"Decision Points" autobiography memoir by President George W. Bush (Book Review)

From the trade paperback edition.
On sale Oct. 18, 2011

As I pick up Decision Points by former United States President George W. Bush to read and ultimately to review, it is with the clear understanding that I will not be critiquing his presidency, his national policies or lack of, nor his handling of critical situations as they arose sweeping our nation into a state of war (terrorism, Afghanistan and/or Iraq), or national disaster as in the case of Hurricane Katrina. My reading and reviewing this book will be an act of respect for the man that was the leader of the free world for eight years.

President Bush begins by acknowledging his problem with alcohol and how in 1986 he came to terms with this problem by placing his life in the hands of God. That is a critical decision and one that affected him personally and affected his reaction to political choices from that point on. As he said on page 71 of Decision Points when during a Republican debate a moderator asked the debaters, "What political philosopher or thinker do you most identify with and why?" When he was the candidate chosen to respond to that question he said, ....."The words tumbled out of my mouth: 'Christ' I said, 'because He changed my heart.'"

Early in his Presidency, he was faced with one of the most challenging events of any President to date - 9/11. Later, his decisions pivotal to events surrounding issues emanating from management of 9/11 lead to involvement of US forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. Mr. Bush writes with an easy going yet --definitive style about his most consequential decisions - one of which is how he decided to send our troops into Iraq in 2003.  Critical decisions.  Virtually no decision unimportant because each has consequences of national and international importance.

We see him at his inauguration as Governor of Texas and on election night for both terms as President.  We ride with him aboard Air Force One immediately after our beloved country is plunged into the terror that was 9/11.  We feel his heartbreak.  We sense his strength and decisiveness as he said:

"....We will rally the world to this cause by our efforts, by our courage.  We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail.......... our resolve must not pass.  .... I will not forget this wound to our country or those who inflicted it.  I will not yield; I will not rest; I will not relent in waging this struggle for freedom and security for the American people."

 There are two sections of beautifully warm and touching pictures included in the book.  They show us "the man" that is George Bush.  I found reading Decision Points an engaging and wonderful review of what I saw on the news, heard on the radio, and read in the newspapers during President Bush's two terms as President of the United States. Eight years dealing with issues of mammoth proportion as evidenced in Decision Points convinced me that President George W. Bush was indeed an important president and did indeed make important, effective, and good decisions.

It was enlightening to me to hear more about why he did what he did as president and it was a delight to read this engrossing memoir.I recommend it for anyone who desires to delve deeper into the years of President George W. Bush's presidency.

Please rank my review at:

ISBN 978-0-307-59063-3; Broadway Paperbacks 
I received a complimentary copy of this book from BookSneeze to review.  I am not required to give a positive review.