The Best Books To Learn About President George W. Bush
(You can view the rest of our presidential Best Book lists by going to our Best US President Books page, or for a more in-depth look at how we found and ranked the books you can visit our Best Book About Every United States President article.)
George W. Bush Quick Facts |
| President Number | 43 |
| Terms In Office | 2 |
| Years | 2001-2009 |
| Political Party | Republican |
| Vice President | Dick Cheney |
| Home State | Texas |
| Presidential Pet | Dogs (Spotty, Barney, Miss Beazley), Cat (Willie), Cow (Ofelia) |
| Campaign Slogan | “Compassionate Conservatism” & A Safer World and a More Hopeful America” |
| Articles Used in Ranking | 11 |
| Number of Unique Books | 17 |
The Best Book About George W. Bush (Tie)
(Appears on 2 Lists)
Bush by Jean Edward Smith
Lists It Appears On:
- Mashable
- Presidents USA
George W. Bush, the forty-third president of the United States, almost singlehandedly decided to invade Iraq. It was possibly the worst foreign-policy decision ever made by a president. The consequences dominated the Bush Administration and still haunt us today.
Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House by Peter Baker
Lists It Appears On:
- Presidents USA
- The Tailored Man
Theirs was the most captivating American political partnership since Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger: a bold and untested president and his seasoned, relentless vice president. Confronted by one crisis after another, they struggled to protect the country, remake the world, and define their own relationship along the way.
Decision Points (Bush’s memoir) by George Bush
Lists It Appears On:
- Presidents USA
- The Washington Post
Decision Points brings readers inside the Texas governor’s mansion on the night of the 2000 election, aboard Air Force One during the harrowing hours after the attacks of September 11, 2001, into the Situation Room moments before the start of the war in Iraq, and behind the scenes at the White House for many other historic presidential decisions.
First Son : George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty by Bill Minutaglio
Lists It Appears On:
- Five Books
- Presidents USA
In one of the most unprecedented developments in the history of national politics, George W. Bush abruptly emerged to lead all presidential aspirants in the national polls for the 2000 election. Yet voters know very little about the man, beyond his famous name and his place in one of the nation’s most powerful political dynasties.
#5-17
(Appear on 1 List)
A Charge to Keep (written by George W. Bush) by George W. Bush
Lists It Appears On:
- Presidents USA
In this political memoir, the governor of Texas and front-runner for president in the year 2000 tells us who he is and what he stands for. The George W. Bush who leaps off these pages has his father’s energy, his mother’s tart and honest wit, and his own irreverence and impatience. He has prospered as George and Barbara’s boy — “How can I deny it?” — but has walked a very fine line between loyalty and independence.
Dead Certain by Robert Draper
Lists It Appears On:
- Five Books
We revisit the primaries of election-year 2000, in which the character of the candidate and indeed the future of the Republican Party were forged in the scalding South Carolina battle with Senator John McCain. We proceed forward to witness intimately the confusion and the eloquence that followed the September 11 attacks, then the feckless attempts to provide electricity to a darkened Baghdad, the high- and lowlights of the 2004 re-election bid, the startling and fruitless attempt to spend capital by overhauling the Social Security system, the inept response to Katrina, the downward spiraling and increasingly divisive war in Iraq.
Family of Secrets: The Bush Dynasty, the Powerful Forces That Put It in the White House, and What Their Influence Means for America by Russ Baker
Lists It Appears On:
- Presidents USA
Front Row Seat: A Photographic Portrait of the Presidency of George W. Bush by Eric Draper
Lists It Appears On:
- Presidents USA
Front Row Seat presents a compelling, behind-the-scenes view of the presidency of George W. Bush. Through Draper’s lens, we follow Bush through moments of crisis that called for strong leadership, such as 9/11; emotional meetings with troops in war zones, wounded soldiers at home, and Katrina survivors; and happy, relaxed times with his wife Laura, daughters Barbara and Jenna, and parents President George H. W. and Barbara Bush. We also see Bush at work within his inner circle of trusted advisors, including Vice President Richard Cheney, National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
George and Laura: Portrait of an American Marriage by Christopher Andersen
Lists It Appears On:
- Presidents USA
They would be called upon to lead a nation in one of its darkest hours — but were they up to the task? He had been the wild, hard-drinking scion of one of America’s premier political families. She was the school librarian with a warm smile and a tragic secret of her own. Yet after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, they rose to the challenge: He became the embodiment of America’s fighting spirit and she assumed the role of “First Comforter” with effortless grace. Still, the true nature of their relationship has remained a mystery.
