A Charge to Keep: My Journey to the White House – President George W. Bush's Revealing Memoir of Values and Leadership

by George W. Bush, Mickey Herskowitz

I was not elected to serve one party, but to serve one nation. The president of the United States is the president of every single American, every race and every background. Whether you voted for me or not, I will do my best to serve your interests, and I will work to earn your respect. I will be guided by President Jefferson's sense of to stand for principle, to be reasonable in manner, and, above all, to do great good for the cause of freedom and harmony. The presidency is more than an honor, it is more than an office. It is a charge to keep, and I will give it my all. --George W. Bush, December 13, 2000, Texas House of Representatives In A Charge to Keep , George W, Bush offers readers a warm, insightful, and honest look at the personal and political experiences that have shaped his values and led to his decision to run for president. The George W. Bush who leaps off these pages has his mother's wit and down-to-earth personality, his father's energy and competitive drive, and his own unique style and philosophy. Written with his long term communications director, Karen Hughes, A Charge to Keep is a revealing look into the background, philosophy, family, and heart of our new president.

Genres: Biography, Politics, Nonfiction, History, Presidents, Autobiography, Memoir

287 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

GEORGE W. BUSH is the 43rd President of the United States, serving from 2001 to 2009. He previously served as Governor of Texas. He and his wife, Laura, now live in Dallas, where they founded the George W. Bush Presidential Center at Southern Methodist University. President Bush is the author of 41: A Portrait of My Father and his previous book, Decision Points, is the bestselling Presidential memoir of the modern era.

Reviews

[Damon Suede · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow.

One is left wondering if the conservative machine that cranked out this extended brochuere actually believes any of this or if they just expect the moron majority to just buy these books and display thenm, since most don't actually read. This is animatronic prediential biography at its most robotic, insipid, and self-congratulatory. About as candid and honest as a playground bully standing "innocently atop a pile of unconcious "bystanders."

Never forget that Bush's arrival at the WHite HOuse was pelted by rocks and eggs and that they had to drive at highy speeds to outrun potestors. This book would have it otherwise.

Shameful.

[Mom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book very much. It was well written and it was at a nice pace. Only one fault is my pet peeve with jumping around in time.

[Brandon Minster · Rating 2 out of 5]

Typically worthless campaign biography, full of things like, "And I guess I've always loved babies, grandmas, and America. If that disqualifies me from receiving your vote, then so be it; I refuse to budge from these principles."

[Lexxi Kitty · Rating 1 out of 5]

While a poorly written book, I can't really blame Bush for it. He didn't write it himself, one of those people he briefly put up for one of the Supreme Court seats ghost-wrote it, Karen Hughes.

[Andrew ✝️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Politics aside, I have to say that I felt GWB had no issue with making this book understandable. And as a bonus (for my friend Nicole) there ARE actually big words in here (:P).

GWB takes us through his governorship, his brief ownership of a baseball team and some of his other life. In some respects, one could deem that this is Decision Points 0.5 because he also explained some of the decisions he made as Governor of Texas (as his book 'Decision Points' does as well [as President], but I have not read it yet.).

I have to commend him on his difficult decisions pertaining to the Death Penalty in Texas. I imagined myself in those situations and what my feelings on the particular situation of the inmate would be and I eventually came to the conclusion that I have absolutely no idea what I would have done pertaining to the one particular inmate, Karla Faye Tucker, who was on death row but had the world watching because she professed herself to be a born-again Christian and wanted her death sentence to be changed to life in prison. Then again, I'm not in politics nor do I have any desire to be, but at the same time, I have to commend him for how he spent so much time contemplating and seeking information about her before deciding not to give her an extra 30 days of life.

At the same time, I find myself questioning if I even support the death penalty. I'm pretty neutral on it.

In the end, I would say that I did enjoy this book, despite finding the long chapter on the death penalty somewhat disturbing. It was pretty interesting hearing what he did before becoming President because I did not and have never lived in Texas. I don't see me reading this book again though. Also, I don't exactly know what really to say about it because, not to be harsh, the book did kind of go all over the place. One chapter he was governor, the next he owned a baseball team; so it's not chronological. It could be said that this was a diary of reflection while he was running for President though.

I will give it 3 stars.

(Edit: At the time of reading this book, I did not know/realize that certain books 'by' politicians are in fact written by a ghost writer; in some cases, ghost writers. I have since learned that President GWB did not actually write this. Either way, it still gets 3 stars, but has been removed my autobiographies shelf and instead placed in the biographies shelf.)

[Chandler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Truthfully, I did like this book for the most part. Some parts were just boring, but I expected that a little. I did enjoy the narration by him and it was interesting to learn of the road that he took that actually led him to the White House. I have always loved the Bush family and have always thought that even though he made some mistakes as President (as they all do) that he did always love the people of this country and felt he was doing what was best for them. I feel like he is a true American and a brave man, and this book affirmed that thinking.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

worth reading, nothing if not compelling.

