Kirjahaku

This biography examines the life of George W. Bush—one of the most controversial U.S. presidents in recent history—before, during, and after his two terms in the White House. George W. Bush served as president of the United States through some of the most pivotal and memorable events in our nation's history, including the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001; Hurricane Katrina; and the devastating economic downturn at the end of his second term. It is still too soon to decide how history will judge his administration. Despite suffering much ridicule and scorn for his linguistic gaffes, which became known as "Bushisms," the fact remains that this Yale graduate eventually rose to become a two-term Texas governor and a two-term U.S. president. George W. Bush: A Biography provides a comprehensive view of Bush's life, beginning with his childhood and education, then examining his life as a businessman; his governorships of Texas; his tumultuous, two-term presidency of the United States; and his life after leaving the White House.

This book paints 11 different portraits of the many "faces" of President George W. Bush, arguably the most controversial and fascinating modern American president, revealing the malleability of human motives and of Bush's motives in particular.George W. Bush's presidency was marred by some of the worst events in modern U.S. history: the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, the events of September 11, 2001; the quagmire of the war in Iraq; widespread fear of terrorism; Hurricane Katrina and the government's delayed, inefficient response; and the Patriot Act, which greatly increased the government's ability to access citizens' private information. Which of Bush's characteristics, influences, or internal motivations were most responsible for this polarizing President's attitudes and decisions?This book presents 11 competing views of President George W. Bush. The Chameleon President: The Curious Case of George W. Bush does not endorse a particular view of Bush; it is up to the reader to decide which portrayal best explains the 43rd president's surprisingly complex character as well as his political legacy. The author synthesizes popular claims from various sources to provide possible explanations for Bush's seemingly contradictory characteristics. Examples of the influences considered include his intelligence, immaturity, and religious beliefs; his upbringing in West Texas; his misfortune to have been in charge during a terrorist attack and a rare natural disaster; his vice president; and his unstated agendas—political, business, and family-driven.

An overview and analysis of the Court’s justifications for overruling past cases and precedents.

A timely and lively summary and analysis of the Supreme Court’s justifications for overruling nearly 300 prior rulings in its historyAn audacious US Supreme Court is overturning a number of long-standing precedents, and Overturned offers a lively account of the court’s history of overturning prior cases and examples and analyses of 300 cases overruled in its history. The immense controversy surrounding the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in 2022, which overruled Roe v. Wade and erased the constitutional right to abortion in the United States, has focused public attention on how and why the Supreme Court knocks down long-established precedents. In his vivid and accessible style, scholar Clarke Rountree recounts the rhetorical pirouettes and linguistic acrobatics the court has deployed to explain its reversal of Dobbs and numerous other landmark decisions. He reviews strategies the court uses to undermine a previous court’s standing without undermining its own. He analyzes overrulings across time, by type (constitutional cases versus statutory and common law cases), by the ages of the overturned precedents, with changes in the court’s membership, and through other variables. Rountree gives engrossing accounts of pivotal overrulings in the past, such as when Lincoln’s Treasury Secretary Salmon Chase used the Legal Tender Act in 1862 to raise money for the Civil War then ruled the same law unconstitutional in 1870 when he served as chief justice. Rountree retells Thomas Edison’s attempt to monopolize the burgeoning film industry, which was stopped only when the Supreme Court overturned an earlier patent-rights case in 1917. Finally, Rountree applies his myriad insights to the politically fraught Dobbs case.Overruled makes a valuable contribution to law, rhetoric, politics, and history, and readers interested in the role and function of America’s highest court will find Rountree’s account fast-paced, lively, and engaging.

The Supreme Court's intervention in the presidential election of 2000, and its subsequent decision in favor of George W. Bush, elicited immediate, heated, and widespread debate. Critics argued that the justices used weak legal arguments to overturn the Florida Supreme Court's ruling, ending a ballot recount and awarding the presidency to Bush. More fundamentally, they questioned the motives of conservative judges who arrived at a decision in favor of the candidate who reflected their political leanings."Judging the Supreme Court" examines this controversial case and the extensive attention it has received. To fully understand the case, Clarke Rountree argues, we must understand "judicial motives." These are comprised of more than each judge's personal opinions. Judges' motives, which Rountree calls "rhetorical performances," are as influential and publicly discussed as their decisions themselves. Before they are dissected in the media, judges' motives are carefully crafted by the decision-makers themselves, their critics, and their defenders.Justices consider not only the motives of the government, of military officials, of criminals, of public speakers, and of others, they also consider, construct, construe, spin, and deconstruct the motives of dissenters (whom they want to show are "misguided"), earlier courts, lower courts, and, especially, themselves.Every judicial opinion is essentially a portrait of motives that says, "Here's what we did and here's why we did it." Well-constructed judicial motives reinforce the idea that we live under "the rule of law," while motives articulated less successfully raise questions about the legitimacy not just of individual judicial decisions but also of our political system and its foundation on an impartial judiciary. In "Bush v. Gore", Rountree concludes, the judges of the majority opinion were not motivated by judicial concerns about law and justice, but rather by their own political and personal motives.