- What Happened
Infobox Book
name = What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception
title_orig =
translator =
image_caption = First edition cover
author =Scott McClellan
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country =United States
language = English
series =
subject =
genre = Memoir
publisher =PublicAffairs
release_date =2008-06-02
english_release_date =
media_type =Hardback
pages = 400 pages
isbn = ISBN 978-1586485566
oclc =
preceded_by =
followed_by ="What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception" is the memoir of
Scott McClellan , who served asWhite House Press Secretary from 2003 until 2006 under PresidentGeorge W. Bush . The book was scheduled to be released onJune 2 ,2008 ; however, excerpts were released to the press a week before publication. The book quickly became a media sensation for its criticism of the Bush administration and ran as a leading story on most top news outlets days after the content became public.Content
In the book, McClellan harshly criticizes the Bush administration. He accuses Bush of "self-deception"cite news |last=Bumiller |first=Elizabeth |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/washington/28mcclellan.html |title=In Book, Ex-Spokesman Has Harsh Words for Bush |work=
The New York Times |date=2008-05-28 |accessdate=2008-05-28] and of maintaining a "permanent campaign approach" to governing, rather than making the best choices.cite news |last=Allen |first=Mike |url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10649.html |title=Exclusive: McClellan whacks Bush, White House |work=The Politico |date=2008-05-27 |accessdate=2008-05-27] McClellan stops short of saying Bush purposely lied about his reasons for invading Iraq (in fact, stating flatly that he did not believe that Bush would intentionally lie), writing that the administration was not "employing out-and-out deception" to make the case for war in 2002, [cite news |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/27/AR2008052703679.html |work=The Washington Post |title=Ex-Press Aide Writes That Bush Misled U.S. on Iraq |first=Michael D |last=Shear |date=2008-05-28 |accessdate=2008-05-28] though he does assert the administration relied on an aggressive "political propaganda campaign" instead of the truth to sell the Iraq war. [cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/05/28/2008-05-28_exaide_scott_mcclellan_rips_bushs_iraq_p.html |work=Associated Press |title=Ex-aide Scott McClellan rips Bush's Iraq 'propaganda' |date=2008-05-28 |accessdate=2008-05-28] The book is also critical of the press corps for being too accepting of the administration's perspective on theIraq War , and ofCondoleezza Rice for being "too accommodating" and overly careful about protecting her own reputation.Reaction
Political figures
Former
White House DeputyChief of Staff Karl Rove went on Fox'sHannity & Colmes , cast doubt on the authorship of the book and condemned McClellan himself, saying "First of all, this doesn't sound like Scott. It really doesn't, not the Scott McClellan I've known for a long time, it sounds like somebody else. It sounds like a left-wing blogger. Second of all, you're right. If he had these moral qualms, he should have spoken up about them." [ [http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/05/28/rove_disputes_mcclellan_book.html Rove, White House Dispute McClellan Book Tales | The Trail | washingtonpost.com ] ]White House response
The Bush administration issued a statement about the book through Press Secretary
Dana Perino , who said, "Scott, we now know, is disgruntled about his experience at the White House. We are puzzled. It is sad. This is not the Scott we knew."cite news |last=Loven |first=Jennifer |url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080528/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_mcclellan_book |work=Associated Press |title=White House calls McClellan's book sour grapes |date=2008-05-28 |accessdate=2008-05-28] The administration additionally took exception to the claim that they had misled the nation in the lead up to the war in Iraq, as Perino said, "He's suggesting that we purposely misled. There is no new evidence of that." [ [http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jun/01/mcclellans-charges-based-old-evidence/?page=2 Washington Times - McClellan gives no new evidence ] ]Congressional response
In response to the claims made by McClellan in the book, Congressman
Robert Wexler (D-FL) and Rep.Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), who is the Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, have called upon McClellan to testify under oath in front of congress. [ [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/29/politics/politico/thecrypt/main4136460.shtml Nadler Joins Wexler's Call For McClellan Testimony, By Daniel Libit - CBS News ] ]McClellan response
McClellan has responded by stating that his role as White House Press Secretary was not to make policy (though he also said that he should've raised his objections at the time [ [http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jun/01/mcclellans-charges-based-old-evidence/ Washington Times - McClellan gives no new evidence ] ] ), contending that he was inclined to give the Administration the "benefit of the doubt", and that he did not fully appreciate the circumstances until after leaving the "White House bubble".cite episode |title=Countdown,
2008-05-29 |series=Countdown with Keith Olbermann |airdate=2008-05-29]Sales
While McClellan's book advance was for a comparatively low $75,000, "What Happened" reached the number-one position on the sales chart of
Amazon.com , and its printing was doubled to 130,000 copies by its publisher,PublicAffairs . [cite news |first=Hillel |last=Italie |title=McClellan's book on Bush a surprise hit for many |url=http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008May30/0,4670,BooksMcClellanapossPath,00.html |publisher=Fox News |date=2008-05-30 |accessdate=2008-05-31]References
External links
* [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24861380 McClellan: Plame leak case was turning point]
Today (NBC program) May 29 2008
* [http://youtube.com/watch?v=344-y9oWhC4&feature=related Scott McClellan Interview with Keith Olbermann on COUNTDOWN]May 29 2008
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