[Dan Alatorre · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pretty darned good book by a man who will be regarded well by history, as opposed to his successor.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

It seems that everyone running for president writes a book as their campaign begins. This book, published in 1999, was George W. Bush's entry. It was re-published early in 2001 after he became president. I've always liked Bush and this didn't change that. The book, similar to others like it, is one part biography of the early years, one part a detailing of political and life accomplishments, and one part a statement of political and life philosophy as the author heads into a presidential campaign. What is interesting is that the format of the book is very similar to his post-presidential memoir Decision Points. It is not a life story in chronological order, but rather each chapter focuses on a specific event in his life, and in many instances on the specific decisions he had to make and the process by which he arrived at his conclusions. Probably the most fascinating chapter is concerning two cases of capital punishment, and the process by which he decided to either stay the execution of allow it to happen. There are lighter chapters about his family where his humour and commitment to family shines through. Chapters towards the end outline some of his accomplishments as Governor of Texas, his philosophy behind those achievements, and how they might carry forward into a Bush presidency. Here we see his passion for education and literacy and his development of the idea of No Child Left Behind. We also see his embrace of the label Compassionate Conservatism. We also see that foreign affairs was not something high on his agenda, which demonstrate that the events of 9/11 proved a steep learning curve for him. One interesting section is a discussion of Vietnam, and his declaration that the US should never again what he called a "political war", one that they had no intention of trying to win. Of course Bush later brought the US into wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, leaving one to ask if Bush changed his philosophy, or does it simply show that it is much easier to be a Monday Morning Quarterback when one doesn't sit in the big chair in the Oval Office. The Bush presented here is a man who carefully weighs all aspects of a situation, sifts them through his worldview, and comes to a decision that he feels is the right one, holding to it with an almost tenacious certainty. Depending on one's own view, this can either be a determined leadership that a country needs, or a stubborn leadership that can lead to disaster. History will judge which of these applies to the George W. Bush in this volume. (I lean towards the first, while not ignoring instances of the latter)

[Jeff Collins · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read biographies of most of the American presidents. I try to read them in order; it gives the history of America in overlapping 4-year increments from various points of view.

I typically do not like auto-biographies and this is no exception. Don’t get me wrong - I’m a Texan who voted for W every time he ran; I think his ideals are basically sound. However, this book is nothing short of a self-serving memoir to justify his choices in office and raise money for his presidential campaign. If one were to believe everything in this book, W made the right decision every time.

[Brent Samodurov · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book by George W. Bush is characteristically honest and to the point. As we have come to expect from America’s 43rd president, Bush opens a window to his thinking and the process by which he makes decisions.

I think it is notable that Bush highlights issues on which his teenage daughters disagreed with his decisions as governor of Texas, and how he encouraged them to think freely for themselves.

[Leta · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Charge to Keep: My Journey to the White House
This book gives accurate insight into President Bush and politics.

[Andrew Greer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the book I traded my friend whose uncle worked in the Hillary campaign for Hillary's "Living History" book, with the agreement we would read the writings of each others' political favorites at-that-time. I read Hillary's; he did not read W.'s. :)

[Carston Heinrich · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it was a pretty good book but with good details about his life that many of us don’t know a whole lot about. Never really got me hooked completely.

[Ezequiel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hard to get into the book, too much bragging and repetition, I felt at times like I was reading the same page over and over. Too many details that were not interesting at all.

[Strix · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is just one long political ad. I'm not Christian, I'm not conservative, and I barely remember the GW era. The false humility is embarrassing.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was SO bad, yet i couldn't stop reading it. i read it in two days. it read like a long resume. highlighting all his good qualities, everything that has gone well in his career. the only time it addressed anything possibly negative was when it was something that had been well publicized, and so he addressed it to explain it away.
it was written while he was running for pres, so i guess in a sense it was like a long resume.
it did cause me to see bush as more of a human, and just some regular guy. but very much, JUST some regular guy. just some guy that one day decided to run for governor, then later decided to run for pres. just some dude.

[Nika · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was not going to give this book so many stars, but then ha to admit that it was very well done. I have to say that he clearly explained where he was coming from with No Child Left Behind and Annual Yearly Progress. I get it now. I hate that it has exposed so much that was going wrong in our public schools. It makes it appear that these accountability programs themselves are failing, but I think many indivudual teachers are the ones who are failing.

I appreciate Bush, as all my friends already know. The final chapter is the finest illumination of a healthy conservative philosophy that I have ever read.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this book with no expections--only knowing that it was written by Bush and was less than 400 pages.
I can't remember a time before Bush's presidency. I do remember how eagerly I watched the election of 2004, and how sorry I was to see him leave. As such, I found it very interesting to read a [biography?] by him before he became the President of the United States. The book was easy to read and had lots of interesting information about his background and the decisions he made as the governor of Texas. Interesting, insightful, and instructing.

[Bruce Fogerty · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book written by a candidate about the candidate with a view only to win the candidate's next election.

Not particularly insightful. Mildly interesting about growing up in 1950s Texas. Offers an overview of the President's life, even it it is written with a distinct, self serving, pollyannic bent. All national candidates are required to write one of these.

[Purple Wimple · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was generally more interesting than I expected it to be; it's a campaign tract, but (like much of Bush's writing and speaking) it comes across as more sincere than polished. It's a great fault for a politician to have!

[George · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this a long, long time ago as a new voter...seemingly preparing myself for my first responsibility. Read it, as I recall, alongside a Molly Ivins book in hopes of, maybe, having the two balance out. Ha. Neither was particularly good.

[Andy Pullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Autobiography by George W. Bush, reveals his path to the White House and how God had prepared him to be President. Talks about his reliance on God to help him make decissions about America.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

very very good reading

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really do not think with hisfamily background that W. was flipping fish in Alaska or selling ping pogs at Sears.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I may be biased because I LOVE "W", but this book made me love him more, and understand him more.

[Isaac · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating in hindsight to read the words of the man who wanted to be president. Some valuable insights but mostly just a careful piece of campaign literature.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked learning more about Bush the person, but this was written as a lead-up to his presidential campaign, and I would have liked to read about his actual presidency.

[Ellie Revert]

Just skimmed it. Realized I would prefer to read about him--if at all--by an objective outsider.

[Maeve]

I read this for work.