What Happened: Inside The Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception

What Happened: Inside The Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception | Scott Mcclellan | WHAT HAPPENED

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What Happened: Ins...

	What Happened: Inside The Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception Scott Mcclellan Blackstone Audiobooks, Inc., 2008 average customer review:based on 196 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

In this refreshingly clear-eyed book, written with no agenda other than to record his experiences and insights for the benefit of history, McClellan provides a unique perspective on what happened and why it happened the way it did, including the Iraq war, Hurricane Katrina, Washington's bitter partisanship, and two hotly contested presidential campaigns.

Fantastic Book

As someone who is left-leaning I tried to read this book without any preconceived notions. Mr. McLellan's book is an extremely well written history of what happened during his time working for George W. Bush. When there are facts to be presented, he presents them as neutral as possible. When he gives his own opinion, he clearly states that it is his opinion, and shouldn't be taken as fact.

The first half of the book was basically praising Bush and explains why Scott joined him in the first place. The second half explains, in detail, what went wrong.

This book actually gave me a little bit more respect for Bush, as the mistakes he made could have been made by many people, myself included. However, we expect more out of the President of the United States, and he should not be excused for what he did.

Whether you're a hard-core conservative, a hard-core liberal, or some where in between, I highly recommend this book.

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WHAT HAPPENED

BOUGHT THIS BOOK FOR MY HUSBAND. HE WANTED TO READ ABOUT THE INSIDE DIRT IN DC. THIS BOOK SHOULD DO IT!

READ IT FOR WHAT IT IS.

I really dislike tell all books, and tell all books concerning politics in particular. After reading this one, my opinion of this genre has not changed all that much. I will state from the start though, that I am probably one of the most apolitical humans on the face of the earth. My only interest in our current political process, as opposed to our history in this area, is that I hold both the extreme right and the extreme left in extreme contempt. My opinions of George Bush, his administration, et al, are of little consequence here, and I certainly am not going to bore you with my pontifications in that area. That being said....

I did find this book interesting in that it gives a good view on one man's view, and I emphasize, "one man" of the political process in our nations capital at this time. I found the workings of the Bush administration, congress, the press and all those associated with the entire process fascinating. There was interesting bits and pieces scattered throughout the book. I am certainly not going to summarize the happenings of this entire affair. If you don't know what happened, and where it led, and is possibly leading, then you have probably been living under a rock. If you believe ever word McClellan has written, well then, you have a problem. On the other hand, I do get the feeling that the author tried his best to come across in a truthful manner, addressing the situation as he saw it. I feel he is sincere in his personal assessment of the situation.

The book is rather poorly crafted and is so repetitive throughout that it makes you want to scream at times. Scott McClellan portrays himself as misled Boy Scout, and perhaps he was. I find it difficult to fully believe that a man that can reach his high position was as blind and naïve as he claims. Perhaps this is true though. There again, on the other hand, he does not cast full blame on anyone but himself in this area. In some eyes he is certainly a little turn coat weasel, but I feel an honest weasel, never the less.

I actually enjoyed this read despite the poor writing, which does become rather boring at a certain point. Overall this is a pretty light weight read and I personally doubt if it is going to be used as a source document my many historians in the future when picking this particular era apart.

For a quick read of one man's perceptions, for some political tidbits and some insight this is a good read. I of course feel in has to be countered with other works that are sure to come out in the near future, but fear that we will have to wait at least fifty years or so to be able to truly evaluate just "what happened. I am giving this one four stars because it did have some value as to information but knocking off at least one star due to poor quality of the writing. Where were this man's editors?

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

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Not bad, but not particularly insightful

If you're looking for a scathing critique of the Bush administration from an embittered turncoat, this ain't it. Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan comes off as merely disillusioned about Washington -- maybe a little peeved at Karl Rove, distrustful of Dick Cheney, and certainly disappointed in his one-time idol, George W. Bush -- but that's about all. He picks over the minutiae of the cooked pre-war intelligence on Iraq and the Valerie Plame scandal--his main bugbear as he was forced to lie conspicuously about it--without really denouncing them. His writing is as cautious as it is bland.

McClellan says he wrote this book to try to set the record straight, to recapture some of the personal integrity he feels the job cost him. Yet he seems unwilling to blame or condemn much beyond repeating how the "perpetual campaign mentality" and Washinton's deepening partisan schism makes for less effective government. He adds little to the public discourse on derisive partisan politics, nor does he make it interesting with pointed insider detail. McClellan seems reluctant to make enemies, so he spends 300 pages exorcizing his own small demons instead of fighting the big dragons.

The moments in this book I found most enlightening are the small personal observations he makes about Bush. His mean-spirited sense of humor. The way he belittles dissenters. His refusal to re-think any decision. His capacity for self-delusion. These bits of insight McClellan makes almost inadvertently -- remember, he claims to like and admire Bush for the most part -- speak volumes. Otherwise, this book -- like the career of McClellan itself -- is just a footnote to the great Machiavellian machinery of the Bush administration. History will forgive and forget mild-mannered Scott McClellan. The Bush-Cheney-Rove trinity will not likely get off so easy when at last the full account of "what happened" is written.

- mattmchugh.com

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