Decision Points

I recently read George W. Bush's memoirs, Decision Points, and I'm so very glad I did because it was fascinating. My only regret is that I have to remove all my tags and return it to the library!
This book was engagingly written by Bush and his ghost writer, Chris Michel (who was Bush's head speech writer at the age of 26 and wrote the book at the age of 28--phew! Those facts amaze me!) After reading the first couple hundred pages I felt like I knew Bush and could sit down and have a conversation with him. I was fascinated by his unconventional education which included public and private schools, and Ivy League colleges as well as "learning through life and work experiences" throughout his 20s (reminiscent of Louis L'Amour's Education of a Wandering Man).

Throughout the book I was struck anew by how essential decisiveness is as a character trait for leaders. I admire decisiveness, likely because it's a trait I don't possess. I make lists of pros and cons all day long, then once a particular decision seems most likely, I debate it until I nearly convince myself the other choice is best. . .and the cycle continues. Bush, on the other hand, commended President Truman as "the man from Missouri (who) knew how to make a hard decision and stick by it" (174) and says he himself has "never been afraid to make a decision" (27).

Considering all the decisions he had to make in his presidency, it's a good thing he's a decisive man. While I'm a little cynical in viewing memoirs as something of an attempt to rewrite history or put a positive spin on a person's choices, I did find Bush's perspective and reasoning very interesting. I'm not great at following politics, so I was rather surprised to read his memoirs and fully realize all the major decisions he faced. From 9/11 to Hurricane Katrina to the War on Terror and stem cell research he was faced with serious decisions to be made quickly and without either full information or the current picture gained by hindsight.

I can't say I agree with every decision he made as I'm more of a fan of small or limited government than he is. I thought about adding up the millions and billions of dollars he approved the spending of, but I truly can't comprehend that many zeros. In his defense, however, he inherited a citizenry that wants the government to fix all their problems and tends to think the solution to every issue is to throw more money at it.

I apologize for yet another long review, but there are some quotes which struck me and since I have to remove those tags marking my favorite parts, I'm going to record a few that especially struck me.

• Insight about George W. personally, some of what shaped him to be the man he is.
  

"As I got older, there would be others I looked up to. But the truth is that I never had to search for a role model. I was the son of George Bush" (4).

"At times I was surly, demanding, and brash. Despite it all, my parents still loved me. Eventually their patient love affected me. When you know you have unconditional love, there is no point in rebellion and no need to fear failure" (8).

"Even if I lost, I would still have a wonderful life. My family loved me. I would be governor of a great state. And I would never have to wonder what might have been. 'When my time is up,' I would tell my friend, 'my dance card is going to be full'" (37).
"The people you choose to surround you determine the quality of advice you receive and the ways your goals are implemented. . .I was looking for integrity, competence, selflessness, and an ability to handle pressure. I always liked people with a sense of humor, a sign of modesty and self-awareness" (66).

"Each president decorates the Oval Office in his own style. . .I brought a scene of a horseman charging up a hill by W.H.D. Koerner. The name of the piece, A Charge to Keep, echoed a Methodist hymn by Charles Wesley. . .both the painting and hymn reflect the importance of serving a cause larger than oneself" (107).

• I once heard a quote that went something to the effect of "if you want to be a great man, read books about great men."
  

"Nobody I know has read or absorbed more history than Karl (Rove). I say that with confidence because I've tried to keep up. A few years ago, Karl and I squared off in a book reading contest. I jumped out to an early lead. Then Karl accused me of gaining an unfair advantage by selecting shorter works. From that point forward, we measured not only the number of books read, but also their page count and total lateral area. By the end of the year, my friend had dusted me in all categories. The final tally was 110 to 95 in books, 40,347 to 37,343 in pages, and 2, 275,297 to 2, 032,083 in total square inches" (52).

• About his refusal to allow government funding of embryonic stem cell research.
  

