The Presidency of George W. Bush

By: John Robert Greene

Narrated by: Christopher Grove

The Presidency of George W. Bush is the first balanced academic study to analyze the entirety of his presidency - domestic, social, economic, and national security policies - as well as the administration's response to 9/11 and the subsequent War on Terror. In so doing, John Robert Greene argues persuasively that the judgment of most scholars - that the Bush administration was a complete failure - has been made in haste and without the benefit of primary sources. This book is the first scholarly work to make wide use of the documents at the George W. Bush Presidential Library, many of which have only recently been made available to researchers through the Freedom of Information Act.

John Robert Greene offers a balanced assessment and nuanced conclusions supported by documentary evidence. Yet in doing so he does not absolve the Bush administration of its shortcomings. On the other side of the balance sheet, however, the evidence also makes it eminently clear that the Bush administration was responsible for many positive achievements. In sum, the actions of this presidency continue to affect the presidencies of each of his successors as well as the trajectory of world history to the present day.

©2021 The University Press of Kansas (P)2021 Tantor

Exactly What I Hoped For

I wish more books were written like this on politics. Nuanced, well-researched, engaging, and most importantly - NOT sensationalized. A rare find in writings on politics.

John Greene, I hope you keep writing!

Fair, Frank and fun

I was prepared to be underwhelmed by this book. However, I found it engaging and informative. Looking back now in 2025, he wasn't as bad as I thought back then and he was certainly a nice guy. Just one big, bad decision. We should all remember that Eisenhower did the same thing. He just got out early.

Balanced Review of President Bush

I liked how it laid out the events and responses of the Bush administration with a clear focus on what went poorly and what was done well by President Bush.

Great balanced account of the W!

With the benefit of historical material and perspective, this book does a great job of looking at Bush 43