A Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter's explosive account of the inner workings of the George W. Bush administration, the most secretive White House of modern times.

This vivid, unfolding narrative is like no other book that has been written about the Bush presidency — or any that is likely to be written soon. At its core are the candid assessments of former U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, for two years the administration's top economic official, a principal of the National Security Council, and a tutor to the new President. He is the only member of Bush's innermost circle to leave and then to agree to speak frankly about what has really been happening inside the White House.

O'Neill's account is supported by Suskind's interviews with many participants in the administration, by transcripts of meetings, and by voluminous documents that cover most areas of domestic and foreign policy. The result is a disclosure of breadth and depth unparalleled for an ongoing presidency. As readers are taken to the very epicenter of government, this news-making volume offers a definitive view of the characters and conduct of Bush and his closest advisers as they manage crucial domestic policies and global strategies at a time of life-and-death crises.

Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, Christine Todd Whitman, and many of their aides are seen in an intimate, "unmanaged" way — as is Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, O'Neill's close friend and ally. Along the way, the central conflicts of this administration's governance — between politics and policy, ideology and analysis — are starkly visible through the lens of recent events and the revelation of the often unseen intentions that underlie actions. In this book Suskind draws on unique access to present an astonishing account of a President so carefully managed in his public posture that he is unknown to most Americans. Now, he will be known.

"Revelatory above and beyond the publicity because of the sheer weight of tales told out of school, few of them disputed by the White House.... Suskind's book is smoothly, sometimes delicately, written and offers many insights." Los Angeles Times

"O'Neill's insider's account is an important and occasionally fascinating book, and if the picture it paints of decision-making in the Bush White House is accurate, a dispiriting book as well." Houston Chronicle

"What enriches The Price of Loyalty aside from the accretion of persuasive detail, is its assertion that in this administration, a time-honored notion of public service has been deeply corrupted." Michael Tomasky, The New York Times Book Review

"The Bush administration, to put it mildly, keeps a tight grip on information. For that reason alone, The Price of Loyalty is required reading." The Oregonian

From Pulitzer Prize winner Ron Suskind comes a new consideration of George W. Bush in the White House. Substance and anecdote, episode and incident — right to the inner White House circle — reveal the daunting demands on the presidency at a time of economic crisis and world peril, and present an informed opinion on the ability of this president to handle them.

A Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter gives an explosive account of the inner workings of the George W. Bush administration, which he brands the most secretive White House of modern times.

Updated with a new afterword and including a selection of key documents, this is the explosive account of how the Bush administration makes policy on war, taxes, and politics — its true agenda exposed by a member of the Bush cabinet.

This vivid, unfolding narrative is like no other book that has been written about the Bush presidency. At its core are the candid assessments of former Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill, the only member of Bush's cabinet to leave and speak frankly about how and why the administration has come to its core policies and decisions — from cutting taxes for the rich to conducting preemptive war.

O'Neill's account is supported by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind's interviews with numerous participants in the administration, by transcripts of meetings, and by voluminous documents. The result is a disclosure of breadth and depth unparalleled for an ongoing presidency. As readers are taken to the very epicenter of government, Suskind presents an astonishing picture of a president so carefully managed in his public posture that he is a mystery to most Americans. Now, he is revealed.

Ron Suskind was The Wall Street Journal's senior national affairs reporter from 1993 to 2000 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing while working there. He has recently attracted national attention with his groundbreaking articles about the Bush White House. Suskind, who writes for Esquire, the New York Times Magazine, and other national publications, appears frequently as a correspondent on PBS and network news. He is the author of the bestselling and critically acclaimed A Hope in the Unseen and is a distinguished visiting scholar at Dartmouth College. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and two sons.