What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception

by Scott McClellan

Overview

Scott McClellan was one of a few Bush loyalists from Texas who became part of his inner circle of trusted advisers, and remained so during one of the most challenging and contentious periods of recent history. Drawn to Bush by his commitment to compassionate conservatism and strong bipartisan leadership, McClellan served the president for more than seven years, and witnessed day-to-day exactly how the presidency veered off course.

In this refreshingly clear-eyed book, written with no agenda other than to record his experiences and insights for the benefit of history, McClellan provides unique perspective on what happened and why it happened the way it did, including the Iraq war, Hurricane Katrina, Washington's bitter partisanship, and two hotly contested presidential campaigns. He gives readers a candid look into who George W. Bush is and what he believes, and into the personalities, strengths, and liabilities of his top aides. Finally, McClellan looks to the future, exploring the lessons this presidency offers the American people as we prepare to elect a new leader.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781586486525
Publisher:	PublicAffairs
Publication date:	06/03/2008
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Scott McClellan served as White House press secretary from 2003 to 2006. Before that he served as the principal deputy White House press secretary and as traveling press secretary for the Bush Cheney 2000 campaign. Earlier in his career, Mr. McClellan served as deputy communications director in the Texas governor's office and campaign manager for three successful state campaigns. He is now a senior advisor to a global technology firm and communications strategist. He lives near Washington, DC.

Read an Excerpt

The most powerful leader in the world had called upon me to speak on his behalf and help restore credibility he lost amid the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. So I stood at the White house briefing room podium in front of the glare of the klieg lights for the better part of two weeks and publicly exonerated two of the senior-most aides in the White House: Karl Rove and Scooter Libby.

There was one problem. It was not true.

I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice President, the President's chief of staff, and the President himself.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

1 A Made-for-Washington Scandal 1

2 A Small Part of Something Grand 11

3 Growing Up in Politics 21

4 Governor Bush Runs for President 39

5 The Permanent Campaign 61

6 The Early Days 87

7 September 11 and the Partisan Ceasefire 99

8 Selling the War 119

9 Becoming White House Press Secretary 149

10 Deniability 165

11 Betting the Presidency 191

12 Brush Fire 213

13 Triumph and Illusion 233

14 Revelation and Humiliation 255

15 Out of Touch 271

16 After the Trial 293

17 Changing the Culture of Deception 311

Acknowledgments 325

Index 327

Editorial Reviews

Scott McClellan was there: From 2003 to 2006, he served as White House press secretary, functioning daily as one of President Bush's inner circle. What Happened is neither a conventional apologia or a critique: "This is not a book to settle scores or enhance my own role, for better or worse…as a member of the President's senior staff. What I want to do is write in detail about what I know and what I learned in hopes that this account will place the events of the time, particularly after September 11, 2001, into a framework that make sense to me, to readers and later, to historians." To achieve his purpose, McClellan writes candidly about the president, the vice president, and their advisers; Iraq and the war on terror; Congress and the media.

The former press secretary of President Bush (No. 43 version) empties out his notebooks, and all of Washington will be holding its breath.

Seattle Times

When it comes to lying, tone of voice is the best way we can tell. It was the exact right choice to have President Bush’s former White House press secretary read his own book. He’s got an strong, even baritone, with just a fringe of his Texas background. McClellan’s a professional and speaks clearly and with conviction. We believe him. On the other hand, he is a professional and sounds as if he might be reading about somebody else. He sounds an even-tempered, likable guy. But that’s how he sounded when he was living the life he now so regrets. Is he a great actor, or no actor at all? I wouldn’t know how to bet. But the drama of that question makes this timely book a thrilling piece of audio. B.H.C. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

JUNE 2008 - AudioFile