Day 25 – 52 Books in 52 Weeks

I finished reading The Faith of George W. Bush by Stephen Mansfield. Much of the first half of the book can be found in Bush’s autobiography A Charge to Keep. There are a couple of exceptions, but for the most part, if you’ve read the autobiography, you’ve pretty much covered the first half of this book.

One interesting bit begins on page 43 where Mansfield discusses an article written by Gail Sheehy for Vanity Fair. She raises the possibility that President Bush may be dyslexic, though has never been diagnosed. He goes on to say that dyslexia is, “not a matter of intelligence, but it does run in families and does lead to the kind of linguistic confusion Bush will be known for all his life… a language-disordered person is not particularly organized as a speaker” (page 44).

A few pages later, Mansfield gives a little more insight into Bush’s character – even before he became a born-again Christian. In 1977 Bush decided to run for Congress. He was up against a Democratic senator named Kent Hance. Hance tried to smear Bush by saying he was an “eastern boy” who accepted money from New York. Then he sent out a letter to citizens addressed as “Dear Fellow Christians” and attacked Bush for promising free beer at one of his rallies. Bush made a simple statement that the ad ran without his knowledge… but more importantly, Bush knew that Hance owned property on which a tech school bar was located. Bush refused to strike back. He said, “If I try to destroy him to win, I don’t win.”

You see this same character when he ran for Governor of Texas and again when he ran for President. Mansfield also says that during his father’s 1988 campaign an attractive young worker made it clear that she was interested in the younger George Bush. According to Mansfield, “Bush confronted the woman and backed her off in no uncertain terms. Later, a senior campaign official stormed into Bush’s office to complain angrily that the woman had been humiliated… “Good, good,” Bush replied evenly. “I’m a married man. I’m glad she got the signal.””

How often do we hear about that in the world of politics today? Usually it’s quite the opposite.

On page 109, where we’re now up to W’s own campaign for President, Mansfield says that evangelist James Robison went to meet him. Governor Bush told him about his becoming born again, then says, “I feel like God wants me to run for president… I can’t explain it, but I sense my country is going to need me. Something is going to happen, and, at that time, my country is going to need me. I know it won’t be easy, on me or my family, but God wants me to do it. In fact, I really don’t want to run… My life will never be the same. But I feel God wants me to do this, and I must do it.”

It’s almost eerie to look at that today, nine years after the tragic events of 9/11/01. I admit, I have always admired Bush and I’ve often shuddered at the thought of where we’d be if Gore had won that election and been in office when 9/11 happened.

The book also points out that Bush never was intent on being honest. If he was recording a speech in Washington to be aired while he was in Oklahoma, he refused to say, “Today, I’m in Oklahoma.” His speechwriters eventually learned not to put things like “I’m happy to be here” in the President’s speeches – because he he wasn’t happy, he wouldn’t read the line.

Granted those may seem like small and insignificant things, but add all of those things up and you see the heart of the man.

Just a little past the midway point in the book, we get to the events of 9/11 and from that point on, Mansfield focuses more on Bush’s faith – and the press’ reaction to it. He discusses the difficulties there are in putting the President in one category when he doesn’t do things that completely fit that category.

He discusses how the press tries to dumb him down, and yet how those who have known him for years, and even how other foreign leaders, such as former Prime Minister Tony Blair, find it “complete bull.” He talks of the President’s ability to read through a stack of papers, in a short amount of time, and have the statistics practically memorized when done.

The last half of the book is clearly my favorite as it gets more personal, and takes cited examples from people who know the President personally… and is quick to point out many of the successes of his administration are either not reported by the press or credit for the success is given to someone else.

It gives insights that one may not have otherwise heard about, given our society’s near hatred of the man.

Being a Bush supporter, I expected the like the book, but what impressed me was how Mansfield focused on Bush’s faith and didn’t necessarily use Bush’s own words – instead he used the words of others who knew him (all of which are cited for reference)… I do check those things out! Anyway, it is a good read and even if you don’t like the man, it may show you a side to him you don’t understand.

Happy reading!