Publishers to Bush on memoir: Don’t hurry
By Marjorie Kehe | 11.06.08
Publishers interviewed for an AP story today had a few words of advice to outgoing president George W. Bush: If you’re thinking of writing a book, take your time.
“In a poor economy, it’s not a great time for anyone to shop a book,” the story notes, “and certainly not for a deeply unpopular president.”
“If I were advising President Bush, given how the public feels about him right now, I think patience would probably be something that I would encourage,” said Paul Bogaards, executive director of publicity for Alfred A. Knopf.
The article goes on to point out that Bush has sometimes compared himself to Harry Truman, who was very unpopular when he left the White House in 1953 but is now widely regarded as an American hero. However, the story continues, “It took years for him to gain such affection and Truman’s two-volume memoir, published in the 1950s, is less remembered than a book about him published in the 1990s, David McCullough’s million-selling ‘Truman.’ ”
“Only in hindsight will history show whether Bush is deemed to be a good president who sacrificed his presidency for what he believed in or whether history judges him to be a failed president,” said Marj Ross, president and publisher of the conservative Regnery Publishing.
Meanwhile, in the UK, there’s a piece in today’s Guardian by Rob Woodward pondering the connection between the writing skills of US presidents and their success in office.
Woodward notes that some of America’s most successful presidents were also gifted writers. “Abraham Lincoln, perhaps the most revered of all American leaders, was also one his century’s greatest writers,” he writes. “Going back further in time, one cannot help but be struck by the literary talents of presidents such John Adams, James Madison, and especially Thomas Jefferson.”
All of this bodes well for president-elect Barack Obama, says Woodward. Woodward judges Obama’s two books – “Dreams from My Father” and “The Audacity of Hope” – to be “a cut above the usual tripe politicians slap between two covers.”
In fact, he says, “Dreams from My Father” is easily the most honest, daring, and ambitious volume put out by a major US politician in the last 50 years.”
However, Woodward takes a momentary break from his optimism to note the case of the 18th US president, Ulysses S Grant, “whose memoirs are regarded by many as one of the finest pieces of literature produced in 19th-century America, while his presidency is usually ranked as being among the most corrupt and incompetent in US history.”
All of which takes us back to Ross’s comment above: “Only in hindsight will history show” the success of a presidency.
In the cases of both Bush 43 and Obama, we have many years to wait.
Comments
2. beakmur | 11.07.08
Don’t some laws exist that prevent felons from publishing their exploits for profit?
3. Kay Matthews | 11.07.08
Hmm. g obrien only has three misspellings in his blog… I am grateful that time and experience have given me a broader and more objective picture of political events. Pray tell, when did Poland attack or threaten Hitler? I don’t seem to recall that. In an unprecedented time with an unique event a President (yes, I respect the office of anyone who would fill those big shoes) fairly new in office faced what no other President has faced in our times–a violent, horrifying attack on our land that affected far beyond our shores. It is always convenient to blame/whip an outgoing president in order to win the office. Surely we all recognize (except the newest voters) that this is part of the “game of politics,” and not a very pretty or fair game. Yes, time will tell what President Bush’s place will be in history, thank goodness!
And now we have a whole new scene in the presidency. I have been listening to “World Talk” on NPR to hear what our world neighbors are saying. President-elect Obama has the opportunity to be a very great president. Will he be able to put shady companions and a narrow agenda behind? I had to go to the overseas press to gain an objective view of these two candidates! And in awe of the full responsibilities of the high office and with new understanding, as he is briefed, will he grow and reshape his agenda? Most Presidents come into office with pride and high hopes. I will be praying for the Leadership of our country, even as I have been.
4. Caponer | 11.11.08
It is far too soon to make a judgment on the presidency of George W. Bush. As for his writing memoirs, I can only say why not? If we had more writings by ex-Presidents, there would be more grist for the historians to use in their mills. Among them, undoubtedly the best writer was Abraham Lincoln. The literary loss we sustained by his assassination cannot be overestimated. The current political hatred of Bush will pass in time as those men go to their graves and a more tolerant generation is born. The man clearly has been no genius, but any President is mostly the product of his times and his advisers. Even Obama is now searching for advisers who will shape so much of his presidency; and their prejudices are as boundless as those of the Bush advisers. I’ll not be a party to a rush to judgment on the second Bush presidency.
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1. g obrien | 11.07.08
ever since the moron followed hitler’s example of illegally invading and occupying soveriegn countries (Hitler with Poland in 1939, the moron with Iraq in 2003), the comparison’s will resonate through history. Bush presents the exampe, perhaps unique in American history, of a president who left absolutely nothing to his credit..after jan 20th…this country and the world will end this BAD dream of the past 8 years. Unable to even listen to this moron malign the English language for the past 8 years, who, in his right mind, would want to waste money to read what he clearly would have someone else write….I, for one, having lived through those moron years, ceratinly wouldn’t waste time reliving those ‘memories’..good riddance, george…crawl back under that rock from which you emerged.