About the Book
An unprecedented look at a family notorious for guarding its privacy, THE BUSHES tells the story of the Bush family's ascent to wealth, power, and prominence - the extent of which surpasses that of the Adamses, Roosevelts, and Kennedys. Here, for the first time ever, Bush family members and friends discuss such sensitive topics as George W's drinking problem, the family's rivalries and loyalties, the relationship between George and Jeb, and the special assignments George, Sr. and other family members carry out for the president. The in-depth interviews confirm that which George and Jeb had always asserted: they were never pushed into politics. For, while such politically ambitious families as the Kennedys are raised to meet specific political expectations, the Bushes emphasize their legacy, inculcating each generation with a sense of political purpose as an integral part of the family's identity.
Review :
"Fascinating. . . . Provides illuminating insights into the internal dynamics of the Bush family dynasty." -"The New York Times""
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"If you want to know as fully as can be told the story of how the Bushes rose from Midwestern obscurity to equal the records of families like the Roosevelts, the Kennedys and the Adamses-this is the book." -"New York Post"
"Revealing about the internal dynamics of this interesting familyE. The Bushes opened up to the Schweizers and discussed intimate details of their history." -"The Washington Post Book World
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"No one has gotten as close to penetrating the Bush family dynamics, and the complex relationship between father and son." -"The Providence Journal
""This is a dynasty indeed, no matter how the family demurs. . . . The Schweizers have succeeded in humanizing what can be a curiously detached family by ferreting out fascinating detail." -"Fort Worth Star-Telegram
""Offer[s] rare--and controversial--insight into the family some call the Republican Kennedys." -"Boston Herald
""What the Schweizers do best is explore that dynamic over three generations of Bush males. . . . This book is the place to start if you want to understand how family has molded the Bush men." -"Houston Chronicle
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"Offers insights on the Bush relationships and rivalries, their ambitions and their impressions of each other's successes and problems." -"Tallahassee Democrat
""Entertaining . . . full of charming anecdotes. . . . A delightful book." -"National Review
""[A] detailed history of the Bush dynasty--sprinkled with anecdotal family gossip that provides fresh humanizing insights . . . along with an intriguing snapshot of the conflicted relationship, fuelled in equal parts by love and competition, between 'Big George, ' and 'Little George.'" -"The Independent on Sunday"
"From the Trade Paperback edition."
"In "The Bushes," the Schweizers give us an "Adams Chronicles" for the twenty-first century--an unforgettable group portrait of a family whose reticence is matched by its ambition. More than a dynastic saga, this elegantly written, often surprising account traces the cultural migration of the American Establishment, and the personal transformation of George W. Bush. A marvelous biography, of a country as well as a family."
--Richard Norton Smith, author of "Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation "and "An Uncommon Man: The Triumph of Herbert Hoover"
"The Schweizers have penetrated to the heart of the Bush family. This is as close as anyone has ever been able to get."
--Doug Wead, author of "All the Presidents' Children," and former aide to both Bush presidents
"Peter and Rochelle Schweizer provide an intimate and absorbing account of a family so secure in its aristocratic cocoon that its sons venture forth with courage bordering on abandon to the battlefields of business, war, and national politics. Here is a competitive family culture that showers its sons with wealth, elite education, and priceless connections, and then sends them out to earn what they have already received. Without the searing will of a patriarch like Joseph Kennedy, the heroic imagination of Teddy Roosevelt, the focused brilliance of the Adams family, the Bushes have still managed to elect two presidents while networking an international galaxy of the wealthy and the powerful."
--Robert Zelnick, Chairman of the Department of Journalism at Boston University, former ABC News correspondent, and author of "Gore: A Political Life
"
"In "The Bushes", the Schweizers give us an "Adams Chronicles" for the twenty-first century--an unforgettable group portrait of a family whose reticence is matched by its ambition. More than a dynastic saga, this elegantly written, often surprising account traces the cultural migration of the American Establishment, and the personal transformation of George W. Bush. A marvelous biography, of a country as well as a family."
--Richard Norton Smith, author of "Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation "and "An Uncommon Man: The Triumph of Herbert Hoover"
"The Schweizers have penetrated to the heart of the Bush family. This is as close as anyone has ever been able to get."
--Doug Wead, author of "All the Presidents' Children", and former aide to both Bush presidents
"Peter and Rochelle Schweizer provide an intimate and absorbing account of a family so secure in its aristocratic cocoon that its sons venture forth with courage bordering on abandon to the battlefields of business, war, and national politics. Here is a competitive family culture that showers its sons with wealth, elite education, and priceless connections, and then sends them out to earn what they have already received. Without the searing will of a patriarch like Joseph Kennedy, the heroic imagination of Teddy Roosevelt, the focused brilliance of the Adams family, the Bushes have still managed to elect two presidents while networking an international galaxy of the wealthy and thepowerful."
--Robert Zelnick, Chairman of the Department of Journalism at Boston University, former ABC News correspondent, and author of "Gore: A Political Life
"
"In "The Bushes, the Schweizers give us an "Adams Chronicles for the twenty-first century--an unforgettable group portrait of a family whose reticence is matched by its ambition. More than a dynastic saga, this elegantly written, often surprising account traces the cultural migration of the American Establishment, and the personal transformation of George W. Bush. A marvelous biography, of a country as well as a family."
--Richard Norton Smith, author of "Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation and "An Uncommon Man: The Triumph of Herbert Hoover
"The Schweizers have penetrated to the heart of the Bush family. This is as close as anyone has ever been able to get."
--Doug Wead, author of "All the Presidents' Children, and former aide to both Bush presidents
"Peter and Rochelle Schweizer provide an intimate and absorbing account of a family so secure in its aristocratic cocoon that its sons venture forth with courage bordering on abandon to the battlefields of business, war, and national politics. Here is a competitive family culture that showers its sons with wealth, elite education, and priceless connections, and then sends them out to earn what they have already received. Without the searing will of a patriarch like Joseph Kennedy, the heroic imagination of Teddy Roosevelt, the focused brilliance of the Adams family, the Bushes have still managed to elect two presidents while networking an international galaxy of the wealthy and the powerful."
--Robert Zelnick, Chairman of the Department of Journalism at Boston University, former ABC News correspondent, and author of "Gore: A Political Life
