Farewell to All That: An Oral History of the Bush White House

[astro]

Not a debate but more suited for this forum than others. Vanity Fair retrospective of the Bush Presidency in the words of many of the players. Quite fascinating, especially the later sections.

Farewell to All That: An Oral History of the Bush White House

[elucidator]

I’m glad there was no Oral History of the Clinton years, that would really suck.

[ElvisL1ves]

The usual stuff at the end of an administration. Every member blames all the failures on other people, and you can read all about it in the book they’re pushing.

[Uosdwis_R.Dewoh]

@elucidator

I’m glad there was no Oral History of the Clinton years, that would really suck.

More like blows.

[running_coach]

@elucidator

I’m glad there was no Oral History of the Clinton years, that would really suck.

Bravo! Here, have a cigar.

[Marley23]

@ElvisL1ves

The usual stuff at the end of an administration. Every member blames all the failures on other people, and you can read all about it in the book they’re pushing.

True. Even so, I read two things I had not heard before that I think are absurd.

While vacationing at his ranch, in Crawford, Texas, Bush is given a Presidential Daily Briefing memorandum whose headline warns that the al-Qaeda terrorist leader, Osama bin Laden, is “determined to strike in U.S.” After being briefed on the document by a C.I.A. analyst, Bush responds, “All right, you’ve covered your ass now.”

And the other was the Bob Graham quote about supplies and equipment being withdrawn from Afghanistan in January 2002 to prepare for war with Iraq. I didn’t realize that was happening that early, and it’s even more incompetent and stupid than I realized.

[spike404]

"…After being briefed on the document by a C.I.A. analyst, Bush responds, “All right, you’ve covered your ass now.”

That appears quite perceptive.