Inside the George W. Bush White House

An oral history of George W. Bush's presidency, the inner workings of his White House, and the critical policy decisions it made Shortly after George W. Bush's presidency ended, senior advisors began recording confidential oral history interviews with the nonpartisan scholars of the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs--with the promise that they would not be released for several years. The recordings--transcribed and published here for the first time--offer behind-the-scenes access to some of the administration's most powerful figures and key players, such as Karl Rove, Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld, and Condoleezza Rice. Their stories trace Bush's ascension from Texas governor to the presidency and show how his priorities were transformed by the September 11th attacks, providing granular details about the ensuing pressure to respond and make sure nothing like it happened again. Former secretary of state James A. Baker, III recalls his efforts to secure Florida's decisive electoral votes for Bush after the 2000 election. Domestic policy advisor Margaret Spellings describes her day with First Lady Laura Bush just after planes crashed into the World Trade Center. White House counselor Dan Bartlett reports on what happened aboard Air Force One in the confused aftermath. Ambassador Ryan Crocker details his arrival in a demolished Afghanistan after the American invasion and how the lessons learned there influenced his later work in Iraq. Treasury secretary Henry Paulson recounts the harrowing days of 2008 when it looked as though the global financial system would collapse. Throughout, the narratives wrestle with difficult questions that plagued the presidency: Could 9/11 have been prevented? Why were such draconian steps subsequently taken to protect Americans and to pursue the guilty? And why was Iraq considered a necessary war? These accounts reveal the motives and thoughts of those who worked most closely with Bush and provide essential information for passing historical judgment on his presidency.

Russell L. Riley is White Burkett Miller Center Professor of Ethics and Institutions at the University of Virginia, where he co-chairs the Presidential Oral History Program. His commentary on politics has appeared in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and Time. He has recorded oral histories on every presidency since Gerald Ford's.