Dead Certain

The Presidency of George W. Bush

by Robert Draper

Free Press, 480 pp., $28

When George W. Bush appointed Karen Hughes to be under secretary of state for public diplomacy, with specific orders to enhance the image of the United States in the greater Middle East, Hughes had never been to the region, had no expertise in the Muslims who largely populate it, and had never shown any real interest in it either.

It showed. On her first trip to the Persian Gulf, she approached foreign dignitaries as if they were soccer moms and began with a campaign slogan: "The four E's of diplomacy: Engagement, Exchange, Education and Empowerment." In one meeting, she told her host that the most famous phrase in the Pledge of Allegiance--"One Nation, Under God"--came from the U.S. Constitution.

So why did George W. Bush pick Karen Hughes for such a critical mission? Her words upon emerging from a meeting with an Egyptian sheikh provide one clue: "I think I was able to have a wonderful meeting with His Eminence to talk with him about the common language of the heart."

We don't know what His Eminence thought about his introduction to the common language of the heart. But George W. Bush, who years earlier declared that he had seen into the soul of Vladimir Putin, speaks it fluently. Hughes knows Bush as well as anyone other than his wife. And when Bush needs help on the big issues, he often seeks assistance from those most familiar to him, whatever their qualifications and without regard to what the rest of world might think.

And so it was that, as Hughes finished her trip, a reporter approached her for a comment on Bush's likely Supreme Court nominee: "Harriet would be a wonderful Supreme Court justice!"

"Harriet Miers didn't want the job," reports Robert Draper in Dead Certain. "She didn't want to be in Washington at all. For those who did not know her, the limits of Miers's ambition might have been hard to gauge. For George W. Bush had made her a player in spite of herself."

Throughout his short political career, Bush had frequently turned to Miers for help on legal matters--from his first gubernatorial campaign (1994) through his election as president in 2000 and deep into his administration. So when Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced her retirement, Miers seemed to him like a natural candidate to replace her.

But conservatives, who had waited years for an opportunity to remake the Court, were furious that Bush had passed over so many qualified candidates to select his friend from Texas. The fight over the Miers nomination was a low point in the Bush administration; but the story of how she came to be chosen, and why she ultimately withdrew from consideration, is a high point in Draper's long look at the Bush presidency.

It is Draper's reporting on Bush and his closest advisers that makes this volume worth reading. Draper covered Bush for Texas Monthly before he took his current job as a national correspondent for GQ, and had exceptional access to Bush and his team. Dead Certain reflects the depth and breadth of Draper's understanding and includes fresh detail about the main players and their often-complicated relationships with Bush and with each other.

Draper reports in great detail about how the much-derided "Mission Accomplished" sign appeared on the deck of the USS Lincoln and suggests that criticism of Bush stemming from the sign is unfounded. He provides context for some of Bush's gaffes that make them seem more understandable.

Why did Bush publicly compliment FEMA director Mike Brown for his agency's disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina? Moments before Bush praised Brown--"Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job"--Alabama governor Bob Riley had said almost the exact same thing: "Whenever I needed anything here in Alabama, all I've needed to do is call Mike Brown," Riley said. "Mr. President, he's doing a heck of a job."

Draper's portrayal of the president is often sympathetic. His familiarity with Bush is the strength of his book, and it allows him to write about the president in a way that largely avoids caricature.