What Happened
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| What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception | |
 First edition cover |
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| Author | Scott McClellan |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Memoir |
| Publisher | PublicAffairs |
| Publication date | 2008-06-02 |
| Media type | Hardback |
| Pages | 400 pages |
| ISBN | ISBN 978-1586485566 |
What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception is the memoir of Scott McClellan, who served as White House Press Secretary from 2003 until 2006 under President George W. Bush. The book was scheduled to be released on June 2, 2008; however, excerpts were released to the press a week before publication. The book quickly became a media sensation for its criticism of the Bush administration and ran as a leading story on most top news outlets days after the content became public.
Contents |
[edit] Content
In the book, McClellan harshly criticizes the Bush administration. He accuses Bush of "self-deception"[1] and of maintaining a "permanent campaign approach" to governing rather than making the best choices.[2] McClellan stops short of saying Bush purposely lied about his reasons for invading Iraq, writing that the administration was not "employing out-and-out deception" to make the case for war in 2002,[3] though he does assert the administration relied on an aggressive "political propaganda campaign" instead of the truth to sell the Iraq war.[4] The book is also critical of the press corps for being too accepting of the administration's perspective on the Iraq War,[2] and of Condoleezza Rice for being "too accommodating" and overly careful about protecting her own reputation.[1]
[edit] Reaction
[edit] Political figures
Several political figures made high profile comments on McClellan's book. Former Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole, in an email that was later made public, accused McClellan of being a "miserable creature" who "[doesn't] have the guts to speak up or quit if there are disagreements with the boss or colleagues", and Dole mockingly suggested donating the proceeds from the book to "a worthy cause, something like, 'Biting The Hand That Fed Me.'"[5]
Democratic strategist Terry McAuliffe also condemned the book, saying, "I never like it when someone works for someone and then comes out and writes a book trashing them. I just, I find it abhorrent the way these people come out and write books about their boss. It made 'em money, it made 'em prestige, it gave them all this power and then they turn around and slap 'em." [6]
Former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove went on Fox's Hannity & Colmes and condemned the book, saying, "First of all, this doesn't sound like Scott. It really doesn't, not the Scott McClellan I've known for a long time, it sounds like somebody else. It sounds like a left-wing blogger. Second of all, you're right. If he had these moral qualms, he should have spoken up about them." [7]
[edit] White House response
The Bush administration issued a statement about the book through Press Secretary Dana Perino, who said, "Scott, we now know, is disgruntled about his experience at the White House. We are puzzled. It is sad. This is not the Scott we knew."[8] The administration additionally took exception to the claim that they had misled the nation in the lead up to the war in Iraq, as Perino said, "He's suggesting that we purposely misled. There is no new evidence of that."[9]
[edit] Congressional response
In response to the claims made by McClellan in the book, Congressman Robert Wexler (D-FL) and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), who is the Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, have called upon McClellan to testify under oath in front of congress.[10]
[edit] McClellan response
McClellan has responded by stating that his role as White House Press Secretary was not to make policy (though he also said that he should've raised his objections at the time[11]), contending that he was inclined to give the Administration the "benefit of the doubt", and alleging that he did not fully appreciate the circumstances until after leaving the "White House bubble".[12]
[edit] Sales
While McClellan's book advance was for a comparatively low $75,000, What Happened reached the number-one position on the sales chart of Amazon.com, and its printing was doubled to 130,000 copies by its publisher, PublicAffairs.[13]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Bumiller, Elizabeth. "In Book, Ex-Spokesman Has Harsh Words for Bush", The New York Times, 2008-05-28. Retrieved on 2008-05-28.
- ^ a b Allen, Mike. "Exclusive: McClellan whacks Bush, White House", The Politico, 2008-05-27. Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
- ^ Shear, Michael D. "Ex-Press Aide Writes That Bush Misled U.S. on Iraq", The Washington Post, 2008-05-28. Retrieved on 2008-05-28.
- ^ "Ex-aide Scott McClellan rips Bush's Iraq 'propaganda'", Associated Press, 2008-05-28. Retrieved on 2008-05-28.
- ^ http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0508/Bob_Dole_unloads_on_McClellan.html
- ^ http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0508/McAuliffe_doesnt_like_McClellan_book_either.html
- ^ http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/05/28/rove_disputes_mcclellan_book.html
- ^ Loven, Jennifer. "White House calls McClellan's book sour grapes", Associated Press, 2008-05-28. Retrieved on 2008-05-28.
- ^ http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jun/01/mcclellans-charges-based-old-evidence/?page=2
- ^ http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/29/politics/politico/thecrypt/main4136460.shtml
- ^ http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jun/01/mcclellans-charges-based-old-evidence/
- ^ "Countdown, 2008-05-29". Countdown with Keith Olbermann. 2008-05-29.
- ^ Italie, Hillel. "McClellan's book on Bush a surprise hit for many", Fox News, 2008-05-30. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
