THE MAN I KNEW: The Amazing Story of George H. W. Bush’s Post Presidency
By Jean Becker
This is a love story. George Herbert Walker Bush (41) loved his wife, his extended family, his country, everyone he met, and even his adversaries such as Geraldine Ferraro and Bill Clinton.
Jean Becker, a former reporter, was Bush 41’s Chief of Staff during the post Presidential years and gives us a look at Bush 41 as a human being. Yes, there are references in the book to his Presidential successes and failures, but it is mostly about what she saw in him after he was President. She expounds on his love for Barbara Pierce Bush and his belief that he cheated death multiple times and took that as a sign God had a higher purpose for him.
He related to everyone he met and talked to. Becker shares the time he and Barbara went to the local grocery store in Houston. She went to do the shopping while he went to the cheese section to decide which cheese and crackers he thought he might like with their afternoon cocktails. Another shopper came to the section and was unsure of what she wanted, so he told her about the various cheeses and what crackers went best with them. When he and Barbara went to check out, there was a long line. The store manager offered to ring up their purchases, but they insisted they would wait in line like everyone else.
He was a man of empathy. Just a few examples she cites:
- Shaving off his hair when the young son of one of his secret service agent lost his during chemotherapy.
- Cold-calling George Clooney, whom he and Barbara liked watching on TV re-runs but never met, to enlist his aid to raise funds for victims of Hurricane Katrina.
- Joining with Bill Clinton to raise funds for the victims of a major Southeastern Asia tsunami.
- Planning with a disabled friend when, he himself was in a wheelchair, to ride the buses of Houston to celebrate the Americans with Disabilities Act, which was one of his Presidential accomplishments.
Jon Meacham, his biographer and friend, closed his eulogy at President Bush’s funeral with these words:
”He was always extending a hand, always opening that big, vibrant, inclusive, all enveloping heart. And if we listen closely enough, we can hear that heart beating even now, for it is the heartbeat of a lion – a lion who not only led us, but who loved us.”
Jon Meacham’s words encapsulates what Jean Becker has written. This book should be assigned reading for anyone going into public service.