First edition as new

Jon Meacham is a good biographer. I have enjoyed his books. This one on George H. W. Bush does not disappoint. It is an intimate, thorough, and engaging book, covering his genealogy, his early life, his war exploits, his business life, and his political life. Nowhere does it skimp and nowhere does it really disappoint. It is a decent recapitulation of Bush's time in politics and the personalities he came into contact with, as well as a very good narrative history of his time as president, 1989 to 1993, when he presided over the end of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Bush was no rock-ribbed conservative like Reagan or Gingrich, and Meacham shows this well.

But, this is where Meacham's own politics and his sympathies with his subject come in. Meacham is good on Jefferson and Jackson, but his more recent political actions and behaviors are decidedly left-liberal. He was caught writing speeches for Biden and then commenting on them as an historian and commentator. His anti-conservative biases show through. For instance, Newt Gingrich is depicted as a Machiavellian, knuckle-dragging bogeyman to Bush, not a principled politician with valid ideals. Meacham, for instance, (pp. 390-391, and passim) lauds Jim Wright, a Texas Democrat who was corrupt as all get out and lost his position due to this corruption, in contradistinction to Newt Gingrich. Things like this are just silly.

And the poor Bushes. How they could go from disliking Hillary to actually voting for her in 2016 (after this book was written) is beyond me. I mean, I get you don't like Trump. But you abstain instead of voting for a Democrat if you are a real Republican. Meacham and the cohorts who know laud George H. W. Bush (and his sons) in the post-Trump era were the same ones who lambasted them as Republicans in their useful political life. I don't get that. ( )

To many, he’s the hero behind the first Gulf War. To some, he’s the one who let the US economy slow. To others, he guided the world from the Cold War into a more stable future. To others, he fell short of Reagan’s ideals. Like any impactful president, he consisted of many things to many people. Along with John Adams, he remains one of two presidents ever to have their sons someday succeed them. Meacham, one of America’s great political biographers, here details George HW Bush’s life and remains both sympathetic, independent, and critical throughout the account.

Meacham was granted access to Bush’s diaries that chronicled the heights of his power. He also interviewed numerous members of Bush’s inner circle, along with “Number 41” himself. Meacham also tries to pry behind the scenes of Number 41’s mindset when the son “Number 43” came to power and faced crises. Bush’s youth and development are also amply described here along with details from his marriage to Barbara, who contributed to the research effort.

The resulting portrait reveals a complex, competitive man who was described as “good” and “decent” by opponents and fans alike. His service in the US Navy during World War II (for which he volunteered and postponed a time at Yale) defined the trajectory of his life. He aimed to serve his country, free of any fixed ideology, and that became his full-time job for the second-half of his life.

Throughout, Bush made compromises that kept him short of being ideal. He opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to win a campaign. He flip-flopped on abortion and supply-side economics to become a part of Reagan’s ticket in 1980. Then there was Iran-Contra. He also entered an unfocused drift on the domestic front after the first Persian Gulf War. Meacham does not skip over these and suggests ways that Bush could have improved. However, from reading this book, I get the impression that Bush would wholeheartedly agree with Meacham on most of this critique.

This book will remain the definitive writing on George HW Bush’s life for some time. The quality of historiography and the artful prose make it hard to surpass. Discussion of Bush’s legacy – positive and negative – will continue, and this work provides many conversation starters about that. The inside access that the Bush family gave to Meacham will make this book not only seminal but also a future primary source for future biographers. (Number 43’s biography of Number 41 must also be consulted as a primary source, too.)

Most living Americans might read Destiny and Power as a way to remember their personal histories. It certainly brought back many memories for me. It reminded me of my conservative youth and my ideological shift during Number 43’s presidency. Through reading, I was able to attain a more comprehensive, three-dimensional view of Number 41, independent of the passions of the time (and the passions of my family). Meacham reflects on where America has been recently and where we can go, and for era of 1964-2008, much of that was wrapped up in the service of Number 41 George HW Bush. ( )

I enjoyed reading this bio about Bush.
While lacking the amount of detail I prefer, it told me the story of Bush growing up through his 'retirement', and much of it is derived from Bush's diaries making it feel autobiographical at times.
Easy to read and had a good flow to it.
( )

Four and a half stars! Good writer, good subject, good book. ( )