Since it’s election season, I’ll be spending the next few days reviewing political books that are of particular importance to the upcoming contests. Keep in mind that the ratings at the bottom do not suggest that I agree with an author’s position. Rather, they speak to the rigor, depth, and level of engagement that are offered by the text.

State of Denial: Bush at War Part III
By Bob Woodward

In his third book since George W. Bush became President of the United States, Bob Woodward takes a strikingly different tone than his previous two installments. While the other tomes were highly supportive of the Bush Administration, State of Denial presents a different side of the commander-in-chief and his cabinet.

State of Denial tells a story of deception, confusion, and outright incompetence in a wartime White House. Unlike his previous book, Woodward shows Bush as a pathologically stubborn leader who refuses to withdraw troops from Iraq, “even if Laura and Barney [the dog] are the only ones who support me.”

The book also details the Bush Administration’s consistent refusal to speak truthfully in public about the war in Iraq. Despite his rising attacks against American forces, Bush continued to offer a mendaciously optimistic picture of the war’s progress. Regarding the 9/11 attacks, Woodward alleges that Condi Rice gave “the brush-off” to George Tenet when he tried to warn her about impending terrorist attacks two months before they occurred. Woodward also tells an insider’s story of Andrew Card’s (and Laura Bush!) 18-month-long attempt to oust Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Of course, people in the Bush Administration have rightly pointed out that Woodward did not have the insider access to the White House that he did in the first two books. In fact, unlike the other projects, he did not interview the president for State of Denial. Others have said that Woodward is merely a political weathervane, whose books merely resonate with popular opinion. While there is merit to both of these claims, Woodward has nonetheless painted a powerful, engaging, honest, and appropriately unsettling portrait of Bush and his crew.

BARBERSHOP RATING: 4.5/5.0 CLIPPERS