book data
469 ratings,
3.02
average rating, 219 reviews
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published
May 28th 2008
by PublicAffairs
binding
Hardcover, 341 pages
isbn
1586485563
(isbn13: 9781586485566)
description
Scott McClellan was one of a few Bush loyalists from Texas who became part of his inner circle of trusted advisers, and remained so during one of the ...more
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avg 3.02
editions: all | this edition
editions: all | this edition
Read in July, 2008
recommends it for:
political junkies, poli sci students, the average taxpayer
Okay, let's be honest. This entire book is a rationale. Well, not just one rationale, but several: For why McClellan didn't do anything despite knowing (or at the very least suspecting corruption and dishonesty) as well as why McClellan won't disavow the GOP.
All in all, though, his rationales are plausible, and that's what makes the book work. In the Bush Administration, it's easy to envision Cheney and Rove, for example, viewing McClellan as a nobody, a mouthpiece, and therefore...more
All in all, though, his rationales are plausible, and that's what makes the book work. In the Bush Administration, it's easy to envision Cheney and Rove, for example, viewing McClellan as a nobody, a mouthpiece, and therefore...more
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Read in May, 2008
Title: Same Old Partisan Crap
I found reading McClellan's partisan memoir to be a total waste of time. I also feel the author lacks credibility and this book offers the same old partisan view we have been fed all along. This book has been targeted towards and panders to the left-leaning partisan audience. McClellan makes a ton of allegations against the Bush Administration but doesn't provide any backing/proof. The book reads like a conspiracy theory.
Although the media response ...more
I found reading McClellan's partisan memoir to be a total waste of time. I also feel the author lacks credibility and this book offers the same old partisan view we have been fed all along. This book has been targeted towards and panders to the left-leaning partisan audience. McClellan makes a ton of allegations against the Bush Administration but doesn't provide any backing/proof. The book reads like a conspiracy theory.
Although the media response ...more
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McClellan's memoir of "what happened" in the Bush administration really gets 3.5 stars, but since that's not an option, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt (or of the star).
Anyway - the thing about the book is not any "revelations" about what actually happened. Anyone who's been paying even a modicum of attention the past 8 years knows what happened. What McClellen does is provide an interesting perspective on how it came to happen. Admittedly, his basic theory...more
Anyway - the thing about the book is not any "revelations" about what actually happened. Anyone who's been paying even a modicum of attention the past 8 years knows what happened. What McClellen does is provide an interesting perspective on how it came to happen. Admittedly, his basic theory...more
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It seriously takes a crappy book for me to not finish a book (I like to finish a book no matter how difficult it is to get through.) Now, the preface in this book is fantastic. It got me all rowled up. (Is that the right word: rowled?) I thought this book would be very interesting, and I guess a little part of it was. I wanted to get the scoop from a true insider. Someone who really was in the thick of it all. The problem with this book is when he blabs on and on about idealistic politics, his f...more
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Forget how smug he was at press briefings. Forget how he was a puppet and mouthpiece for all the bad decisions of the Bush administration. For me, these are givens, like saying a croissant tastes nice or summer is pleasant.
McClellan doesn't tell us anything we didn't already know - not really - in spirit if not in detail.
But what really annoys me about this book is that an editor somewhere let it go out in such bad condition? I get the man's not a writer, but jeez. You'd ...more
McClellan doesn't tell us anything we didn't already know - not really - in spirit if not in detail.
But what really annoys me about this book is that an editor somewhere let it go out in such bad condition? I get the man's not a writer, but jeez. You'd ...more
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Read in September, 2008
I had heard so much about this book, but it was taking its time making it up to the top of my stack. I found it fascinating to walk through the recent events from Scott McClellan's eyes. To find out what he said he knew when he said he knew it. To hear what he believes about each of the participants in the events. It was interesting to me to see how he views President Bush now compared to how he viewed him before going to Washington with him. His comments on Dr. Condi Rice were really enlighteni...more
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Read in July, 2008
There are plenty of books out there critical of Bush and his adminstration [ e.g., books like Chandrasekaran's "Imperial Life in the Emerald City", or Corn's & Isikoffs "Hubris", Hersh's "Chain of Command", Rick's "Fiasco", Unger's "House of Bush, House of Saud", Woodward" "Bush at War", "Plan of Attack", or "State of Denial", Suskind's "The Price of Loyalty", etc.] It's not really true, but one might...more
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For some reason I am fascinated by reading first-hand accounts of what happened behind the scenes in recent U.S. Presidential administrations. I am particularly fascinated with reading about the George W. Bush administration and how they have become so out of touch with reality. McClellan's account was fascinating to me. As someone who thinks George W. Bush beats out only Andrew Johnson in a contest to be a good president, it was interesting to learn from a true insider how decisions were made a...more
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Read in June, 2008
recommends it for:
Politicos (My People)
So exciting! I normally read the conservatives at the library, so my consumer dollars won't fund their destruction of my country - that should tell you which side I'm coming from. This one, I BOUGHT! I make this offer to any Bushie who wants to roll over and tell the truth - I will buy your book! (David Kuo, I will grandfather you in)
Mr. McClellan started off kinda rocky; he gives us a background story about difficulties he experienced as head of his fraternity... and cites these as...more
Mr. McClellan started off kinda rocky; he gives us a background story about difficulties he experienced as head of his fraternity... and cites these as...more
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Read in June, 2008
recommends it for:
nobody
I am NO fan of Bush, and was mildly interested to see what McClellan has to say (even though I distrust presidential turncoats) about possibly the worst president in history.
