Word: woodwardã
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Dates: during 2002-2002
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Cheney’s words seem especially apt in relation to Bush At War, Bob Woodward??s account of the current administration’s response to last year’s terrorist attacks. The book, which reveals the administration’s trial-and-error approach to the war against terrorism, feels like a rough draft of some final, more complete version. As good a journalist as he is, Woodward has only one major source: the administration itself...
...Woodward??s efforts to sketch Bush’s ideological and personal characteristics lead him to detailed portrayals of key players in his cabinet. Surprisingly, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice emerges as Bush’s most trusted and efficacious adviser. She is a consummate “coordinator” who moderates Bush’s desires and relays them to the rest of the team, who negotiates the concerns of each cabinet member and mediates disputes among them...
...Woodward??s favorable presentation of Bush may highlight a major pitfall: that Bush At War reflects the administration’s desired portrayal of itself instead of a more objective perspective. Woodward??s few criticisms never pertain to any of the exclusive material (which includes notes taken at National Security Council meetings and four hours of interviews with Bush) he has received. Any negative judgments reflect information widely available to the public, such as televised speeches or radio broadcasts, suggesting that Woodward??s access to official sources may have been tightly controlled. Still...
...inner circle, marginalized by his moderate and multilateral views and by a lack of personal rapport with Bush. He’s most alienated from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, whose calls for an expansion of the war—especially against Iraq—recur throughout Woodward??s narrative. Bush navigates a middle way between these two advisers, working both for an international coalition and for the termination of states that sponsor terrorism...
Most successful is Woodward??s use of anecdotes. Two days after 9/11, for example, Bush refuses to evacuate the White House and insists instead on a hamburger. Noting Bush’s penchant for healthy living, Woodward jokes that the request is a sign of Bush’s acceptance of fate and quotes Bush counselor Karen Hughes: “Well, you might as well have cheese...