| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : NOVEMBER 15, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
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| BOOKS
Why George W. Made It So Far So Fast FIRST SON George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty By Bill Minutaglio Times Books 371pp $25 Although he holds a commanding lead in the polls, Texas Governor George W. Bush is a largely unknown commodity. His supporters say he's a consensus-building governor who practices a principled but inclusive brand of conservatism. Critics dismiss him as an airhead--a cocky frat boy who got everywhere in life because of his name and his daddy's connections. Meanwhile, many Americans have latched onto the Republican Presidential front-runner as the un-Clinton, a seemingly decent and down-to-earth guy who would never dishonor the Oval Office. But the bottom line is that few voters understand where Bush stands on the issues or what makes him tick. Bill Minutaglio's First Son: George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty (not to be confused with the Bush biography recently withdrawn by St. Martin's Press, Fortunate Son: George W. Bush and the Making of an American President) brilliantly examines one of these points. The veteran Dallas Morning News reporter doesn't tell the reader where Bush will lead the country, but his book will help every voter understand the factors that shaped the scion of an American political dynasty. Almost everybody knows that George W. is the son of the 41st President. But fewer know that the family has wielded power in corporate boardrooms and capital corridors for a century and a half. On his mom's side, he's related to Franklin Pierce, the 14th President (1853-57). His dad's paternal grandfather, Samuel P. Bush, was an Ohio steel executive and the first president of the National Association of Manufacturers. Samuel's son, Prescott, became a Connecticut senator. Prescott's wife, Dorothy, was the daughter of George Herbert Walker, a co-founder of Brown Brothers Harriman, the oldest and largest private investment house on Wall Street. The Walker family helped finance the construction of Madison Square Garden and the Belmont Park racetrack--and later owned a big chunk of the New York Mets. First Son explains how George W. handled the responsibilities and pressures of growing up in a famous family. Minutaglio is a skilled researcher, a superb interviewer, and a solid writer. Although this is not an authorized biography, he was able to get the notoriously unreflective Bush clan to open up in a series of revealing conversations. In addition to his talks with George W.'s family and friends, Minutaglio manages to mine nuggets of valuable information from archival sources, including some previously unpublished letters. The result is a fascinating personality portrait of an ambitious, ornery, and intensely competitive man. A few examples: -- George W. is no dummy. While young Bush wasn't much of a student, Minutaglio portrays him as a superior political strategist with excellent instincts. The author recounts Bush's steel-trap memory: He could remember all of Willie Mays's batting averages, and in 1988, he memorized the names and faces of 100 key Washington political reporters in preparation for his father's Presidential campaign. -- He has his dad's smile but his mom's tongue. He may look like his father, but George W. is definitely Barbara's boy, partly as a result of the special bond formed between the two after the 1953 death of G.W.'s younger sister Robin. Not only does he share his mother's charm but he also has her temper and her acid wit. Ross Perot, the Dallas executive and Bush political rival, is a particular object of derision. Minutaglio writes that the caustic son named his golf cart Perot because he didn't know when or if it was ever going to run. -- He's an amazingly competitive, strong-willed person. Whether he was serving as the stickball commissioner and head cheerleader at prep school or running against an extremely popular Texas governor, Ann W. Richards, George W. went all out. When he finally decided to change his wild ways, he gave up both alcohol and cigarettes cold turkey. -- Unlike some other offspring of celebrities, George W. is comfortable with being a child of wealth and fame. He doesn't feel guilty when he cashes in on family connections to cut business deals or raise campaign cash. First Son is evenhanded. It has plenty of tales from what Bush calls his ''young and irresponsible days''--everything from a drunken joyride with his brother Marvin to college toga parties. But Minutaglio carefully avoids speculating on what he can't prove. In his preface, he makes it clear that ''anyone looking for dollops of drug tales in this book'' will be disappointed. He thus avoids the rumor-mongering about drug busts that marred the now-discredited book by J.H. Hatfield. While First Son contains much to recommend it, it's not perfect. It is too quick to dismiss allegations of impropriety swirling around several Bush family business dealings, including a Securities & Exchange Commission probe of George W.'s sale of stock in his oil company shortly before its value plunged. And while Minutaglio's grasp of Texas politics is sophisticated and nuanced, his handling of national politics, particularly the senior Bush's 1980 and 1992 campaigns, is often shallow and naive. Such shortcomings can be overlooked--Minutaglio's book is not a political history of modern America but a compelling portrait of a largely unknown public figure. First Son is bound to become a must read for Bush-watchers. By RICHARD S. DUNHAM _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP |
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RELATED ITEMS Why George W. Made It So Far So Fast PHOTO: Cover, ``First Son'' BOOK EXCERPT: Chapter One of "First Son'' INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online | |||
