George Bush: The Life of a Lone Star Yankee (American Presidents) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0765807300 ISBN 13: 9780765807304

Publisher: Routledge, 2000

Synopsis

In the first full biography of the former president, award-winning historian and biographer Herbert S. Parmet draws from George Bush’s personal papers to look at the man who led America through the end of the Cold War. Enriched by access to Bush’s private diaries, the book provides an intimate portrait of the forty-first president, and corrects many long-held misconceptions about him.

Parmet shows George Bush within the context of a half century of American life and politics, at a time when great changes swept the nation. Parmet traces Bush’s life from his New England youth, through World War II; from his leadership of the CIA, through his vice presidency and presidency, through his loss of the 1992 presidential election to Bill Clinton.This book will be of interest to readers of politics and political biographies.

About this title

About the Author:

Herbert S. Parmetis Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History at The City University of New York. He is author of several books including Eisenhower and the American Crusades, also published by Transaction.

From Kirkus Reviews:

Bred in New England reticence and transplanted to rambunctious Texas, acclaimed as a war hero and scorned as a political wimp, George Bush remains the walking contradiction who puzzled Americans, in this dispassionate biography by Parmet (History/City Univ. of New York; JFK: The Presidency of John F. Kennedy, 1983, etc.). Not unlike JFK, Bush came from wealth, served with distinction in WW II's Pacific theater, and became the all-important link in a political dynasty (father Prescott was US senator from Connecticut; son George W. is now governor of Texas). But the differences between the two men loom even larger. Bush's career was shaped by gale-force changes within the Republican Party. He made his way in Texas by allying himself with three new strains of conservatives: oil plutocrats who longed for laissez-faire economics, evangelical Protestants (many suspicious of civil-rights initiatives), and anti-communist zealots of the John Birch variety. Nationally, he made his first run for the presidency just as the New Right became ascendant with the election of Ronald Reagan. As a result, this fiercely driven politician had to wait until he was 64 to achieve the presidency, and to endure humiliations and act in ways he would not ordinarily have desired. Described as decent and loyal by most who knew him well, Bush also felt compelled sometimes to campaign with few scruples (he confessed to his minister that he regretted taking far-right positions in a failed run against Senator Ralph Yarborough in 1964). Parmet uses Bush's diaries and interviews with him and his GOP associates to flesh out this story. Still, he unearths few revelations, other than the Bushes' suspicion that a jealous Nancy Reagan spread false rumors of George's affair with the widow of a congressman. Unlike Parmet's two-volume JFK biography, this suffers from lack of greater access to still-secret materials and to aides with enough distance from the political wars to speak with unbuttoned candor about their boss. (16 pages b&w photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0765807300
• ISBN 13: 9780765807304
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 594
• Editor: Marcus Judith T.