"Decision Points" by President George W. Bush

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Any synopsis of this book can easily be summed up in the name of the author and the title in which he chose: George W. Bus:; Decision Points.  They are a selection of moments in his life, primarily in the time he served as 43^rd president of the United States, where various decisions needed to be made.  They involve the decision to go to war in Iraq, the decision to use stem cells in research, the decision to run for the presidency, the decision to stop drinking, and a wide array of others. 

     In my view, this is a unique manner with which to approach a presidential memoir.  Rather than chronologically lay out the events of his life (or even just the events of his eight years in office), he extrapolated upon the moments of decision, what the situation was and how he came to decide what he did.

     They are all moments of familiarity to anyone who followed those eight years.  On his side or against him, it should be appreciated the candor with which he lays out his reasoning.  I personally found it enlightening how he fills in many of the gaps from what the various news organizations reported of these events.  There was a completeness their own biases and personal commentary could never fill.  It added to my hypothesis of news outlets today working to make the news rather than report it.

     This is not to say I agreed with every decision President Bush made.  He even will state frankly the mistakes he believes he committed, while remaining steadfastly unwavering on those decision he believes were right.  I merely saw his treatise as honest and candid.  Love him or hate him, he’s not going to lie to you.

     A second aspect of this book I would care to recommend, in conjunction with it not following a chronological approach, is because he took this approach of various point of decision to craft the book, it is more like a book with a variety of different stories to tell.  In other words, rather than be presented with the demand of a near 500-page book to digest on the ‘Life & Times of George W. Bush’, this is a series of smaller books one can easily read twenty to thirty pages at a time and feel satisfied.”