Status
Call number
Genres
Publication
Description
"From the senior White House correspondent for The New York Times comes the definitive history of the Bush and Cheney White House--a tour de force narrative of those dramatic and controversial eight years. Taking readers into the offices of the West Wing and the cabins of Air Force One, Peter Baker tells the gripping inside story of the Bush and Cheney era. Theirs was the most fascinating American partnership since Nixon and Kissinger, an untested president and his seasoned vice president confronted by one crisis after another as they struggled to protect the country, remake the world, and define their own relationship along the way. Packed with revealing anecdotes and told with in-the-room immediacy, Days of Fire narrates two profoundly significant and conflicted terms marked by 9/11, Iraq, Katrina, jihad, nuclear proliferation, genocide, and economic collapse. George W. Bush was one of the most polarizing presidents of our time, jettisoning decades of foreign policy pragmatism to redefine America's mission as a crusade to bring freedom to the world. Yet his early dream of transforming Republicans into the party of "compassionate conservatism" and building an "ownership society" were dashed by two consuming wars and a devastating financial crash. At his side was Dick Cheney, the trusted adviser who became the most influential vice president in history only to watch as Bush drifted away, leaving the two at odds over a wide array of fundamental issues. Baker's interviews with more than two hundred players--White House aides, cabinet secretaries, generals, senators and congressmen, relatives and friends of both men--help reveal the truth of their complicated and shifting relationship. Days of Fire is the first book to capture in a truly defining way all eight years of the most consequential presidency in a generation. It is an essential history and thrilling reading"-- "From the senior White House correspondent for The New York Times comes the definitive history of the Bush and Cheney White House. Taking readers into the offices of the West Wing and the cabins of Air Force One, Peter Baker tells the gripping inside story of the Bush and Cheney era. Theirs was the most fascinating American partnership since Nixon and Kissinger, an untested president and his seasoned vice president confronted by one crisis after another as they struggled to protect the country, remake the world, and define their own relationship along the way. Packed with revealing anecdotes and told with in-the-room immediacy, Days of Fire narrates two profoundly significant and conflicted terms marked by 9/11, Iraq, Katrina, jihad, nuclear proliferation, genocide, and economic collapse. George W. Bush was one of the most polarizing presidents of our time, jettisoning decades of foreign policy pragmatism to redefine America's mission as a crusade to bring freedom to the world. Yet his early dream of transforming Republicans into the party of "compassionate conservatism" and building an "ownership society" were dashed by two consuming wars and a devastating financial crash. At his side was Dick Cheney, the trusted adviser who became the most influential vice president in history only to watch as Bush drifted away, leaving the two at odds over a wide array of fundamental issues. Baker's interviews with more than two hundred players--White House aides, cabinet secretaries, generals, senators and congressmen, relatives and friends of both men--help reveal the truth of their complicated and shifting relationship. Days of Fire is the first book to capture in a truly defining way all eight years of the most consequential presidency in a generation"--… (more)
User reviews
Peter Baker takes on the oft-speculated relationship between George W. Bush and Dick Cheney during their professional careers. The narrative is well-balanced and gives insight into two figures that easily fall prey to caricature (and I'm
I thought a lot of attention was paid to the Iraq War, which makes sense as it's arguably the central issue of the Bush presidency (and the Bush-Cheney relationship), but I would have liked to hear more about the conservative social agenda pursued by the administration.
Recommended.
However, this assumption is not based on content but merely on the length of the book. Content is far more fascinating and riveting than most people have painted of the Bush administration. Days of Fire explores their tumultuous relationship, compelling decisions that drive the presidency, the agenda thrust upon them by September 11 terrorist attack and many other aspects.
George Walker Bush was a president many chose to hate. "Mission Accomplished!" will never be erased from memory. But Baker has painted a picture of a presidency whose agenda was hijacked by circumstances that were beyond his control. You may hate or love him but once you read Days of Fire you'll understand his actions and get to know him better as a person. But this book is not just about Bush it is also about Richard Bruce Cheney. And together, they formed a partnership whose decisions impacted American way of life even today.
Good writing and not hard to read.