The Presidency of George W. Bush: A First Historical Assessment

Description

The Presidency of George W. Bush brings together some of today's top American historians to offer the first in-depth look at one of the most controversial U.S. presidencies. Emotions surrounding the Bush presidency continue to run high--conservatives steadfastly defend its achievements, liberals call it a disgrace. This book examines the successes as well as the failures, covering every major aspect of Bush's two terms in office. It puts issues in broad historical context to reveal the forces that shaped and constrained Bush's presidency--and the ways his presidency reshaped the nation. The Presidency of George W. Bush features contributions by Mary L. Dudziak, Gary Gerstle, David Greenberg, Meg Jacobs, Michael Kazin, Kevin M. Kruse, Nelson Lichtenstein, Fredrik Logevall, Timothy Naftali, James T. Patterson, and the book's editor, Julian E. Zelizer. Each chapter tackles some important aspect of Bush's administration--such as presidential power, law, the war on terror, the Iraq invasion, economic policy, and religion--and helps readers understand why Bush made the decisions he did. Taking readers behind the headlines of momentous events, the contributors show how the quandaries of the Bush presidency were essentially those of conservatism itself, which was confronted by the hard realities of governance. They demonstrate how in fact Bush frequently disappointed the Right, and how Barack Obama's 2008 election victory cast the very tenets of conservatism in doubt. History will be the ultimate judge of Bush's legacy, and the assessment begins with this book.

Julian E. Zelizer is professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. He is the author of "Arsenal of Democracy, On Capitol Hill", and "Taxing America". He is a frequent contributor to CNN.com, "Politico", and the "New York Times", among others.

"An interesting collection of essays."--Nicholas Lemann, New Republic "Julian E. Zelizer, an academic from Princeton and political commentator for CNN and The New York Times, has endeavoured to telescope the assessment of George W. Bush's presidency. Indeed, Zelizer and his distinguished fellow contributors, all senior academics from prestigious institutions ranging from Georgetown's Michael Kazin to Brown's James T. Patterson, make a virtue of their early conclusions about the 43rd president by highlighting that this is a first historical assessment. By and large they have written a critical but penetrating analysis of the years 2001 to 2009. A strength of this book is that it seeks to place the Bush presidency in the context of earlier Republican administrations."--Stephen Loosley, Australian "Zelizer has gathered an A-list of American historians who present a detailed analysis of the presidency of George W. Bush. Each essay examines a particular facet of Bush's two terms, including such topics as terrorism, faith-based initiatives, energy policy, education, and the war in Iraq... Zelizer's work provides a valuable benchmark for historians to build upon."--Library Journal "A collaboration of distinguished scholars, this collection of a dozen essays evaluating the presidency of George W. Bush analyzes his performance in foreign and domestic policy."--Choice "[T]he measured judgements of these essays are a welcome corrective for a presidency, and a president, that too often slide toward lurid caricature in public debate. Laying bare the appalling flaws and overlooked virtues of the Bush presidency, this judicious and informative collection is an impressive opening salvo in what is likely to be a long war."--Patrick Andelic, 49th Parallel "Ultimately, the verdict of this thought-provoking anthology is that the Bush presidency, while certainly polarizing from a partisan perspective, was historically significant in terms of the development of American politics, policy, and institutions. If Zelizer and his colleagues do not have all the answers, they have certainly helped to provide a starting point for future studies of the obvious flaws and surprising virtues of this pivotal administration."--Andrew L. Johns, Canadian Journal of History