Bush & Useful History

This is actually kind of hard to believe, but apparently Bush has convened a reading group at the White House, one which has featured such notables as John Lewis Gaddis and Bernard Lewis - both of whom are at the right end of the academic spectrum. Anyhow, Bush definitely reads with an agenda: a book on Lincoln in 1865 steels him for war (but not for assessing new taxes to pay for the war, like the Railsplitter did), a book by Gaddis spurs him to ask about Otto von Bismarck the warlord (but not to use social welfare to strengthen his country, like the Iron Chancellor).

In short, Bush reads like a smart but close-minded undergrad would: not to learn new things, but to confirm old ones. And he seems - like a shocked freshman? like an Amazon.com reviewer? - overly concerned in a book's length: to one author, "Bush sheepishly pointed out in his copy that he was only up to page 211 --but said he would finish the remaining 92 pages soon."

Mr. President, here is just one book you should take with you to Crawford: David Kennedy, Freedom from Fear. Watch out, though - it's 936 pages long.

(Whew: I made it through this whole post without mentioning My Pet Goat.)