George W. Bush by James Mann
Lists It Appears On:
- Best Presidential Bios
George W. Bush stirred powerful feelings on both sides of the aisle. Republicans viewed him as a resolute leader who guided America through the September 11 attacks and retaliated in Afghanistan and Iraq, while Democrats saw him as an overmatched president who led America into two inconclusive wars that sapped the nation’s resources and diminished its stature. When Bush left office amid a growing financial crisis, both parties were eager to move on.
George W. Bush: The Family Business by Daniel Cohen
Lists It Appears On:
- Presidents USA
The Bush legacy of involvement in politics began with George W. Bush’s grandfather, Prescott, a senator and continues with George, Jr. following his father to the highest office in the land.
George W. Bushisms by Jacob Weisberg
Lists It Appears On:
- Presidents USA
“They misunderestimated me.”
Henry V: The Oxford Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
Lists It Appears On:
- Five Books
The Accidental President by David A. Kaplan
Lists It Appears On:
- Presidents USA
For thirty-seven days after the disputed presidential election of 2000, we watched great theater, as George W Bush and Al Gore slugged it out in the swamp. You may think you’ve read it all before, but now Newsweek’s David A. Kaplan goes behind the scenes of the sanctimony and machinations. In his critically acclaimed bestseller, The Silicon Boys, Kaplan took us inside Silicon Valley. In The Accidental President, he does the same for this epic moment in American history — a harmonic convergence of politics and law, media and culture.
The Bushes: Portrait of a Dynasty by Peter Schweizer
Lists It Appears On:
- Five Books
In this first full-scale biography, Peter and Rochelle Schweizer insightfully explore the secrets of the Bushes’ rise from obscurity to unprecedented influence. The family’s free-flowing, pragmatic, and opportunistic style consciously distinguishes them from previous political dynasties; they consider themselves the “un-Kennedys.” But with their abiding emphasis on loyalty and networking, the Bushes’ continuing success seems assured–making this book essential reading for anyone who cares about America’s future.
The George W. Bush Legacy by Colin Campbell
Lists It Appears On:
- Presidents USA
The George W. Bush Legacy assesses the current president’s political strategy as well as his administration’s policies. With his two terms marked by global tension and intense partisanship, chapter authors look at the Bush administration’s efforts to influence the direction of the judiciary, expand executive power, institutionalize the 2001 tax cuts, deliver policies and appointments for favored “base” constituencies, and increase the size and reach of the national security state. Contributors also offer perspectives on the responses to the events of September 11, 2001, including the fateful decision to go to war in Iraq that has perhaps become the defining action of this presidency. Making the volume easy to use throughout a presidency course, each chapter focuses on one aspect of the Bush administration, ranging from the president’s leadership style and the influence of interest groups, to the effects of public opinion and the role of the courts. This authoritative book provides measured and nuanced appraisals of the short- and long-term impact of Bush’s accomplishments and failures at a particularly pivotal time in American history.
What It Takes by Ben Cramer
Lists It Appears On:
- Five Books
An American Iliad in the guise of contemporary political reportage, What It Takes penetrates the mystery at the heart of all presidential campaigns: How do presumably ordinary people acquire that mixture of ambition, stamina, and pure shamelessness that makes a true candidate? As he recounts the frenzied course of the 1988 presidential race — and scours the psyches of contenders from George Bush and Robert Dole to Michael Dukakis and Gary Hart — Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Richard Ben Cramer comes up with the answers, in a book that is vast, exhaustively researched, exhilarating, and sometimes appalling in its revelations.
The Best George W. Bush Book Lists Consulted
| Source | Article |
| At Times Dull | Janet’s Presidential Biography Project & Blog |
| Best Presidential Bios | The Best Presidential Biographies |
| Five Books | Jacob Weisberg recommends the best books n George W Bush |
| Huffington Post | Presidents’ Day History: The Must-Reads Of Presidential Biographies |
| Mandi Lindner | 44 Presidents and Their Definitive Biographies |
| Mashable | Why I’m spending a year reading about every U.S. president |
| Presidential History | Presidential Resources |
| Presidential History (Again) | Pulitzer Prize Winning Books About Presidents |
| Presidents USA | FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT GEORGE W. BUSH |
| The Tailored Man | The 44 Best Presidential Biographies |
| The Washington Post | The Fix’s list of best presidential biographies |
