An Extremely Abridged History of the George W. Bush Presidency

By Carlos Lozada
Sunday, October 12, 2008; BW08

For an administration that initially was very tight-lipped and on-message, the Bush presidency has yielded an abundance of memoirs by insiders ranging from former White House aides to generals and diplomats. Each offers unique glimpses of the president:

Smiling, casual, appearing completely unstressed and even more unwrinkled, and wearing a standard-issue dark blue suit, George W. Bush stood in front me. . . . Obviously, he said, things were in motion then that might lead him to seek the presidency. At the same time, he emphasized, he had no idea if he was going to run. That, he said, was something he would have to hear from God. . . . He spoke slowly, reflectively, quietly. He seemed to grapple with what was before him. "I don't know if I really want to do it . . . . I know what it means if you run. Then I know what happens if you win. I've seen it all up close. Do I want to spend the rest of my life in a bubble? . . . I'll never walk down a street alone. Never again." -- David Kuo, was deputy director of the White House's faith-based initiative. Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction (Free Press)

Embracing the Maestro

My first meeting with President-elect Bush took place on December 18, 2000, less than a week after the Supreme Court decision that enabled him to claim his election victory. . . . The situation had a familiar feel: I'd briefed five previous incoming presidents on the state of the economy, including, of course, the president-elect's father. In this instance, I was obliged to report that the short-term outlook was not good. For the first time in years, we seemed to be faced with the real possibility of recession. . . .

As breakfast ended, Bush asked me aside for a private word. "I want you to know," he said, "that I have full confidence in the Federal Reserve and we will not be second-guessing your decisions." I thanked him. . . . An Associated Press photo from that morning shows me smiling broadly, as if I'd just gotten good news. Indeed I had. -- Alan Greenspan, was chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World (Penguin Press)

Don't Know Much About Kim Dae-jung

President Bush made his first telephone call to President Kim Dae-jung of South Korea in February 2001. President Bush was reaching out to world leaders in a deliberate manner, giving priority to U.S. neighbors Canada and Mexico and then to our allied partners. South Korea came fairly early in that sequence. When President Kim began telling the president about the need to engage North Korea, the president put his hand over the mouthpiece of the telephone and said, "Who is this guy? I can't believe how naive he is!" . . . Later that evening I got a call asking me to write a more expansive paper explaining to the president "who this guy is." -- Charles L. Pritchard, was special envoy to North Korea. Failed Diplomacy: The Tragic Story of How North Korea Got the Bomb (Brookings)

September 12, 2001

Later, on the evening of the 12th, I left the Video Conferencing Center and there, wandering alone around the Situation Room, was the President. He looked like he wanted something to do. He grabbed a few of us and closed the door to the conference room. "Look," he told us, "I know you have a lot to do and all . . . but I want you, as soon as you can, to go back over everything, everything. See if Saddam did this. See if he's linked in any way. . ."

I was once again taken aback, incredulous, and it showed. "But, Mr. President, al Qaeda did this."

"I know, I know, but . . . see if Saddam was involved. Just look. I want to know any shred. . . "

"Absolutely, we will look . . . again." I was trying to be more respectful, more responsive. "But, you know, we have looked several times for state sponsorship of al Qaeda and not found any real linkages to Iraq. Iran plays a little, as does Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia, Yemen."

"Look into Iraq, Saddam," the President said testily and left us. -- Richard A. Clarke, was the president's chief adviser on counterterrorism. Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror (Free Press)

Beginning of the End

On December 18, [2002], ten days after Saddam's declaration [to the United Nations denying that Iraq has weapons of mass destrution], President Bush discussed it with his National Security Council. Powell led off, reporting that [chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans] Blix saw gaps in the Iraqi documents. All the Security Council members "recognize there are problems with the declaration," Powell reported, though the British did not want to call it a material breach. "I have no problem calling it a material breach," Powell announced, without explaining why, or what that would signify. Half-stating, half-asking, President Bush responded, "It's clear that Saddam is not cooperating." "That's right," Powell confirmed. The President took this as a grave judgment, and his face showed it. "That's a significant statement," he said. "It means it's the beginning of the end for the guy." -- Douglas Feith, was undersecretary of defense for policy. War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism (Harper)

Mission Accomplished

"Mr. Secretary," I said to Donald Rumsfeld. . . . "The British are going to hold a victory parade when their first combat units return from the Gulf. But our soldiers aren't going home yet. . . . It would be good if the President could acknowledge the success of major combat operations, Mr. Secretary." I tried to find the right words. "The troops have accomplished every mission we gave them. There's never been a combat operation as successful as Iraqi Freedom."

"I'll talk to the President," Don Rumsfeld said. -- Tommy Franks, was chief of the U.S. Central Command. American Soldier with Malcolm McConnell (Regan Books)

Wait, I Thought You Were Looking for the WMD

Sometime around the end of May [2003], shortly after declaring an end to major combat operations in Iraq, I was with President Bush in the Oval Office when he described a meeting he had recently had with Jerry Bremer and Tommy Franks. The president said he had asked them who was in charge of the hunt for weapons of mass destruction. "They went . . . " the president said, then took his two index fingers and pointed left and right, suggesting that both Bremer and Franks pointed at each other. -- George Tenet, was director of the CIA. At the Center of the Storm: The CIA During America's Time of Crisis with Bill Harlow (Harper)

Valerie Plame Whodunit

"Karl didn't do it," the president reflexively said, referring to his senior adviser and chief political strategist, Karl Rove. The "it" clearly meant disclosing Plame's name to reporters. He was holding on to the armrests and leaning back in his chair behind his desk. He seemed to be in fairly good spirits.

