Synopsis
The only comprehensive biography of the former president, from his aristocratic upbringing and heroic World War II service to his ascendancy to the White House, encompasses insights culled from exclusive access to personal papers, correspondence, and diary entries. 40,000 first printing.
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.
Parmet (Richard Nixon and His America, LJ 12/89) spent six years researching and writing this biography. Bush gave him complete access to his papers and personal correspondence and granted several interviews, from which Parmet has constructed a comprehensive, sympathetic portrait. Bush's career as a successful player in the world of Texas politics and oil is interestingly retold, as is the complicated, sordid relationship between CIA director Bush and Panamanian drug dealer and sometimes CIA operative Manuel Noriega. Bush is praised for his military success in the Gulf War and his diplomatic finesse toward the former Soviet Union. Ultimately, decides the author, Bush was denied a second term because he alienated the Republican Right Wing and appeared indifferent to the economic plight of workers. This fine narrative would have been improved by an analytical summation of Bush's legacy and a comparison to other modern presidents. Recommended for public and academic libraries.?Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, Pa.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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