, decent man known best by his family. In addition, George W. Bush discusses his father’s influence on him throughout his own life, from his childhood in West Texas to his early campaign trips with his father, and from his decision to go into politics to his own two-term Presidency.

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Also by george w. bush.

About George W. Bush

George W. Bush is the 43rd President of the United States, serving from 2001 to 2009. He previously served as Governor of Texas. He and his wife, Laura, now live in Dallas, where they founded the George W. Bush Presidential Center… More about George W. Bush

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Category: political figure biographies & memoirs | domestic politics, category: political figure biographies & memoirs | domestic politics | audiobooks, you may also like.

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President George W. Bush on 41: A Portrait of My Father

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Out of Many, One: Portraits of America's Immigrants

Portraits of courage: a commander in chief's tribute to america's warriors.

In the tradition of Portraits of Courage, President Bush's #1 New York Times bestseller, Out of Many, One brings together forty-three full-color portraits of men and women who have immigrated to the United States, alongside stirring stories of the unique ways all of them are pursuing the American Dream.

 A vibrant collection of oil paintings and stories by President George W. Bush honoring the sacrifice and courage of America’s military veterans. With Forewords by former First Lady Laura Bush and General Peter Pace, 16th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Portraits of Courage brings together 66 full-color portraits and a four-panel mural painted by President Bush of members of the United States military who have served our nation with honor since 9/11—and whom he has come to know personally—with their individual stories written by the former President. 

Decision Points

41: a portrait of my father.

 In gripping, never-before-heard detail, President Bush brings readers inside the Texas Governor’s Mansion on the night of the hotly contested 2000 election; aboard Air Force One on 9/11, in the hours after America’s most devastating attack since Pearl Harbor; at the head of the table in the Situation Room in the moments before launching the war in Iraq; and behind the Oval office desk for his most historic and controversial decisions. 

  Forty-three men have served as President of the United States. Countless books have been written about them. But never before has a President told the story of his father, another President, through his own eyes and in his own words. A unique and intimate biography,  41: A Portrait of My Father, covers the entire scope of the elder President Bush’s life and career. 

Spoken from the heart

 With rare intimacy and candor, Laura Bush writes about joining one of America’s most prominent political families. She reveals her public triumphs and personal tribulations and the story of real life inside the White House. Laura Bush’s compassion, her sense of humor, her grace, and her uncommon willingness to bare her heart make this story revelatory, beautifully rendered, and unlike any other first lady’s memoir ever written. 

Our Great Big Backyard

 To help commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of the National Park Service, #1 New York Times bestselling authors former First Lady Laura Bush and her daughter Jenna Bush Hager have created an exuberant picture book tribute to our national parks and the importance and fun of connecting with nature. 

George W. Bush

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About the author

George W. Bush served as the forty-third President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. He had previously served as Governor of Texas. He and his wife, Laura, live in Dallas, where they founded the George W. Bush Presidential Center at Southern Methodist University. President Bush is the author of three #1 bestsellers: Decision Points, his presidential memoir; 41, a biography of his father, President George H. W. Bush; and Portraits of Courage, a collection of oil paintings and stories honoring the sacrifice of America’s military veterans. Photo credit © Paul Morse

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George W. Bush: A Biography (Greenwood Biographies) Hardcover – Import, 2 November 2010

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• ISBN-10 0313385009
• ISBN-13 978-0313385001
• Publisher Greenwood Press
• Publication date 2 November 2010
• Part of series Greenwood Biographies
• Language English
• Dimensions 15.6 x 1.43 x 23.39 cm
• Print length 232 pages
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About the author, product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Greenwood Press (2 November 2010)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 232 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0313385009
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0313385001
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 7 - 17 years
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 510 g
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.6 x 1.43 x 23.39 cm
• Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA

About the author

Clarke rountree.

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