Internet Resources
- George W. Bush: Foreign AffairsThe Bush administration’s responses to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, expanded presidential power in matters of national security.
- George W. Bush: The 43rd President of the United StatesGeorge W. Bush, America’s 43rd President (2001-2009), was transformed into a wartime President in the aftermath of the airborne terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, facing the “greatest challenge of any President since Abraham Lincoln.”
- Learn how the September 11th terrorist attacks and the Iraq War defined George W. Bush's presidencyGeorge W. Bush was elected the 43rd president of the United States in 2000. In his first year in office, he had to lead the country through the September 11th terrorist attacks. The attacks and their aftermath – including the controversial Iraq War – largely defined Bush’s presidency.
- President Bush Addresses the NationFollowing is the full text of President Bush's address to a joint session of Congress and the nation.
- Waging and Winning the War on TerrorPresident Bush launched a global effort to defeat terrorism and to protect and defend America. During his term in office, the President has led a steady and systematic campaign against global terrorists and their allies.
Research & Reference
- Bush, 11 September and the Conflicting Strategies of the 'War on Terrorism'This paper demonstrates the remarkably dynamic nature of America's 'War on Terrorism'. It shows the Bush administration's propensity to re-evaluate the terrorist threat and the responses required to deal with that threat. It identifies three distinct and sequential strategies that have been adopted in order to prosecute the War on Terrorism. The 'Counter-terrorism' strategy focused on the terrorists themselves, involved traditional counter-terrorism techniques and lead logically to war in Afghanistan. The second strategy, 'Pre-emption and pre-eminence', represented a step-change in Washington's conceptualisation of the terrorist threat and how to deal with it. The third approach, the 'Forward strategy for the democratisation of the Middle East', seeks to identify both the root causes of and the long term solutions to the War on Terrorism. The article shows how and why American thinking on this subject has evolved in period since 11 September 2001 through these three approaches, and how the tensions between these different strategies have complicated America's task of dealing with the terrorist threat.
- Bush Doctrine: Credo ReferenceA Credo Reference landing page on the Bush Doctrine. This page includes links to reference works, journal articles, and a mind map.
Streaming Media
- Terrorism, War, and Bush 43In which John Green teaches you about the tumultuous 2000's in the United States of America, mainly the 2000's that coincide with the presidency of George W Bush. From the controversial election in 2000, to the events of 9/11 and Bush's prosecution of the War on Terror, the George W. Bush presidency was an eventful one. John will teach you about Bush's domestic policies like tax cutting, education reform, and he'll get into the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The event that came to pass during Bush's presidency are still very much effecting the United States and the world today, so listen up!
- Bush At WarMike Wallace interviews Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward about his book Bush At War. The book is based on interviews with President Bush and National Security and other White House meetings concerning the early days of the War on Terror.
Perspectives
Decision Points
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * In this candid and gripping memoir, President George W. Bush describes the critical decisions that shaped his presidency and personal life. George W. Bush served as president of the United States during eight of the most consequential years in American history. The decisions that reached his desk impacted people around the world and defined the times in which we live. Decision Points brings readers inside the Texas governor's mansion on the night of the 2000 election, aboard Air Force One during the harrowing hours after the attacks of September 11, 2001, into the Situation Room moments before the start of the war in Iraq, and behind the scenes at the White House for many other historic presidential decisions. For the first time, we learn President Bush's perspective and insights on: * His decision to quit drinking and the journey that led him to his Christian faith * The selection of the vice president, secretary of defense, secretary of state, Supreme Court justices, and other key officials * His relationships with his wife, daughters, and parents, including heartfelt letters between the president and his father on the eve of the Iraq War * His administration's counterterrorism programs, including the CIA's enhanced interrogations and the Terrorist Surveillance Program * Why the worst moment of the presidency was hearing accusations that race played a role in the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina, and a critical assessment of what he would have done differently during the crisis * His deep concern that Iraq could turn into a defeat costlier than Vietnam, and how he decided to defy public opinion by ordering the troop surge * His legislative achievements, including tax cuts and reforming education and Medicare, as well as his setbacks, including Social Security and immigration reform * The relationships he forged with other world leaders, including an honest assessment of those he did and didn't trust * Why the failure to bring Osama bin Laden to justice ranks as his biggest disappointment and why his success in denying the terrorists their fondest wish--attacking America again--is among his proudest achievements A groundbreaking new brand of presidential memoir, Decision Points will captivate supporters, surprise critics, and change perspectives on eight remarkable years in American history--and on the man at the center of events.
