Book Review: A Matter of Character
This is the best biography of President Bush I’ve read. The Right Man focuses too much on David Frum and Bush at War is more about the liberation of Afghanistan than about the president, but A Matter of Character is the insightful story of a great man, from his earliest days at Andover and Yale to Valerie Plame and the 2004 election.
Bob Woodward’s level of access to officials and insiders may parallel or exceed Kessler’s, but Kessler uses the innumerable interviews he conducted to craft his story in a much more interesting way. Quotes from Bush confidants are found on every other page of this book, giving the perspective you didn’t see on the news, presenting the side the mainstream media was either too chicken to show, too ashamed to reveal, or too stupid to understand. From arsenic controls to the Kyoto protocol, from No Child Left Behind and phonics to the war on terror, there is no end to the depth of insight Kessler is able to provide through his sources.
One tremendous asset Kessler has is his long, distinguished career as a journalistic author. He has written books about the FBI and the CIA, and has an impressive databank to draw from (he figured out who Deep Throat was before the story broke). No Republican apologist, Kessler is able to shed light on the Bush administration by condemning the Nixon White House for abuses of power. Kessler describes Bush by comparing his presidency to others. It’s a little-known fact that President Carter, for example, was a control freak. Clinton administration secrets are less surprising: empty pizza boxes stacked up in the hallways, policy meetings that lacked focus and direction, contempt for the Secret Service, and some disturbing dirt on Senator Hillary Clinton.
There is no doubt Kessler is pro-Bush, but more so as a result of the man’s character than because of his politics. Kessler is able to present Bush’s core character by talking to people who knew him at various points in his life, and by telling cute anecdotes that reveal Bush’s compassion, integrity, sense of humor, and, yes, intelligence. The book, of course, is not just about Bush: it’s about his White House. Kessler provides background on various administration officials, including Colin Powell, Condi Rice, Alberto Gonzales, Robert Mueller, and George Tenet. Kessler gives them the opportunity to speak their minds and counter popular myths. Bush, Kessler explains, is the “CEO President,” a man who uses his MBA training to pick a strong team and run a tight ship. He remains loyal to them unless they betray him—a key character trait essential to understanding why certain people remain in the administration so long.
Our president is a team leader. He’s not an intellectual, but he reads a lot. He loves this country and values the military that protects it. He takes his oath to defend us seriously. And he’s in charge, not Karl Rove.
By conducting such careful research and taking the time to listen to those who know Bush the Man, Kessler has done us all a great service worthy of accolades. Our country needs more journalists like him to understand why our wartime president does the things he does. We must be able to trust those reporters to do their jobs with meticulous rigor, to set the record straight and tell it straight in the first place, and to be intellectually honest. And we need Sentinel, Penguin’s new conservative imprint, to give us more books like this.
