Fortunate Son: George W. Bush and the Making of an American President

by J.H. Hatfield

Book Overview

A private peek into the life of the GOP presidential frontrunner answers vexing personal questions, like why his parents pressured him to break up with his first fiancee and how he avoided the draft during the Vietnam War. 15,000 first printing.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312242689
• ISBN13: 9780312242688
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• Length: 369 Pages
• Weight: 1.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.2" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Fleshing and Flushing out the Bushes

After J.H. Hatfield's book on George W. Bush and family had reached The New York Times bestseller list before its initial run, publisher St. Martin's Press announced that it was withdrawing publication. George Bush I was seen on national television and snarling that the book was "garbage." That is what happens when 1) individuals have more clout than they deserve, and 2) they are unable to refute the message of the author, and so they attack the messenger, an old trick, this time exercised by the candidate who gave us a campaign predicated on Willie Horton and the mandatory pledge of allegiance.The book was fortunately brought out by a smaller company with the integrity to let the message be sent to those who wish to read it. What inflamed the Bushes was that Hatfield dared to write the unthinkable, posing the issue that Bush II had been convicted of drug possession and that an unexplained period of community service in a Houston ghetto at a time when he was devoting himself to hedonistic hellraising appeared suspiciously out of character. Hatfield's suspicions were confirmed by the fact that Bush refused to discuss any questions dealing with his life prior to his twenty-sixth birthday, a stark departure from expectations concerning Bill Clinton and his Oxford University days, along with whether or not he inhaled.The Bushes feared this book not because they believed its contents constituted "garbage" but because the record was clear that a candidate for the highest office in the land had led a dissolute life in which family influence served as a launching pad to great political success. George II's family contacts led to dealmaking with the deep pockets of corporate America along with the oil patch elite. Hatfield details the pattern of corruption and, alas, has never been refuted. The right declares that its voices have been silenced, even amid the steady drumbeats of the Limbaughs, O'Reillys, Hannitys and Coulters. Fortunately the attempted bookburning exercise failed and Hatfield's message reached willing listeners. The Bush presidency and the positions taken, whether they be tax cuts for the rich or lies about weapons of mass destruction, are logical successors to the backdrop provided by the author's splendidly researched volume.

well researched biography of George W. Bush

As with any book, like Al Franken's, "Lies....", any attempt to prevent it from being published, makes people want to know why, and that is why I read this book. It is well researched, there are pages and pages of sources to back up his statements. He had tried numerous times to talk to Bush about the book, but was ignored and then he and his family were threatened, they even knew the baby's name, if he published the book. Now that really got my interest. When I started to read the book I was puzzled by their actions. He didn't sound biased, in fact, as you read about Bush in his childhood you got the feeling he kind a liked him. Bush was a little wild growing up, drank a lot and chased women, which a good portion of young men do at that time in their lives. There's even a few stories, if he had wanted to, he could have used malice, but he didn't, in fact, I ended up grinning at a couple of his antics. He was writing a biography and tried to write it as accurate and truthful as he knew how. He told about Bush's drinking problems, how losing his little sister hurt him, about him accepting Jesus and his turning to sobriety and his business deals, etc. As Bush matured, we get a look at a different person, one who doesn't act so christian. The man he has turned into is one that is downright scary for the people of our country. Through the name and position of his father, we find that young Bush is rescued and backed financially by moneyed people. People with money who expected to be rewarded for their generosity and that is repeated over and over. This book clearly shows us an accurate picture of the man in the White House. If there are things in this book that he and his party don't like (and there are many things), it is not the fault of the author, for he just reported the facts, Bush did the deeds. We all, sometime or another, have to reap what we sow. I would recommend that everyone should read this book before the next election so that you will know who this man truly is before deciding your vote.

Every American Should Own A Copy of This Book!

If you want to find out more about public officials, start with the books they don't want you to read. Fortunate Son, James Hatfield's swan song, amasses the singlemost informative and chilling overview of Bush the Younger, a man of wealth, privilege, and arrogance nearing Shakespearean proportions. In the wake of its destruction by its original publisher, subsequent revival by Soft Skull Press, as well as the tragic suicide of its author, this book has undergone several revisions. This third revision, featuring a new forward by Greg Palast and Mark Crispin Miller, is as outstanding as they come, the antithesis to all of the Neoconservative-sanctioned Bush books flooding the market. Approached as a cautionary tale, Fortunate Son's enormous scope is as insightful as it is well-written. An amazing work by an author whose brilliance resonates through every chapter.

Fortunate Son - Unfortunate Country

This is one of those books you will love if you don't like the Bush family and their politics. The prose is engaging; The plot turns razor sharp corners at high speed; The revelations are overwhelming.The questions I asked myself after reading the book are:Why should I care if the author had a checkered backround?How many of the facts are true? The ones I could check are.How did the Bush family manage to suppress the stories in the book?Why have other politicians been vilified publicly for fewer and less serious infractions?This is a book as revealing about the political system as it is about the Bush family. By the way, "W" does seem to be a sympathetic if somewhat flawed person in this book which makes one ask why all the hypocracy in trying to suppress it?

Documents Bush's cocaine arrest - brilliant!

This is the book that (in its last chapter) documents with excruciating detail Dubya's arrest for cocaine possession and subsequent community service punishment...and how he got the records destroyed as governor by taking the unprecedent action of issuing a new driver's license to himself and essentially erasing himself as a person in Texas prior to that time. Devastating and brilliant!