Bush at War

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Cover of Bush at War (trade paperback)

Bush at War is a 2002 book by Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward recounting President George W. Bush's responses to the September 11 terrorist attacks and his administration's handling of the subsequent war in Afghanistan. It is an example of creative nonfiction.

Much of the book recounts events in meetings of the National Security Council (NSC), with the major players in the story, aside from the President, being Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, George Tenet and Condoleezza Rice. Woodward examined notes from such NSC meetings and also interviewed administration officials including President Bush.

Woodward especially focuses on the administration's decision to go to war in Afghanistan and its strategic and tactical decisions in that vein. As one of the first detailed accounts of these decisions, prior to inside accounts like Richard A. Clarke's Against All Enemies, Woodward's book was widely acclaimed, getting praise from The Times and other major papers.