Bush's Wars
From journalistic accounts like Fiasco and Imperial Life in the Emerald City to insider memoirs like Jawbreaker and Three Cups of Tea, the books about America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could fill a library. But each explores a narrow slice of a whole: two wars launched by a single president as part of a single foreign policy. Now noted historian Terry Anderson examines them together, in a single comprehensive overview.Shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush told advisor Karl Rove, "I am here for a reason, and this is how we're going to be judged." Anderson provides this judgment in this sweeping, authoritative account of Bush's War on Terror and his twin interventions. He begins with historical surveys of Iraq and Afghanistan-known respectively as "the improbable country" and "the graveyard of empires," and he examines US policies toward those and other nations in the Middle East from the 1970s to 2000. Then Anderson focuses on the Bush Administration, carrying us through such events as the terrorist's attacks of 9/11, the invasion of Afghanistan and the siege of Tora Bora, the "Axis of Evil" speech, the invasion of Iraq and capture of Baghdad, and the eruption of insurgency in Iraq. He ranges from RPGs slamming into Abrams tanks to cabinet meetings, vividly portraying both soldiers in the field and such policymakers as Dick Cheney and Condoleezza Rice. Anderson describes the counter-insurgency strategy embodied by the "surge" in Iraq, and the simultaneous revival of the Taliban. He concludes with an assessment of the prosecution of the wars in the first years of Barack Obama's presidency.Carefully researched and briskly narrated, Bush's Wars provides the single-volume balanced history that we have waited for. This new paperback edition takes the story through the first Obama term, covering our exit from Iraq and the ongoing drawdown in Afghanistan.
America Unbound
George W. Bush has launched a revolution in American foreign policy. He has redefined how America engages the world, shedding the constraints that friends, allies, and international institutions impose on its freedom of action. He has insisted that an America unbound is a more secure America. How did a man once mocked for knowing little about the world come to be a foreign policy revolutionary? In America Unbound, Ivo H. Daalder and James M. Lindsay dismiss claims that neoconservatives have captured the heart and mind of the president. They show that George W. Bush has been no one's puppet. He has been a strong and decisive leader with a coherent worldview that was evident even during the 2000 presidential campaign. Daalder and Lindsay caution that the Bush revolution comes with significant risks. Raw power alone is not enough to preserve and extend America's security and prosperity in the modern world. The United States often needs the help of others to meet the challenges it faces overseas. But Bush's revolutionary impulse has stirred great resentment abroad. At some point, Daalder and Lindsay warn, Bush could find that America's friends and allies refuse to follow his lead. America will then stand alone--a great power unable to achieve its most important goals.
The War Within
Bob Woodward once again pulls back the curtain on Washington to reveal the inner workings of a government at war in his fourth book on President George W. Bush. The War Within provides an exhaustive account of the struggles of General David Petraeus, who takes over in Iraq during one of the bleakest and most violent periods of the war. It reveals how breakthroughs in military operations and surveillance account for much of the progress as violence in Iraq plummeted in the middle of 2007. Woodward interviewed key players, obtained dozens of never-before-published documents, and had nearly three hours of exclusive interviews with President Bush. The result is a stunning, firsthand history of the years from mid-2006, when the White House realizes the Iraq strategy is not working, through the decision to surge another 30,000 U.S. troops in 2007, and into mid-2008, when the war becomes a fault line in the presidential election. The War Within addresses head-on questions of leadership, not just in war but in how we are governed and the dangers of unwarranted secrecy.
The Right Man
The Right Manis the first inside account of a historic year in the Bush White House, by the presidential speechwriter credited with the phraseaxis of evil.David Frum helped make international headlines when President George W. Bush’s 2002 State of the Union address linked international terrorists to Iran, Iraq, and North Korea. But that was only one moment during a crucial time in American history, when a president, an administration, and a country were transformed. Frum worked with President Bush in the Oval Office, traveled with him aboard Air Force One, and studied him closely at meetings and events. He describes how Bush thinks—what this conservative president believes about religion, race, the environment, Jews, Muslims, and America’s future. Frum takes us behind the scenes of one of the most secretive administrations in recent history, with revealing portraits of Karl Rove, Karen Hughes, Condoleezza Rice, and many others. Most significant, he tells the story of the transformation of George W. Bush: how a president whose administration began in uncertainty became one of the most decisive, successful, and popular leaders of our time. Before becoming a White House speechwriter, David Frum was a highly regarded author of books and political commentary and an influential voice on the pages ofThe Wall Street JournalandThe Weekly Standard.His commentary has been described by William F. Buckley as “the most refreshing ideological experience in a generation.” Now, inThe Right Man,we see Frum as a front-row observer and participant. Not since Peggy Noonan’s account of her time in the Reagan White House has an insider portrayed a sitting president with such precision, verve, honest admiration, and insight. The Right Manwill command international attention for its thoughtful account of George W. Bush in the midst of his greatest challenge. It will be an essential reference for anyone seeking to understand who our president really is and how he is likely to lead us in the future. From the Hardcover edition.