Book Reveals Dissent In Bush Inner Circle

Washington Post: White House Granted Author Unusual Access For Inside Look At Bush Presidency

(Washingtonpost.com)  This story was written by Michael Abramowitz.

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Karl Rove told George W. Bush before the 2000 election that it was a bad idea to name Richard B. Cheney as his running mate, and Rove later raised objections to the nomination of Harriet E. Miers to the Supreme Court, according to a new book on the Bush presidency.

In "Dead Certain: The Presidency of George Bush," journalist Robert Draper writes that Rove told Bush he should not tap Cheney for the Republican ticket: "Selecting Daddy's top foreign-policy guru ran counter to message. It was worse than a safe pick - it was needy." But Bush did not care - he was comfortable with Cheney and "saw no harm in giving his VP unprecedented run of the place."

When Rove, President Bush's top political adviser, expressed concerns about the Miers selection, he was "shouted down" and subsequently muted his objections, Draper writes, while other advisers did not realize the outcry the nomination would cause within the president's conservative political base.

It was John G. Roberts Jr., now the chief justice of the United States, who suggested Miers to Bush as a possible Supreme Court justice, according to the book. Miers, the White House counsel and a Bush loyalist from Texas, did not want the job, but Bush and first lady Laura Bush prevailed on her to accept the nomination, Draper writes.

After Miers withdrew in the face of the conservative furor, Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. was selected and confirmed for the seat.

Roberts rejected Draper's report when asked about it last night.

"The account is not true," said Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg, after consulting with Roberts. "The chief justice did not suggest Harriet Miers to the president."

In recounting the Miers nomination and other controversies of the Bush presidency, Draper offers an intimate portrait of a White House racked by more internal dissent and infighting than is commonly portrayed and of a president who would, alternately, intensely review speeches line by line or act strangely disengaged from big issues.

Draper, a national correspondent for GQ, first wrote about Bush in 1998, when he was the Texas governor. He received unusual cooperation from the White House in preparing "Dead Certain," which will hit bookstores tomorrow. In addition to conducting six interviews with the president, Draper said, he also interviewed Rove, Cheney, Laura Bush, and many senior White House and administration officials.

Draper writes that Bush was "gassed" after an 80-minute bike ride at his Crawford, Tex., ranch on the day before Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast and was largely silent during a subsequent video briefing from then-FEMA Director Michael D. Brown and other top officials making preparations for the storm.

He also reports that the president took an informal poll of his top advisers in April 2006 on whether to fire Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

During a private dinner at the White House to discuss how to buoy Bush's presidency, seven advisers voted to dump Rumsfeld, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, incoming chief of staff Joshua B. Bolten, the outgoing chief, Andrew H. Card Jr., and Ed Gillespie, then an outside adviser and now White House counselor. Bush raised his hand along with three others who wanted Rumsfeld to stay, including Rove and national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley. Rumsfeld was ousted after the November elections.

The book offers more than 400 footnotes, but Draper does not make clear the sourcing for some of the more arresting assertions - such as the one about Roberts's role in the Miers nomination, which has previously not come to light. Roberts's nomination was highly praised by conservatives, and they criticized Miers as lacking conservative credentials.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said yesterday that he had no comment on the book, including the claim about the Miers nomination.

Draper offers some intriguing details about Bush's personal habits, such as his intense love of biking. He reports that White House advance teams and the Secret Service "devoted inordinate energy to satisfying Bush's need for biking trails," descending on a town a couple of days before the president's arrival to find secluded hotels and trails the boss would find challenging.

He also makes new disclosures about the behind-the-scenes infighting at the White House that helped prompt the change from Card to Bolten in the spring of 2006. By that point, he reports, some close to the president had concluded that "the White House management structure had collapsed," with senior aides Rove and Dan Bartlett "constantly at war."

He quotes Gillespie as telling one Republican while running interference for Alito's Supreme Court nomination: "I'm going crazy over here. I feel like a shuttle diplomat, going from office to office. No one will talk to each other."

[realpatriot1]

S-Temper,

I am an American citizen and I didn''t threaten the President, I made a prediction. I wasn''t predicting that I would hang him and it was meant to be more figurative than literal.

Besides, he won''t be President in 6years, even if he does declare msrtial law. What I said was no different than Ann Culter wishing Edwards dead or Ted Nugent talking about sticking his machine gun in Obama''s & Clinton''s mouths. My reference was to a judicial proceeding.

I do believe he will face a court of justice after leaving office(possibly several).

6 years after he leaves office I have no doubt that he will be hung figuratively, and possibly literally, but not by me.

[taotxzen]

Let''s see Einstein, you say Hilary has a 45% "negative feelings"rating, whatever that is. Would that mean she has a 55% favorable rating?

How does that compare to your fearless hero GWB''s approval ratings in this country, the last time I checked I belive it was huveri ng around 26%?

You are a clueless sheep and I can prove it. You probably think we should go after Iran in order to fight Al-Qaeda.

[realpatriot1]

6 years from now you may see Bush hanging, but it won''t be at the U.N.

[observantx]

Well, there''s the solution to everyone''s problems: build Incurious George a bike trial 200 miles long, so that he will spend his time there and not muck up our country any further. It would cost 3 million dollars, but it would be cheap at 5 times the price to keep him occupied and away from phones, email, etc.

Maybe we could get Lance to swallow his bile and ride along to spend a few miles listening to our boob-in-chief babble and drool nonsense.

It''s just a thought.

[donnie900]

Hey, if every chick in the neighborhood had a mustache? I''d probably do the same thing too..

[taotxzen]

You know I lived in Israel for some time. There is a game you really should try when you are there, it''s called Allahu Akbar. You being a fan of buses this will be perfect. Its sort of a race to see who can run on the bus the fastest and yell "Allahu Akbar!" Give it a try, I''ll bet you are a natural.

[donnie900]

Live''n out of a bus is a way of life, pal! A WAY OF LIFE!

[donnie900]

I''ll sell it to the lowest bidder.

[taotxzen]

Lots of buses in the West Bank and many friends that share your way of looking at things...

[donnie900]

No thank you. You can take yer psychobabble and sucker somebody else outta 150 bucks an hour.

[taotxzen]

That would be an excellent place for you, may I suggest the West Bank.

[donnie900]

I wouldn''t doubt it. I also mysteriously became an Israeli citizen.

[taotxzen]

Didn''t I see you on a watch list?

[donnie900]

A backho.. A BACKHO! Costs 100 bucks an hour..

[taotxzen]

the voice of experience, on both counts...

[donnie900]

150 bucks an hour? I''ll just bump into buses instead.

[jetranger7]

NOT only am I a BUSH Basher, but I absolutely love to Knock Republicans, I love to Knock Republican Supporters who love Bush right up side the head, or in the mouth, and I love to watch them fall to the ground face first !! I love it !They''re all mouth and little Wimps with a hell of a Mouth, whip out the baseball bats, and let em have it !

[taotxzen]

donnie900 needs some "quiet time" and a nap.

Brother, you need to go find a shrink and a personality.

[dodaz-2009]

This is not about politics, or parties ,..or whatever....it''s just about one VERY, un-intelligent man,.. being told what to do by people he is SUPPOSED to be leading,...it''s sad,...ONLY money talks,...nuthin'' else w/ this HIGHLY , un-prepared human being.

[mbcsmith]

And in a shocking disclosure on page 197, it is disclosed that the President hasn''t had *** with his wife in eight years and nailed an intern in the Oval office. OH, WAIT! That was the book on Clinton.