Book As It Relates to Education Term Paper

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Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush, by John W. Dean: Implications for Modern American Education

The book Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush, by John W. Dean (Little, Brown, 2004) has as its central theme the excessive secrecy of what Dean calls the "Bush-Cheney presidency (xi) or the "Bush and Cheney presidency" (21)since, according to Dean, Cheney, not Bush, often makes key decisions. Dean asserts that "in many ways it is a co-presidency" (11), with Bush as the front man, and Cheney, being the actual decision-maker, preferring the shadows. Both men are excessively secretive, and their secretiveness, argues Dean, threatens democracy, liberty, and public accountability, and also encourages incompetence by allowing Bush and Cheney to escape public scrutiny (185-88). Moreover, Dean portends the potentially harmful effects the Bush-Cheney presidency has had, and may continue to have, on the rights and protections of average American citizens, and on the constitutional divisions and checks and balances of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government (ix-xvii). Although the central theme of this book does not relate directly to modern American education, educators, students, and others interested in American education today can gain insight from this book about the kind of historical and other reflection; skepticism; examination of facts and inferences; and critical thinking necessary in American education today in order to protect our basic rights as citizens from the real danger of erosion posed by the Bush-Cheney presidency.

Dean's central comparison and stated reason for writing this book (ix) is to compare the excessive secrecy of the Bush-Cheney White House to that of the Nixon White House, of which he was himself a part. Dean states, in his Preface, that Bush and Cheney have created "the most secretive presidency of my lifetime" (ix), thus the book's title. Examples of that secrecy that are unusual for those in such high office are the secrecy surrounding Cheney's health and the public reassurances that Cheney has no serious heart problems, even after several heart attacks, and the secrecy about the first 41 years of Bush's life, including his problems with alcohol, National Guard service record, and numerous failed business ventures (pp. 22-53).

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However, members of the press who press for greater accountability or more detailed explanations of the actions or policies on the part of Bush or Cheney are ignored, ostracized, or even publicly ridiculed. One example Dean gives is that of when NBC correspondent David Gregory asked Bush, who was holding a joint press conference in France with French president Jacques Chirac, why Bush might think there was such strong European sentiment against him, and then turned to Chirac and, being fluent in French, asked Chirac to answer the question as well. Bush proceeded to publicly upbraid Gregory and accuse Gregory (one of the most low-key of all news correspondents) of showing off (pp. 70-71). As Dean states:

It was an absurd scolding, for Gregory is about as low-key a television journalist as can be

Found, a man who has no need to show off. But Bush let him and other American journalists

know: Don't ask him tough questions and don't -- even in subtle ways -- exhibit the slightest bit of initiative, particularly at a press conference heavily covered by foreign news media.

(p. 71)

Another criticism of Dean's is "Bush's reliance on image" (p. 71), to conceal his true self and character. Bush's handlers "have scripted one event after another -- often literally building sets for presidential appearances, with Bush needing only to show up in a well-tailored suit or some other costume for the occasion . . ." (p. 74). Dean also mentions Bush's well-known "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED" speech, in pilot's costume, carefully staged and delivered on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln (74), a photo opportunity that served to kick off his [effective] 2004 presidential re-election campaign.

Though not explicitly stated by Dean, it is nevertheless clear that Bush's carefully-manipulated media image, the result of combined obfuscation of the truth; aggressive repression of critical inquiry by members of the press and others, and careful "Stagecrafting and Image Control" (subtitle, p. 71) are….....

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