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Team Bush : Leadership Lessons from the Bush White House
LEADERSHIP STRATEGIES BEHIND ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR PRESIDENTS IN HISTORY How the Commander-in-Chief commands George W. Bush has surprised even his harshest critics with his leadership talents and discipline. As this country's first MBA president, Bush formed his unique leadership style managing businesses, not government offices. Team Bush is the first book to explore these unique methods and tactics he has employed to become one of the nation's most popular commanders in chief in recent history. From "hiring" the most diverse and effective cabinets in history, to dealing with the crisis and war sparked by the events of September 11th, this compelling leadership book takes readers into the mind and methods of America's 43rd president, and shows managers how these methods can be used to boost productivity in their own organizations. This fast-paced book pulls no punches as it showcases President Bush's successes and strengths while detailing his mistakes and weaknesses. Focusing on the actual events and outcomes of Bush's first two years in office, it
224 pages, Hardcover
First published December 30, 1899
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About the author
Donald F. Kettl
57 books9 followersDonald F. Kettl is a professor at the School of Public Policy and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. He served as the dean of the school from 2009-2014. Prior to Maryland, he was the Robert A. Fox Leadership Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and Professor of Political Science.
Professor Kettl is a student of public policy and public management and specializes in the management of public organizations. He has appeared on national television on shows including Good Morning America, the ABC World News Tonight, the CBS Evening News, CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" and "The Situation Room," the Fox News Channel, as well as public television's News Hourand the BBC. He has testified frequently at congressional hearings in Washington and contributed to op-ed pages in major newspapers, including The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Newsday, and The Los Angeles Times. Since 1998, he has been writing a regular column for Governing magazine, "Potomac Chronicle," which is read by leading state and local government officials around the country.
Professor Kettl is the author or editor of a dozen books and monographs, including: The Next Government of the United States: Why Our Institutions Fail Us and How to Fix Them; On Risk and Disaster: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina; The Global Public Management Revolution; and Leadership at the Fed.
Two of his books have been co-winners of the Louis Brownlow Book Award of the National Academy of Public Administration for the best book published in public administration. He is the recipient of the Warner W. Stockberger Achievement Award of the International Public Management Association for Human Resources for outstanding contributions in the field of public sector personnel management (2007); the Donald C. Stone Award of the American Society for Public Administration for significant contributions to the field of intergovernmental management (2005); and the Charles H. Levine Memorial Award of the American Society for Public Administration, in recognition of contributions to research, teaching, and outreach (1998). In 2008, Kettl won the American Political Science's John Gaus Award for a lifetime of exemplary scholarship in political science and public administration.
He has consulted for a broad array of public organizations, including the U.S. Departments of Defense, Energy, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury; the Forest Service, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Budget, the Food and Drug Administration, the Federal National Mortgage Association, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the National Commission on the Public Service (Volcker Commission), and the National Commission on the State and Local Public Service (Winter Commission). He has advised the White House during both Republican and Democratic administrations and has worked with the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Professor Kettl has also taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Vanderbilt University, the University of Virginia, and Columbia University. He has earned his bachelor's and doctorate degrees from Yale University. He is a fellow of Phi Beta Kappa and the National Academy of Public Administration. He is also a shareholder in the Green Bay Packers.
Professor Kettl is a student of public policy and public management and specializes in the management of public organizations. He has appeared on national television on shows including Good Morning America, the ABC World News Tonight, the CBS Evening News, CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" and "The Situation Room," the Fox News Channel, as well as public television's News Hourand the BBC. He has testified frequently at congressional hearings in Washington and contributed to op-ed pages in major newspapers, including The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Newsday, and The Los Angeles Times. Since 1998, he has been writing a regular column for Governing magazine, "Potomac Chronicle," which is read by leading state and local government officials around the country.
Professor Kettl is the author or editor of a dozen books and monographs, including: The Next Government of the United States: Why Our Institutions Fail Us and How to Fix Them; On Risk and Disaster: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina; The Global Public Management Revolution; and Leadership at the Fed.
