The Bush Legacy: Their Story in Photographs

In these 230 stately photographs with accompanying text on the lives and administrations of George H.W. and George W. Bush, Cohen (What Matters) offers a visual history of both Bush administrations complemented by speeches and text—Bush senior’s acceptance speech at the 1988 Republican convention and Bush junior’s address to Congress following the September 11 attacks. (Curiously, more space is devoted to Bush senior, although his son served twice as long.) As in books of this type, the history is superficial—family, campaign, afternoons playing horseshoes, and bill-signing photos. And while there is sufficient attention to two Gulf wars, Afghanistan is largely absent. Cohen does offer important biographical information and does not shy away from his subjects’ flaws, noting in a portrait of George W. Bush signing his June 2001 tax cut that it “contributed to a nearly 90 percent rise in the national debt over the course of two Bush administrations.” (Nov.)