What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception
What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception book cover

What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception

Paperback – May 12, 2009

by
Price
$5.35
Format
Paperback
Pages
368
Publisher
PublicAffairs
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-1586487003
Dimensions
5.75 x 1 x 9 inches
Weight
1.03 pounds

Description

Scott McClellan served as White House press secretary from 2003 to 2006. Before that he served as the principal deputy White House press secretary and as traveling press secretary for the Bush Cheney 2000 campaign. Earlier in his career, Mr. McClellan served as deputy communications director in the Texas governor's office and campaign manager for three successful state campaigns. He is now a senior advisor to a global technology firm and communications strategist. He lives near Washington, DC.

Features & Highlights

  • In the bestselling book that provoked a media sensation, former White House press secretary Scott McClellan takes readers behind the scenes of the presidency of George W. Bush. Scott McClellan was one of a few Bush loyalists from Texas who became part of his inner circle of trusted advisers, and remained so during one of the most challenging and contentious periods of recent history. Drawn to Bush by his commitment to compassionate conservatism and strong bipartisan leadership, McClellan served the president for more than seven years, and witnessed day-to-day exactly how the presidency veered off course. In this refreshingly clear-eyed book, written with no agenda other than to record his experiences and insights for the benefit of history, McClellan provides unique perspective on what happened and why it happened the way it did, including the Iraq War, Hurricane Katrina, Washington's bitter partisanship and two hotly-contested presidential campaigns. He gives readers a candid look into what George W Bush is and what he believes and into the personalities, strengths, and liabilities of his top aides. Finally, McClellan looks to the future, exploring the lessons this presidency offers the American people as they prepare to elect a new leader.

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Most Helpful Reviews

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Two Stars

He stayed through it all then cashed in with a book deal. Not a big fan.
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Mr. McClellan was President George Bush’s Press Secretary. ...

Mr. McClellan was President George Bush’s Press Secretary. His book describes some of the decision- making surrounding the invasion of Iraq and subsequent quagmire of events. McClellan claims Bush II invaded Iraq in order to “export democracy”, which seems a fanciful motivation, leaving the real reason unknown. The hawkish role of Hillary Clinton is mentioned. The decision-making appears unsophisticated and disappointing, a relative failure considering how many lives were lost and the huge cost to us and our offspring who are now burdened with the debt we accumulated to finance the war. Several chapters disclose the personal Story of Mr. McClellan which is not particularly enlightening.
The role of Karl Rove and propaganda is disclosed. McClellan discloses the tragic miscalculations of J. Paul Bremer, our appointed dictator in Iraq, as well as the failure of Donald Rumsfeld to plan for success. This reader is left with the impression our government was run by unenlightened elected officials who failed to follow the wise advice of V.P Cheney in 1994 after the first gulf war. [...]

McClellan reveals how our government sold Valerie Plame “down the river” because her husband had discovered the fraud surrounding allegations that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction- which was, in fact, a fabrication to falsely justify our invasion of Iraq for other reasons.

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