Two of his books have been co-winners of the Louis Brownlow Book Award of the National Academy of Public Administration for the best book published in public administration. He is the recipient of the Warner W. Stockberger Achievement Award of the International Public Management Association for Human Resources for outstanding contributions in the field of public sector personnel management (2007); the Donald C. Stone Award of the American Society for Public Administration for significant contributions to the field of intergovernmental management (2005); and the Charles H. Levine Memorial Award of the American Society for Public Administration, in recognition of contributions to research, teaching, and outreach (1998). In 2008, Kettl won the American Political Science's John Gaus Award for a lifetime of exemplary scholarship in political science and public administration.
He has consulted for a broad array of public organizations, including the U.S. Departments of Defense, Energy, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury; the Forest Service, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Budget, the Food and Drug Administration, the Federal National Mortgage Association, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the National Commission on the Public Service (Volcker Commission), and the National Commission on the State and Local Public Service (Winter Commission). He has advised the White House during both Republican and Democratic administrations and has worked with the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Professor Kettl has also taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Vanderbilt University, the University of Virginia, and Columbia University. He has earned his bachelor's and doctorate degrees from Yale University. He is a fellow of Phi Beta Kappa and the National Academy of Public Administration. He is also a shareholder in the Green Bay Packers.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 25, 2014
This is an apparently non-partisan book assessing George W. Bush's leadership style. "As his close friend Roland W. Betts recalled, while other students [at Harvard Business School] were still adjusting to freshman life, ‘George was the person who in three months knew the name of everybody and actually knew 50 percent of the class,’" the author writes.
Published in 2003, about halfway through Bush's first term, the book could not capture the issues that would define his presidency. For example, the author writes: "Part of Bush’s success came from choosing fights he could win—and avoiding being entangled in those (like the California energy crisis and the Middle East conflict) where he wasn’t sure he could succeed." One of a long list of indicators that the 2003 invasion of Iraq was not a success is that a recent Reason/Rupe poll found that only 14 percent of Americans today believe it made the U.S. safer. (cited in The Week Magazine, 10/24/2014)
The book also reports: "Several highly publicized arrests of corporate executives helped defuse the scandals issue. Agents hauled away executives from Tyco International and ImClone systems in televised ‘perp walks.’ They handcuffed and hauled away the founder of Adelphia Communications, along with his sons, on charges that hey had used the company’s finances as their ‘personal piggybank.’" This is an interesting reminder because people generally do not think "corporate accountability" when they think about the financial crisis at the end of Bush's second term and the beginning of Obama's presidency.
Donald F. Kettl. Team Bush: Leadership Lessons from the Bush White House. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003. (pp. 15, 76, 93-94.)
Published in 2003, about halfway through Bush's first term, the book could not capture the issues that would define his presidency. For example, the author writes: "Part of Bush’s success came from choosing fights he could win—and avoiding being entangled in those (like the California energy crisis and the Middle East conflict) where he wasn’t sure he could succeed." One of a long list of indicators that the 2003 invasion of Iraq was not a success is that a recent Reason/Rupe poll found that only 14 percent of Americans today believe it made the U.S. safer. (cited in The Week Magazine, 10/24/2014)
The book also reports: "Several highly publicized arrests of corporate executives helped defuse the scandals issue. Agents hauled away executives from Tyco International and ImClone systems in televised ‘perp walks.’ They handcuffed and hauled away the founder of Adelphia Communications, along with his sons, on charges that hey had used the company’s finances as their ‘personal piggybank.’" This is an interesting reminder because people generally do not think "corporate accountability" when they think about the financial crisis at the end of Bush's second term and the beginning of Obama's presidency.
Donald F. Kettl. Team Bush: Leadership Lessons from the Bush White House. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003. (pp. 15, 76, 93-94.)
July 14, 2008
An instant classic. Learn the secrets of the greatest President ever to head our beloved Nation.
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