A discussion with James Mann, Author-in-Residence at Johns Hopkins University, on his new book, "George W. Bush."
Thursday, February 5, 2015
BY INVITATION ONLY ABOUT THE SPEAKER James Mann is a Washington-based author who has written a series of award-winning books about American foreign policy. He is a former newspaper reporter, foreign correspondent and columnist who wrote for more than twenty years for the Los Angeles Times. He is now an author-in-residence at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Mann’s best-known work is Rise of the Vulcans: A History of Bush’s War Cabinet. Published in 2004, the book became a New York Timesbest-seller. The Wall Street Journal called it “a work of serious intellectual history and a nuanced analysis of the debates that will continue to shape American foreign policy long after the Vulcans themselves have left the stage.” The pathbreaking book served as the primary source for accounts about the careers and ideas of Vice President Cheney and his associates. Before becoming a full-time author, Mann worked for more than three decades as a newspaper reporter, foreign correspondent and columnist. His work was awarded the Edward Weintal Prize in 1999 for distinguished career-long coverage of foreign policy, and he also was a two-time winner of the Edwin M. Hood Award for diplomatic reporting. ABOUT THE BOOK The controversial president whose time in office was defined by the September 11 attacks and the war on terror, George W. Bush stirred powerful feelings on both sides of the aisle. Republicans viewed him as a resolute leader who guided America through the September 11 attacks and retaliated in Afghanistan and Iraq, while Democrats saw him as an overmatched president who led America into two inconclusive wars that sapped the nation’s resources and diminished its stature. When Bush left office amid a growing financial crisis, both parties were eager to move on. In this assessment of the nation’s forty-third president, James Mann sheds light on why George W. Bush made the decisions that shaped his presidency, what went wrong, and how the internal debates and fissures within his administration played out in such a charged atmosphere. He shows how and why Bush became such a polarizing figure in both domestic and foreign affairs, and he examines the origins and enduring impact of Bush’s most consequential actions—including Iraq, the tax cuts, and the war on terror. In this way, Mann points the way to a more complete understanding of George W. Bush and his times.