"In the heart of central London sat a thirty-four-story gray building. One floor contained a large, open space known as the Fertilizing Room. Inside, technicians meticulously mixed eggs and sperm in test tubes to produce the next generation. The hatchery served as the lifeblood of a new world government, which had mastered the formula for engineering a productive and stable society. . .That scene came from Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel, Brave New World. With the recent breakthrough in biotechnology and genetics, the book now seemed chillingly relevant. So did its lesson: For all its efficiency, Huxley's utopian world seemed sterile, joyless, and empty of meaning. The quest to perfect humanity ended in the loss of humanity" (106).

"If I abandoned my principles on an issue like stem cell research, how could I maintain my credibility on anything else?" (123).

(The discovery that) scientists were able to replicate the medical promise of embryonic stem cells without moral controversy. . .was the scientific breakthrough that I had hoped for when I made my announcement in 2001. Charles Krauthammer, a respectful critic of my stem cell decision in 2001, wrote, 'The verdict is clear: Rarely has a president--so vilified for a moral stance-been so thoroughly vindicated'" (124).

• A quote that made me giggle (I read elsewhere about the change in attire and respect that took place in the White House staff with the change of administration. This was Bush's only subtle crack and the one he chose to include just hit me kind of funny).

"My first Oval Office decision was to replace the desk chair--a bizarre contraption that vibrated when plugged in--with something more practical" (109).

• About 9/11
  

"September 11 redefined sacrifice. It redefined duty. And it redefined my job. The story of that week is the key to understanding my presidency" (151).

• An interesting insight into the leadership during Hurricane Katrina
  

"After four days of chaos, it was clear the authorities in Louisiana could not lead (308). . .'Nobody's in charge,' said the mayor of New Orleans. 'We need a clear chain of command.'(309). . .The governor did not want to give up authority to the federal government. That left me in a touch position. If I invoked the Insurrection Act against her wishes, the world would see a male Republican president usurping the authority of a female Democratic governor by declaring an insurrection in a largely African American city. . .I was as frustrated as I had been at any point in my presidency" (321). . .General Honore brought exactly what the situation required: common sense, good communication skills, and an ability to make decisions (323).

"While many officers carried out their duty honorably (during Katrina), some abandoned their posts to deal with their own personal emergencies. Others joined the criminals. I was enraged to see footage of police officers walking out of a store carrying big-screen TVs. I felt like I was watching a reverse of what had happened four years earlier in Manhattan. Instead of charging into burning buildings to save lives, some first responders in New Orleans were breaking into stores to steal electronics" (320).

• On politics
  

"The death spiral of decency during my time in office, exacerbated by the advent of twenty-four-hour cable news and hyper-partisan political blogs, was deeply disappointing. The toxic atmosphere in American politics discourages good people from running for office" (121).

• A quote to ponder
  

"The failure of immigration reform points out larger concerns about the direction of our politics. The blend of isolationism, protectionism, and nativism that affected the immigration debate also led Congress to block free trade agreements with Columbia, Panama, and South Korea. I recognize the genuine anxiety that people feel about foreign competition. But our economy, our security, and our culture would all be weakened by an attempt to wall ourselves off from the world. Americans should never fear competition. Our country has always thrived when we've engaged the world with confidence in our values and ourselves. The same will be true in the twenty-first century" (306).

• My personal challenge for further self-education recommended by George W. Bush
  

A movie I want to watch: The Lives of Others, a movie depicting life under the Stasi (secret police in communist East Germany) which reminds us how dramatically freedom can change a society.

A book I want to read: "One of the most influential books I read during my presidency was Aquariums of Pyongyang by the North Korean dissident Kang Chol-hwan. The memoir tells the story of Kang's ten-year detention and abuse in a North Korean gulag. . .(I saw) satellite photos of the Korean Peninsula at night. The south was alive with lights while the north was pure black. I read intelligence reports that malnutrition had left the average North Korean three inches shorter than the average South Korean" (422).