Rating  - Intensely Reasonable
"What Happened" is full of great insider information put forth by an intensely reasonable story teller who seems to have no other agenda than the truth. I am no fan of the Bush administration. But I've had my fill of books that conclude that George Bush is either evil or stupid or both. It was refreshing to read an account that put blame on a bad mix of character flaws and events. Mr. McClellan has the perspective of an historian. I enjoyed being drawn into this inner circle and given a broader perspective on the most important events of our time.
Rating - Fantastic Book
As someone who is left-leaning I tried to read this book without any preconceived notions. Mr. McLellan's book is an extremely well written history of what happened during his time working for George W. Bush. When there are facts to be presented, he presents them as neutral as possible. When he gives his own opinion, he clearly states that it is his opinion, and shouldn't be taken as fact.
The first half of the book was basically praising Bush and explains why Scott joined him in the first place. The second half explains, in detail, what went wrong.
This book actually gave me a little bit more respect for Bush, as the mistakes he made could have been made by many people, myself included. However, we expect more out of the President of the United States, and he should not be excused for what he did.
Whether you're a hard-core conservative, a hard-core liberal, or some where in between, I highly recommend this book.
Rating  - What Happened? McClellan Happened
Scott McClellan's White House memoir is a somewhat erratic telling of his years working for President Bush. On the one hand, McClellan criticizes the mindset of the permanent campaign with its distortions and manipulations.
On the other hand, those same principles are okay with McClellan when it comes to elections. That distinction may sound great on the surface, but given midterm elections and even off year elections that occur in states like Virginia and Mississippi, where President Bush was happy to involve himself when he was popular, when is it not an election?
McClellan is also deeply torn on how responsible President Bush himself is for the problems that have plagued his presidency. With candor, McClellan admits that President Bush was not intellectually curious enough at times. He also admits that President Bush told him to do things that were incorrect, like speak up for Karl Rove during the Valerie Plame leak investigation. But at other times McClellan talks about President Bush's abilities honesty, how he would not intentionally mislead him, and so on.
The former press secretary has some blinders when it comes to President Bush. He says that he truly believed President Bush could unite the country as President. McClellan must have been watching a different guy then over half the voters were in November of 2000. McClellan also blames the media for not doing its due diligence in questioning the Iraq war, which is ironic since it was his own press operation that stifled the media. McClellan also likes to treat the Bush Administration's permanent campaign mentality as an extension of the Clinton Administration, basically failing to acknowledge how much more pervasive the take no prisoners political operation was in the Bush White House. For example, McClellan talks about the need for a more bipartisan cabinet, noting that Norm Mineta, President Bush's first Transportation Secretary, was too much of a token appointment. McClellan talks about the need for a Secretary of State, Defense, or Treasury from the other party. Which is exactly what Clinton did when he appointed Maine Republican Senator Bill Cohen as his third and final Secretary of Defense.
Unlike many partisan Democrats who praised McClellan for speaking out when the book was released, I give him no credit. Had he really felt strongly about the issues raised in the book, he should have resigned the first time he was asked to lie, or mislead. In fact, McClellan never quit but was fired. He makes some statements in the book that he had planned to resign in the coming months anyway, but these internal thoughts probably went through his mind throughout his years in the White House and I give them no credence. It is easy to see why McClellan was fired. He was press secretary during some of the Administration's roughest events and did not come off well on television. Ari Fleischer was abrasive, but effective. The late Tony Snow and Dana Perino have been press secretaries during periods of time when President Bush was less popular and more ineffective, but that has served to lower the stakes on their role. McClellan was there at a crucial time and did not serve the President, or the people, well. His book just confirms that.
One coda there is an excellent story in the book about President Bush calling McClellan's wife after McClellan was fired. It is a human moment for the President and makes you understand why McClellan has blinders for him.
Rating - WHAT HAPPENED
BOUGHT THIS BOOK FOR MY HUSBAND. HE WANTED TO READ ABOUT THE INSIDE DIRT IN DC. THIS BOOK SHOULD DO IT!
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