A Portrait of My Father

Warrior, husband, father, businessman, statesman, public servant, President, humanitarian. This is George Bush, who was raised in a Christian household and taught, actually conditioned, to refrain from bragging. George Bush lives a very full and public life. At times he seems aloof, yet he bears a gentle dignity, born of the humility and discipline he was taught as a boy.

Bush suffered losses. He lost several elections. He lost fellow warriors when he served in World War II. He and Mrs. Bush lost a young daughter, Robin. Shortly before she died, she told her father, "I love you more than tongue can tell." The malapropism survived. Apparently, malapropism is congenital in the Bush family.

George Bush is always self-effacing. Given his upbringing, it is difficult to determine if this is how he was nurtured or his true nature. He is not given to lashing out at others in anger. Better to remain silent in the face of disaster or defeat, or be self-deprecating in an embarrassing situation. Bill Clinton defeated George Bush when he ran for a second Presidential term, yet they became friends. They traveled together and made television appearances and public service announcements to facilitate humanitarian efforts following natural disasters. And when Bush had that unfortunate reversal right in the lap of the Prime Minister of Japan, with cameras rolling, he made a joke at his own expense, then recombombulated himself. The world stopped and giggled at him, but he has true grit, and so does his wife.

George W. Bush is a decent artist and writes with casual elegance, a box of Kleenex near his right hand, and tongue firmly planted in his cheek. This is not an unbiased work. It is a biography written both from facts and from his heart. It is not an objective biography. This time, history is personal. Penned by the subject's eldest son, researched by family and friends, "41" is an intimate and loving history of a long life full of courage, suffering, wealth, success, and generosity.