books:

	What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception Scott McClellan PublicAffairs, 2008 - 368 pages average customer review:based on 188 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

In this refreshingly clear-eyed book, written with no agenda other than to record his experiences and insights for the benefit of history, McClellan provides unique perspective on what happened and why it happened the way it did, including the Iraq war, Hurricane Katrina, Washington's bitter partisanship, and two hotly contested presidential campaigns. He gives readers a candid look into who George W. Bush is and what he believes, and into the personalities, strengths, and liabilities of his top aides. Finally, McClellan looks to the future, exploring the lessons this presidency offers the American people as we prepare to elect a new leader.

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What Happened

The book is much better than any of the political commentaries made when it was first released. Strongly suggest reading it -- whether one is a confirmed Democrat (as I am) or a devoted Republican.


Heard About It But Better To Read

I had heard so much about this book, but it was taking its time making it up to the top of my stack. I found it fascinating to walk through the recent events from Scott McClellan's eyes. To find out what he said he knew when he said he knew it. To hear what he believes about each of the participants in the events. It was interesting to me to see how he views President Bush now compared to how he viewed him before going to Washington with him. His comments on Dr. Condi Rice were really enlightening. I never dreamed that anyone would think things about her. I enjoyed how he wrote about how the White House works and the interactions with the press. I just wish he would have went into the media personalities like Chris Matthews, David Gregory, Helen Thomas, Andrea Mitchell and Jonathan Alter. I would have liked more details on the day to day work and also about 9/11 and the meetings afterwards. I didn't find this book to be extremely political. In my opinion, I didn't think he was slamming the Republicans. Mr. McClellan was very protective of them. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for some insight into the White House.

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Good look into the underbelly of an administration

"What Happened" is more of an intimate look into an American presidential administration, with an honest assessment of the political problems within and without. It wasn't a smoking gun or a book full of any particular damning revelations against the Bush administration (just about everything in this book hyped as such was already known), but was rightfully critical of how certain things were handled by the administration. Most notably, the war in Iraq (including the selling of the war to the public, and the Plame-affair); and the communications response in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The overlying theme of the book is that there is something seriously wrong with Washington, and has been for a while. After the ugly political atmosphere between Clinton-Democrats and Gingrich Republicans, Bush promised to change things, but then quickly fell right in line with the status quo by the 2002 mid-term elections. Needlessly politicizing serious matters (such as a war) serves to kill intelligent discourse on all sides, and ends up leading to grave consequences, not only for national security, but in damaging the people's faith in their government, faith that is seriously needed in times of crisis and danger. That is something with which a vast majority of the people in this country agrees, no matter what their political affiliation or leanings. In addition, it is something that politicians often embrace during campaigns, but rarely have the courage to embrace once in office.

As a registered Republican, this book did not make me want to suddenly join the Democratic party. But I appreciated the honest assessment of the problems plaguing American politics on both sides, and by pointing out the failure of the Bush administration to stand up against it, I hope that future administrations of either side might learn from it and finally do so.

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Another "smoking gun" from the Bush failure

The author spends a lot of time writing about his early life and the years leading up to the subject of the book. It's understandable, but the readers are primarily interested in how, in his opinion, the Bush White House got us into a needless war.


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