"My Eyes and Ears"

One of my favorite Washington watchers, Robert Draper, has a can't miss piece in NYT Magazine about Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser and assistant to the president for intergovernmental affairs and public engagement. Jarrett is a long-time family friend of the Obamas, and is an integral part of President Barack Obama's inner circle, though with the lowest profile. She is to Obama what Karen Hughes was to George W. Bush.

In President Obama's words: "she’s someone I trust completely....She’s family — she combines the closeness of a family member with the savvy and objectivity of a professional businesswoman and public-policy expert. And that’s a rare combination to have. You know, there are other friends of mine who are close to me but who don’t really understand the nature of my work. There are others who are extraordinary experts in policy and politics but don’t have that track record with me.....[Jarrett is trusted] to speak for me, particularly when we’re dealing with delicate issues....[I can also rely on her] to monitor the dynamics inside the White House. She’s got a very good antenna about the disgruntled young staffer or tensions between a couple of principals."

The Inside Story Behind Draper's Interviews with George W. Bush

Robert Draper has an excellent piece in this month's GQ detailing his 6 interviews with George W. Bush that he conducted for his book, Dead Certain. If you haven't read the book, you should. It's one of the best biographies of a sitting president I've read and gives tremendous insight in the person behind the Oval Office desk.

Draper's GQ article is just as fascinating as he recounts how he penetrated the wall of staff that inevitably circle to protect a sitting president--particularly one that is struggling. He also explains that the Bush he thought he knew was not the Bush he ended up coming to know: "Throughout my three-year reportorial odyssey inside the Bush White House, I heard numerous testimonials from uniformly sane, intelligent individuals who gushed with praise about one of the most unpopular presidents in recorded history. At times their admiration reminded me of the Beltway dupes in the movie Being There who elevated the vapid utterances of an idiot gardener to Moses-like sagacity. At other times, I understood exactly what they meant. Casual and smirky but also highly self-disciplined and a peerless listener; at times bullying and snappish but also gracious, self-deprecating, and ultimately humble…simple and not at all simple—but definitely, memorably compelling. That’s the guy I see."

Ultimately, Draper's interpretation of President Bush is much more complex than the caricature most believe. His book and the GQ article paint the picture of a fascinating individual and fascinating presidency that has impacted the country and the world far more than almost anyone would have predicted at the outset.

Beyond the Bush 43 Caricature

There is the public persona of George W. Bush--the caricature of the current president--incurious, mangler of the English language, butt of late-night comic jokes. And, there is the spin woven by loyal staff aides. The truth about who George W. Bush really is--sitting in the Oval Office, aboard Air Force One, relaxing at his ranch in Crawford, Texas--is somewhere in between.

The AP has a beneath-the-veneer look at George W. Bush that corroborates much of the view reported in Robert Draper's excellent but under appreciated 2007 book on Bush, Dead Certain. Love him, hate him, or indifferent, any reasonable person would have to conclude that the Bush presidency has been one of the most consequential of the modern era, perhaps ever. Though Bush will be retiring January 20, there will likely be a plethora of books and scholarly articles produced on the man and his administration for years to come.