The Man I Knew

May 1, 2021
An admiring post-presidential life of George H.W. Bush (1924-2018). Becker, a press secretary for Barbara Bush during her husband's administration, became George's chief of staff in 1994 and served until his death, and the author limits her story to that period. She makes it clear early on that she will steer clear of politics, and she notes that she always left the room when George W. called his father, noting that "their discussion was none of my business." Although she offers a (sometimes overly) flattering account, it's not a stretch because the elder Bush was perhaps the last of the "modern" Republicans in the mold of Eisenhower and Nelson Rockefeller. Today, his congeniality and lack of fierce ideological stands are distant memories. He became close friends with the man who defeated him, Bill Clinton, and went out of his way to support Barack Obama. Although crushed by his loss in the 1992 election, he recovered and slid into the comfortable role of ex-president, a surprisingly frenetic life of public appearances, campaigning, and raising money for and supporting worthy causes, including many he founded himself. Becker upholds her vow of avoiding controversy, so she confines herself to the Bush family's personal lives, travels, encounters with celebrities and world leaders, and the occasional mishap, with a heavy emphasis on the travails of the chief of staff of a hyperactive VIP. The elder Bush comes across as entirely likable and a devoted humanitarian. Despite his silence on politics, occasional pearls creep in--e.g., "10 Rules for Former Presidents" include "Get out of Dodge--fast. You're history....Stay out of the way, out of Washington, out of the news, away from press conferences, off TV." Reader may skim the six funeral eulogies printed verbatim at the end of the book, but they will agree that, whatever he accomplished in office, the elder Bush succeeded marvelously in the 26 years after he left. A largely superficial but interesting historical account.

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