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| 'I am a loving guy.... I am also someone, however, who has got a job to do. And I intend to do it.' – George W. Bush, quoted
in 'Dead Certain' by Robert Draper Evan Vucci/AP |
An inside look at George W. Bush
The stereotypes do not define the man, says Robert Draper in this up-close examination of the Bush presidency.
By Peter Grierfrom the September 18, 2007 edition
Page 1 of 2
George Bush is not a tiny, incurious man who scampers off to exercise while Dick Cheney and Karl Rove run the world.
Nor is he Churchill in boots – someone whose plain speech reflects the plain virtues of the great nation in which we live, etc., etc.
No, the 43rd chief executive of the United States instead is someone who defies all his stereotypes, writes Robert Draper in his absorbing Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush.
As is perhaps the case with all presidents, Bush's vices are cousins of his virtues, according to Draper, a longtime national correspondent for GQ Magazine. He can be bold and reckless, uncomplicated and intellectually lazy, self-assured and heedless – sometimes all at once.
"He [is] not quite so simple, despite his professed contentedness to be regarded as such," writes Draper.
But – and we're cutting right to the heart of the matter here – does Bush remain so sure about the rightness of his most fateful step, the invasion of Iraq, that he would do it all over again? This book's title, after all, is "Dead Certain."
Draper interviewed Bush six times, beginning in December 2006. In perhaps the most affecting use of this material, the author recounts at length a conversation with Bush about the latter's public demeanor regarding the war.
Bush tells the author that he is aware, always, that he is being watched as a leader. The Iraqis watch him. His military commanders watch him. The US public – the world public – watches him, too.
And that means he can't show doubt, he says. If he did, what would happen?
" 'The other thing is that you can't fake it,' " says Bush, as recounted in the book. " 'You have to believe it. And I believe it. I believe we'll succeed.' "
In other words, he's certain because he has to be. Isn't that different than being sure because of the merits of the case?
In some ways "Dead Certain" is an anomaly in today's world of political books. It's not a hit job or a whitewash. The word "liar" isn't used in any chapter title, and nobody is called a war criminal or a "feminazi."
The Bush that emerges from these pages isn't a caricature. He's a recognizable human being.
That's not the same as saying it's easy on him. While Draper does make some flat statements that will drive many Bush critics nuts (" ... after 9/11, George W. Bush filled the arena"), he zings the man, too.
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