5 Reasons We’re Excited to Read Jon Meacham’s New Book about George H.W. Bush

So it’s exciting that Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush, which promises to be the definitive biography of George, Sr., is hitting bookshelves this fall, and even more exciting that its author is Jon Meacham, the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer of American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House and Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power. Here are five reasons it sits atop our list of the season’s most anticipated bios.
Meacham’s access
When Meacham published American Lion, many questioned what he could bring to the subject of Andrew Jackson that hadn’t been thoroughly explored in countless previous books. Meacham’s answer—aside from his expertise and clear, engaging writing style, of course—was access. Access to correspondence and other writings by and about Jackson that were hidden away in private collections, some never before consulted, all giving him unprecedented insight into Jackson’s personality and thought process. Meacham repeats the feat with George H.W. Bush, benefitting from exclusive access to letters, diary entries, and a treasure trove of other personal and private materials that no other biographer or historian has laid eyes on. Destiny and Power promises to be a revelatory work on a complex president, father, and patriot.

Bush’s peculiarly American life
George H.W. Bush is one of the most complex political figures in recent memory, yet his legacy is often overlooked. The scion of a wealthy family, Bush could have taken the easy road, but instead joined the Navy and flew combat missions until he was shot down over the Pacific Ocean, then went to Texas to seek adventure and fortune in the oil business. Only later, seeking again to serve his country, he ran for political office, eventually rising to the very pinnacle of power. As one of only two Presidents to see his own son eventually succeed him in office, Bush founded a political dynasty that is still dominating politics, and yet he also struck up an unlikely friendship with the man who defeated him in the 1992 election, Bill Clinton. There’s something absolutely American about the arc of Bush’s life that makes this book especially exciting.
The seeds of today
Bush, Sr. is a fascinating subject for another reason: the connection between his administration and the modern political scene, as well as the “Reagan Revolution” he was part of. Bush’s economic policies, his loss to Bill Clinton, his military misadventures in the Middle East—all of the details of his time in the White House have their eerie mirrors in the present, and an examination of his private thoughts as he made decisions 20 years ago will offer fascinating insights into the events unfolding today.

A singularly accomplished man
As we muddle though an election cycle in which many candidates’ sole qualification for office is having been successful in their chosen professions, George H.W. Bush stands as an example of an old-school American ideal: the highly accomplished public servant. Before he entered the oval office, Bush served our country in the military and in Congress and was director of the CIA, not to mention vice president. He had one of the most effective careers of any American politician, and helped deal with some of the most momentous moments in United States history.
Jon Meacham
Meacham isn’t a pundit playing at being a historian—he’s the real deal, an articulate and often powerful writer who knows how to distill huge volumes of information into an entertaining and compelling narrative. Anyone who’s read his books on Jefferson or Jackson—or any of the other bestsellers he’s penned—will know that Destiny and Power will be a great read as well as an informative study of a key figure in American history.