Synopses & Reviews
The unlikely Odyssey of George W. Bush.
As the principal New York Times reporter assigned to cover George W. Bush's presidential campaign from its earliest stages – and then as a White House correspondent – Frank Bruni has spent as much time around Bush over the last two years as any other reporter.
In Ambling Into History, Bruni paints the most thorough, balanced, eloquent and lively portrait yet of a man in many ways ill–suited to the office he sought and won, focusing on small moments that often escaped the news media's notice. From the author's initial introduction to Bush through a nutty election night and Bush's first months in office, Bruni captures the president's familiar and less familiar oddities and takes readers on an often funny, usually irreverent, journey into the strange, closed universe – or bubble – of campaign life.
The result is an original take on the political process and a detailed study of George W. Bush as most people have never seen him.
Review
“These insights are surprising and instructional.” Publishers Weekly
Review
“One of the few insider accounts ... [to] reveal the immense impact the process ... has on shaping ... public officials.” Kirkus Review
Synopsis
As the principal New York Times reporter assigned to cover George W. Bush's presidential campaign from its earliest stages, and later as a White House correspondent, Frank Bruni has spent as much time around Bush as any other journalist.
In this book, he uses that proximity and familiarity to introduce readers to a Bush they have never seen -- or understood -- before, providing them with an eloquent, lively portrait of a man who was in many ways oddly suited to the office he sought and ended up inhabiting it at a time of profound national crisis. Bruni observes that a certain gravity often eluded Bush, but it was precisely what the president needed when, less than a year into his first term, terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Would Bush prove to be up to the task? To explore that important question, Bruni mines small moments from Bush's winding trail to this juncture in American history. From start to finish, it's a wry, spirited, and above all, illuminating adventure.
Synopsis
The unlikely Odyssey of George W. Bush.
As the principal New York Times reporter assigned to cover George W. Bush's presidential campaign from its earliest stages – and then as a White House correspondent – Frank Bruni has spent as much time around Bush over the last two years as any other reporter.
In Ambling Into History, Bruni paints the most thorough, balanced, eloquent and lively portrait yet of a man in many ways ill–suited to the office he sought and won, focusing on small moments that often escaped the news media's notice. From the author's initial introduction to Bush through a nutty election night and Bush's first months in office, Bruni captures the president's familiar and less familiar oddities and takes readers on an often funny, usually irreverent, journey into the strange, closed universe – or bubble – of campaign life.
The result is an original take on the political process and a detailed study of George W. Bush as most people have never seen him.
About the Author
Frank Bruni, a reporter in the Washington bureau of the New York Times, now writes full-time for the Times Sunday magazine. For his previous work on other subjects, he was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing and a winner of the Polk Award for Metropolitan Reporting. He has appeared on ABC-TV's Nightline and other programs to talk about the Bush campaign and presidency.