This is a terribly written book with disjointed rhythm. I've read better written stuff on bathroom walls. Considering that McClellan was not thought of well by the press corps or the public like Ari Fleischer was, he seems to think he did a wonderful job. Plus, for a book that is supposed to be an insider's view...more
This is a terribly written book with disjointed rhythm. I've read better written stuff on bathroom walls. Considering that McClellan was not thought of well by the press corps or the public like Ari Fleischer was, he seems to think he did a wonderful job. Plus, for a book that is supposed to be an insider's view...more
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Read in August, 2008
recommends it for:
absolutely NO ONE!
This was a hard one to put into the non-fiction category.
To summarize:
Pure drivel or more accurately pure partisan drivel that lays the responsibility of the Bush administration's lies and deceptions at the feet of the press.
The most honest paragraph in the entire book, “President Bush has always been an instinctive leader more than an intellectual leader. He is not one to delve deeply into all the possible policy options-including sitting around engaging in ex...more
To summarize:
Pure drivel or more accurately pure partisan drivel that lays the responsibility of the Bush administration's lies and deceptions at the feet of the press.
The most honest paragraph in the entire book, “President Bush has always been an instinctive leader more than an intellectual leader. He is not one to delve deeply into all the possible policy options-including sitting around engaging in ex...more
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Read in July, 2008
When I heard that the former White House press secretary had written a "tell all" book on his years with the Bush administration, I was interested in much the same way that rush hour drivers are interested in an accident on the other side of the freeway. I knew that McClellan had been press secretary through some of the most harrowing days of the Bush administration and felt a bit sorry for him because I believed that he had been lied to on numerous occasions by the President himself a...more
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Read in January, 2009
Scott McClellen, George W. Bush's former press secretary, is the first of the Bush inner circle to "go public" with a look into this most secretive of administrations. McClellen, a fellow Texan, went with Bush to the White House as an assistant press secretary and moved up to press secretary right before the Valerie Plame outing.
McClellen puts the blame for what happened in the Bush administration on the "constant campaign culture." By this he means that rather ...more
McClellen puts the blame for what happened in the Bush administration on the "constant campaign culture." By this he means that rather ...more
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Read in July, 2008
I finished reading Scott McClellan’s memoir: What Happened: Inside the Bush White and Washington’s Culture of Deception. This is my first political memoir of a recent event. Normally, I’d pick up a book written many years after the fact, letting distance provide some context. But, I just had to have this book as McClellan worked the media and blog circuit. As you may know, he was a loyal Bush supporter and fellow Texan who served as White House Press Secretary from July 2003 until April 20...more
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Read in January, 2009
This is a good view from inside the White House bubble, from the experience of the White House Press Secretary, who actually was a career politico with roots in Texas. Initially impressed by his entry into the inner circles, he eventually becomes disillusioned.
I think liberals should give McClellan credit for stepping out of the party line. McClellan does clearly admit that the Bush administration misled us into the Iraq war ("What I do know is that war should only be waged when...more
I think liberals should give McClellan credit for stepping out of the party line. McClellan does clearly admit that the Bush administration misled us into the Iraq war ("What I do know is that war should only be waged when...more
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Read in June, 2009
I was surprised by how much I liked this book. I heard about it on the Diane Rehm show, then found it on the "new" shelf in the library. I expected just a "here's what happened around me" kind of book, but it was much more than that.
Mostly I was surprised that McClellan really had a point; namely, that what's wrong in Washington is the culture of permanent campaigning. He argues that elected officials used to use campaign tactics to get elected, then got on with t...more
Mostly I was surprised that McClellan really had a point; namely, that what's wrong in Washington is the culture of permanent campaigning. He argues that elected officials used to use campaign tactics to get elected, then got on with t...more
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Read in December, 2008
Narrated by Scott McClellan
Unabridged: 12 hrs and 28 mins
Publisher's Summary
Scott McClellan belonged to President Bush's select inner circle of trusted advisers during one of the most challenging, contentious periods of recent history. Over a period of more than seven years, he witnessed, day-to-day, exactly how the presidency veered off course, not only by its decision to topple Saddam Hussein, but by an embrace of confrontational politics in the face of an increasingly ...more
Unabridged: 12 hrs and 28 mins
Publisher's Summary
Scott McClellan belonged to President Bush's select inner circle of trusted advisers during one of the most challenging, contentious periods of recent history. Over a period of more than seven years, he witnessed, day-to-day, exactly how the presidency veered off course, not only by its decision to topple Saddam Hussein, but by an embrace of confrontational politics in the face of an increasingly ...more
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05/28/08
Sarah
marked it as to-read
The Bush administration misled the American public?! Really? I had no idea. Thank goodness Scott McClellan, former White House press secretary, wrote a book about it.
When I get around to reading this, I'll be looking for any acknowledgment of the author's own wrongdoings as White House spokesperson. When speaking truth to power, timing is important... I'd be more impressed by Mr. McClellan if he had spoken up years ago -- before being pushed out of the White House.
When I get around to reading this, I'll be looking for any acknowledgment of the author's own wrongdoings as White House spokesperson. When speaking truth to power, timing is important... I'd be more impressed by Mr. McClellan if he had spoken up years ago -- before being pushed out of the White House.
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Read in October, 2008
This book pretty much covers the entire period that Scott McClellan worked with President Bush, starting during the lead up to his run for the republican nomination. As far as the major historical events he discusses, I'd say the big three are the Iraq War, hurricane Katrina, and the leak of Valerie Plame's identity and ensuing investigation. He presents these events from the point of view of someone not only within the administration, but who also largely supported the administration at the tim...more
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Read in June, 2008
Did I like it because it completely vindicated all that we thought we knew already about Bush and Co., with the added deliciousness of having been written by a Bush insider? Yes, to a large extent. Nothing like seeing the bad guys getting called out by one of their own. In the end, I found McClellan to be a pretty sympathetic character, and his explanation of how he went from devout apologist to reluctant Cassandra, believable. Better late than not at all.
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