"I know . . . " I began, not realizing the president had more to say.

"He told me he didn't do it," the president continued, cutting me off midsentence.

It was [late September, 2003,] just two months since Bob Novak had written his article outing Plame and quoting two "senior administration officials" as his sources for the leak. Rove had already denied to me that he'd leaked Plame's name, and now I was learning that he had also told the president that he was not involved.

Then the president glanced toward Andy [Card], who had raised his hands above his waist and was now gesturing down with both to indicate to the president that he should keep quiet and stop talking about what was fast becoming a sensitive subject.

"What?" the president said, looking at Andy with a slight hint of irritation in his voice. "That's what Karl told me."

-- Scott McClellan, was White House press secretary. What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception (PublicAffairs)

Iraq Pep Talk

Ambassador Bremer and I sat in on a [secure video conference] with President Bush and the NSC [about the battle of Fallujah in April 2004]. . . . "What do we call this, anyway?" asked Secretary Rumsfeld. "Is this high intensity, low intensity? What?"

Before anyone could answer Rumsfeld's question, President Bush launched into what I considered a kind of confused pep talk regarding both Fallujah and our upcoming southern campaign. "Kick ass!" he said, echoing Colin Powell's tough talk. "If somebody tries to stop the march to democracy, we will seek them out and kill them! . . . Our will is being tested, but we are resolute. We have a better way. Stay strong! Stay the course! Kill them! Be confident! Prevail! We are going to wipe them out! We are not blinking!" -- Ricardo Sanchez, was commander of coalition forces in Iraq. Wiser in Battle: A Soldier's Story with Donald T. Phillips (Harper)

Wanted: A Grateful Iraqi

Meanwhile [in May 2004], we were still grappling with the problem of finding a president and a prime minister who would be both decisive in dealing with the insurgency and acceptable to the major elements of Iraqi society.

The clear front-runner for president was Adnan Pachachi, the elderly Sunni statesman. . . . The prime ministerial question was thornier. [U.N. diplomat Lakhdar] Brahimi's initial candidate was Hussein al-Shahristani, a Shiite nuclear scientist. . . . Saddam had had him imprisoned for eleven years for refusing to cooperate in the Baathists' secret nuclear weapons program. . . .

I mentioned his name at a telephonic NSC meeting the next day. The president went straight to the heart of the matter as he saw it: "It's important to have someone willing to stand up and thank the American people for their sacrifice in liberating Iraq. I don't expect us to pick a yes man. But at least I want someone who will be grateful." -- L. Paul Bremer, was presidential envoy to Iraq. My Year in Iraq: The Struggle to Build a Future of Hope with Malcolm McConnell (Simon & Schuster)

George W. Bush, Conservationist

The energy issue stirred not only Bush's hawkish patriotism, but his ancestral puritanism. After finishing a speech practice in the Map Room one afternoon, he pointed with exasperation at a table lamp and demanded: Do you think it's going to occur to anybody to turn that lamp off when we leave the room?" And he walked over and flicked it off himself. It vexed him to look out the windows of the White House family quarters before sunrise and see the Executive Office Building bright with lights that had been carelessly left burning overnight. -- David Frum, was a presidential speechwriter. The Right Man: An Inside Account of the Bush White House (Random House)

Kerry Concedes

A little later, Rove, Karen Hughes, Dan Bartlett, chief speechwriter Mike Gerson, and I were visiting with the president in the Oval. We were expecting Kerry's call at any moment. Don Rumsfeld, grinning ear to ear, popped his head in briefly to congratulate the president.

At 11:02 a.m. [on Nov. 3, 2004], Bush's assistant Ashley Estes appeared. "Mr. President, Senator Kerry is on the line." The president walked back to his desk to sit down and pick up the phone. We could only hear Bush's side of the conversation: "I think you were an admirable, worthy opponent. You waged one tough campaign. I hope you are proud of the effort you put in. You should be."

When Bush hung up after three or four minutes, he said, slightly choking up, "That was very gracious." Then he started to tear up. -- McClellan

Taking on Hugo Chavez

When Bush asked [U.N. Secretary General Kofi] Annan [in February 2006] why he wasn't more critical of Chavez, Annan suggested instead that the United States "engage" more with Chavez to "defuse" the problem. I could see Bush's eyes glazing over, and he finally broke in to say, "Chavez would be a real pain in the ass on the Security Council." Then he laughed, and said, "I know I'm a pain in the ass, but at least I'm friendly." -- John Bolton, was U.S. representative at the U.N. Surrender Is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations and Abroad (Threshold Editions)

Fannie and Freddie

For the five years we overlapped, President Bush honored his commitment to the autonomy of the Fed. Of course, during most of that time we kept short-term interest rates extremely low, so there wasn't much to complain about . . .

The administration also took the Fed's advice on policies we thought were essential for the health of the financial markets. Most important was the effort that began in 2003 to curb excesses at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the companies chartered by Congress to help underwrite home mortgages. . . . The companies employed skillful lobbyists and had powerful advocates in Congress. President Bush had very little to gain politically by supporting a crackdown. Yet he backed the Fed through a two-year struggle that resulted in crucial reforms. -- Greenspan

How the Decider Decided

On a visit to Crawford Elementary School . . . , one of the students asked him whether he found it hard to make decisions . . . "Is it hard to make decisions as president? Not really. If you know what you believe, decisions come pretty easy. If you're one of these types of people that are always trying to figure out which way the wind is blowing, decision making can be difficult. But I find that I know who I am. I know what I believe in, and I know where I want to lead the country. And most of the decisions come pretty easily for me, let me be frank with you." -- Frum ·

Carlos Lozada is a deputy national editor at The Washington Post