Bibliography
Bush, George W. Decision Points. New York: Crown Publishers, 2010. Print.
My Thoughts
This was an interesting read. I did bog down a bit during the foreign policy chapters, but I pushed through and made it to the end.
The format was interesting to me. Bush didn't start with day 1 of his life and continue to the present. He divided the chapters by fourteen decisions (hence the title of the book) that he felt most affected him as a person and in his role of president.
Having read many biographies and autobiographies, I do know that there is a slant in the writing. I think Bush is trying to write accurately and honestly in this book. He admits to making bad decisions, but he tries to learn from the mistakes. He states there are sometimes he'd like a "do over" and would handle situations differently. I enjoyed his perspective on 9/11 and Katrina. He answers some questions that I personally had about both events.
There are two sections of pictures in the book, most coming from the White House official photographers. Seeing them made me think about how living in the public eye must be tiresome, but I also questioned how staged some of these photos might be.
With its almost 500 pages in length, this is not a quick read. However, I feel more informed about my country by having read it. As Bush states in the last sentence of this book, "Whatever the verdict on my presidency, I'm comfortable with the fact that I won't be around to hear it. That's a decision point only history will reach" (477). I think history will decide that Bush did what he could with the information he had and, indeed, he did try to make a positive difference in the lives of not only Americans, but people of the world.
