- Decision Points
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Decision Points 
Author(s) George W. Bush Country United States Language English Genre(s) Memoir Publisher Crown Publishers (2010) Publication date November 9, 2010 ISBN 9780307590619 Preceded by A Charge to Keep Decision Points is a memoir by former U.S. President George W. Bush.[1] It was released on November 9, 2010, and the release was accompanied by national television appearances and a national tour. The book surpassed sales of two million copies less than two months after its release.[2]
Contents
Content
Bush's 481-page memoir is broken up into 14 chapters. The first two chapters are about his life before the presidency. The first chapter is about notable events in his earlier life such as his decision to quit drinking in 1986. The second chapter is about his decision to run for Governor of Texas, and then President of the United States. The remaining twelve chapters are about events during his presidency: the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, aid to developing countries, the "surge" (a decision to deploy more U.S. troops to Iraq in 2007), domestic issues (including Medicare Part D, Social Security reform, No Child Left Behind, and Immigration reform), the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, embryonic stem-cell research, and the financial crisis of 2008. He wrote with the research assistance of former White House Deputy Director of Speechwriting Christopher Michel.[1][3][4]
Advance and publicity campaign
Bush was paid $7 million for the first 1.5 million copies.[5]
In tandem with book-publication appearances, Bush hosted a November 16 groundbreaking ceremony for the George W. Bush Presidential Center at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.[6] The event gathered some 2,500 guests, including hundreds of former administration officials. Former Vice President Dick Cheney said at the event, “When times have been tough or the critics have been loud, you’ve always said you had faith in history’s judgment, and history is beginning to come around." In turn, Bush said of the recently hospitalized Cheney, "He was a great vice president of the United States, and I’m proud to call him friend." [7]
Reactions
The New York Times' Peter Baker, who was given an advance copy of the book, assessed Bush's political standing as the book release rolled out in appearances with Oprah Winfrey, Matt Lauer, and Candy Crowley.[6] Appearances also included Rush Limbaugh[citation needed] and Sean Hannity's shows.[8]
Kanye West, as one who had criticized Bush publicly during the Hurricane Katrina aftermath for "not caring about black people" and who then suffered his own national embarrassment in the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards/Taylor Swift episode, was reported to have said "I really more connect with [Bush] just on a humanitarian level" after learning more of Bush's post-Katrina feelings from the book release.[6] Bush, however, in an interview termed the original West comment "one of the most disgusting moments” of his presidency and West was dissatisfied in his first efforts to respond further.[9]
At the same time as Baker, on the Times opinion pages columnist Maureen Dowd focused unfavorably on repeated instances in the book of Bush feeling "blindsided" but concluded that while his "decision-making leaves something to be desired, his story-telling is good." To illustrate the last point, Dowd recounted the story in which Vladimir Putin had bragged that his black Labrador, Koni, was "[b]igger, stronger, and faster than Barney." Stephen Harper later "drolly noted [to Bush], 'You’re lucky he only showed you his dog.'"[10]
See also
- A Journey by Tony Blair
- Spoken from the Heart by Laura Bush
- Known and Unknown: A Memoir by Donald Rumsfeld
- At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA by George Tenet
- In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir by Dick Cheney
References
- ^ a b "'Decision Points': George Bush's Memoir Coming Soon". Huffington Post. 2010-04-25. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/25/decision-points-book-george-bush_n_551326.html. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
- ^ Associated Press (2010-12-23). "Chart-topping George W. Bush memoir 'Decision Points' sells 2 million copies". The Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/sns-ap-us-books-bush-sales,0,1472880.story. Retrieved 2010-12-27.
- ^ "Christopher Michel – President Bush Memoirs Collaborator and Speechwriter". OneDublin.org. 07-08-2010. http://onedublin.org/2010/07/08/christopher-michel-president-bush-memoirs-collaborator-and-speechwriter-dublin-high-school-and-yale-alumni/.
- ^ Curtis, Bryan, "Bush's Ghostwriter", The Daily Beast, March 9, 2010 1:13 am. Retrieved 2010-11-07.
- ^ Simon, Mann (2010-11-11). "'Man of Steel' barely rates a mention in Bush memoirs". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/man-of-steel-barely-rates-a-mention-in-bush-memoirs-20101110-17nrf.html. Retrieved 2010-11-15.
- ^ a b c Baker, Peter, "Now Appearing: George W. Bush", The New York Times, November 6, 2010 (November 7, 2010 p. WK1 NY ed.). Retrieved 2010-11-07.
- ^ Baker, Peter, "Bush and Cheney Reunite at Library Groundbreaking", The New York Times Caucus blog, November 16, 2010, 2:12 pm. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
- ^ Staff writer, "The Sean Hannity Show - Tuesday, November 9th, 2010", hannity.com, Retrieved 2010-11-15.
- ^ Itzkoff, Dave, "UPDATED: Kanye West Criticizes ‘Today’ Show for ‘Brutal’ Interview", The New York Times Arts Beat blog, November 10, 2010, 2:25 pm. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
- ^ Dowd, Maureen, "‘Blindsided’: A President’s Story", November 6, 2010 (November 7, 2010 p. WK9 NY ed.). Retrieved 2010-11-07.
External links
George W. Bush Life 
Presidency First term · Second term · Cabinet · Domestic policy · Legislation and programs · Economic policy · Foreign policy · Bush Doctrine · Iraq War · Judicial appointments · Pardons · Presidential library · Efforts to impeachElections Public image Books A Charge to Keep · Decision PointsIn fiction Family Laura Bush (wife) · Barbara Pierce Bush (daughter) · Jenna Bush Hager (daughter) · George H. W. Bush (father) · Barbara Bush (mother) · Barney (dog) · Miss Beazley (dog) · India (cat)Categories:- 2010 books
- Books about George W. Bush
- Books by George W. Bush
- Memoirs
- Political autobiographies
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