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Editorial Reviews Amazon.com The political biography, complete with life-altering turning points and a political philosophy for leading the United States into greatness, has become obligatory for those running for president--just one more thing to check off the "to do" list on the way to the Oval Office. A Charge to Keep is George W. Bush's offering: a light and breezy book mixing personal and political remembrances that proves heavy on chatty anecdotes and light on policy prescriptions. If you read the last chapter you'll sort of learn where George W. stands on most things, but still not really discern how he would actually run the country. There are no revelations, either personal or political: Bush's wild side and youthful indiscretions, like stealing a Christmas wreath from a New Haven hotel for his Yale fraternity, are touched on lightly when he discusses them at all. A Charge to Keep is so upbeat and positive, in describing the Houston woman to whom he was engaged in college and from whom he "gradually drifted apart," Bush says simply: "I still think the world of her, and our parting was friendly. We were very young, we lived in different places, and we gradually developed different lives." George W. has been labeled a lightweight by some; A Charge to Keep will do nothing to dispel that notion. It features lots of Bush family memories and numerous mentions of George W.'s famous parents, including letters from his president father. George W. has followed closely in his father's footsteps, attending the same prep school and college. He even belonged to the same secret society at Yale, Skull and Bones. From college it was on to flight school and the Texas Air National Guard, Harvard Business School, and then (again, like his father) the Texas oil business and politics. George W. seems mostly in sync with his father on policy issues as well. "A thousand points of light" is transformed slightly to become "compassionate conservative," which pops up in the final chapter more than 10 times. Readers will come away knowing many of the experiences and events that have helped shaped George W., but his future is still an open book. --Linda Killian
Was this content helpful to you? The New York Times Book Review, Adam Clymer...a puzzling exercise. It offers little more than his standard stump speech does to convey what a Bush presidency might be like.
Was this content helpful to you? Resistance Fighter Review of the Day (what's this?) Write an online review and share your thoughts with other shoppers! 1 of 1 Divas found the
following review fabulous:
1 of 1 Divas found the
following review fabulous: This book (I hate to give it so noble a term) is a slick piece of marketing material, nothing more. It's designed to sell the same insipid and irritatingly unbelievable 'compassionate conservatism' nonsense Bush Jr. (let's all face it, people - the removal of Herbert does not a different name make) hawked from coast to coast throughout 2000. I found it most enlightening that while zooming around the country, talking about how compassionate he is and sucking up every dime that wasn't nailed down, he couldn't take one day off and go to Fort Worth last spring, after a tornado ravaged its way through downtown, leaving a swath of destruction which is still in abundant evidence. If you want to put on some rose-colored glasses and read a biography
which bears a tangential relationship to the real story, by all means pick
up this book and memorize it. If you're interested in the truth, look
elsewhere. Avg. Customer Rating: Write an online review and share your thoughts with other shoppers! 1 of 1 Divas found the
following review fabulous:
1 of 1 Divas found the
following review laughable: See all 54 customer reviews... Customers who bought titles by George W. Bush also bought titles by these authors: Auctions and zShops sellers and our other stores recommend:
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