Rebel in Chief: Inside the Bold and Controversial Presidency of George W. Bush

by Fred Barnes

“You can’t worry about being vindicated, because the truth of the matter is, when you do big things, it’s going to take a while for history to really understand.” —President Bush, in an exclusive interview with Fred Barnes for Rebel-in-Chief

With Rebel-in-Chief , veteran political reporter Fred Barnes provides the defining book on George W. Bush’s presidency, giving an insider’s view of how Bush’s unique presidential style and bold reforms are dramatically remaking the country—and, indeed, the world. In the process, Barnes shows, the president is shaking up Washington and reshaping the conservative movement.

Barnes has gained extraordinary access to the Bush administration for Rebel-in-Chief , conducting rare one-on-one interviews with President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and many other close presidential advisers. That access, along with Barnes’s extensive independent reporting and interviewing, produces an eye-opening look at this highly consequential—and controversial—presidency.

Rebel-in-Chief

• How Bush acts as an “insurgent force” in the nation’s capital—“a different kind of president” who is turning the Washington establishment on its ear

• How Bush is redefining conservatism for a new era—and creating a new Republican majority

• The inside story of how Bush has revolutionized American foreign policy—and how the president's crusade for democracy would have been anathema to Bush himself only five years ago

• When and why Bush decided to go into Iraq, even knowing that he was putting his political future at risk

• How a White House aide you've probably never heard of is shaping the Bush vision

• The surprising and important ways Bush's faith affects critical presidential decisions

• How Bush has outmaneuvered his political opponents and surprised members of the press who have dismissed him as an intellectual bantamweight

• How Bush routinely defies conventional wisdom because of his contempt for elite opinion and halfway reforms (“small-ball,” he calls them)—and why he usually wins

George W. Bush billed himself as a “different kind of Republican.” He has proved to be a different kind of president, too. And Fred Barnes’s riveting behind-the-scenes account helps us understand how much this “Rebel-in-Chief ” is reshaping the world around us.




Also available as a Random House AudioBook and an eBook


From the Hardcover edition.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Biography

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Lauren Wiseman · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, I was 3 when George W. Bush was first elected as President of the United States, and I was 11 when he left office. I cared little for politics, being the child I was, and as I approached my MRP, I needed information regarding Bush's presidency.

This was useful in that Bush was not painted as an idiot as so many people have before. However, it almost went in the opposite direction. While this was not a book written by a Fox newscaster, it felt like it could be, because all of his mistakes are blotted from the record. I ended up skipping chapters because they were irrelevant to my paper.

I wanted an impartial look at his presidency. This was not what I was looking for, but some of it was useful.

[The American Conservative]

'But Fred Barnes, despite his protestations, is himself a member of the Beltway elite, a top editor at a leading conservative magazine, a veteran TV performer, from a distance at least a likeable and sane individual. What does it say about contemporary American politics if he believes basically in the bulk of what he has written here? What does it say if he doesn’t believe it? Neither alternative is especially reassuring.'

Read the full review, "Let Me Shine Your Shoes, Sir," on our website:
http://www.theamericanconservative.co...

[Voracious_reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rebel-in-Chief holds few surprises. I like Fred Barnes and have often found him to be quite insightful, but I find little more than hero worship in this book. It's not that I disagree with Barnes' characterization of Bush as a revolutionary republican; it's that Barnes doesn't really seem to question whether that might be a good or bad thing. On the other hand, Barnes is clearly a bright and fine writer.

[Margaret Nahmias · Rating 5 out of 5]

A diferent look at George W. Bush than media gave him. Barnes paints him as bold visionary Should be read by detractors even if they disagree with Barne´s assesment to see a diferent side.