Woodward, Bob

• The Agenda

  • In the introduction, Woodward states that his ambition is to write something between contemporary newspaper journalism and a definitive history book, and not only does he succeed, but he shows how important such a genre can be by revealing in great detail the ongoing process of a presidency, providing some historical perspective while the issues are fresh in the reader's mind. Like the Clinton presidency (arguably), the book tends to get bogged down in the tiny details, often losing track of the larger picture, but one could argue that is precisely the point Woodward is trying to get across...showing how the minutae of everyday life, negotiations with Congress and so forth can dilute the purest of messages. It wasn't riveting or anything (almost plodding at times), but it is well worth reading. Any Conservative who reads it will probably end up frightened to death of Al Gore.

• The Commanders

  • This book gives a similar treatment to events during the Bush administration (1988-1992) leading up to the Persian Gulf War, including the Panama operation to remove Manuel Noriega from power, the prelude to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait (including the now legendary miscommunication of US intentions by ambassador Glaspie), the building of the international coalition, the strategic decisions and the invasion itself. This is very even-handed look at the main people in power, including Colin Powell and Dick Cheney. In fact, I had read somewhere that Cheney is given a wrist-slap in this book for firing some career military officer just to protect Cheney's own reputation or some such, but my reading of that episode does not lead me to such a conclusion. In fact, Cheney comes away looking like a pretty stout guy and a man of integrity (despite his right-wing politics, with which I strongly disagree), and Powell and Schwarzkopf also come out of this with flying colors, which is no great surprise. Anyway, another great read.

Return to the Welcome Page of Doug's Library.