A Charge to Keep
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Charge to Keep is a 1999 book written by George W. Bush and credited ghostwriter Michael Herskowitz, with a foreword by Karen Hughes. Later editions have the sub-title My Journey To The White House.
The book contains a brief overview of Bush's life and political philosophy. It is not an autobiography in the strict sense, but rather a collection of non-chronological sketches and anecdotes about his years at Yale and Harvard, business career, and time as governor of Texas. He intersperses these with brief explanations of his political philosophy, including his belief in small government, capitalism, and a strong national defense.
More specific parts of his program, which he enumerates in the last pages include creating a free market alliance with Canada and Latin America, modernizing Social Security, and firmness with hostile regimes, particularly Iraq and North Korea (pp. 238-9)[1][2][3]
The title is taken from a painting by W. H. D. Koerner lent to Bush, showing a horseman charging up a rugged mountain trail, followed by others. In the book, Bush says this scene "epitomizes our mission":
This is us. What adds complete life to the painting for me is the message of Charles Wesley that we serve One greater than ourselves.
The painting was commissioned by The Saturday Evening Post in 1916 to illustrate a short story called "The Slipper Tongue" and depicts a "slipper-tongued" horse thief being pursued by a lynch mob. The original magazine caption was "Had His Start Been Fifteen Minutes Longer He Would Not Have Been Caught."[4]
The painting has hung on the west wall of the Oval Office during Bush's presidency.
[edit] Contents
| # | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| * | Foreword | |
| * | Reflections | by Karen Hughes |
| 1 | A Charge to Keep | |
| 2 | Midland values | |
| 3 | "What Texans Can Dream, Texans Can Do" | |
| 4 | Yale and the National Guard | |
| 5 | Harvard and Moving Home | |
| 6 | Reading: The New Civil Right | |
| 7 | The Best Decision I Ever Made | |
| 8 | Naming the Team | |
| 9 | Working Together | |
| 10 | The Big 4-0 | |
| 11 | Karla Faye Tucker and Henry Lee Lucas | |
| 12 | Tides | |
| 13 | The Veto | |
| 14 | Baseball | |
| 15 | A Time to Build | |
| 16 | A Compassionate Conservative |
[edit] References
- ^ Bush, George W.; Karen Hughes (1999-11-17). A Charge to Keep, 1st, William Morrow, 256. ISBN 0688174418.
- ^ Harper, Jennifer. "Bush's biography paints contender as a straight arrow", The Washington Times, The Washington Times LLC, 1999-11-17, p. A6. Retrieved on 2007-11-16.
- ^ Bruni, Frank. "Book Lets Bush Explain His Life and His Politics", The New York Times, The New York Times Company, 1999-11-15, p. A22. Retrieved on 2007-11-16.
- ^ Scott Horton (January 24, 2008). The Illustrated President. Harper's Magazine. Retrieved on 2008-01-26. The article references The Bush Tragedy, by Jacob Weisberg, a book unpublished at the time the article was written.
