Woodward's Fourth Book on Bush

I thought it worth mentioning here that Bob Woodward's fourth book on the Bush administration, entitled "The War Within", is due out this week. Amazon has it listed for $20.38 on pre-order.

This one is supposed to focus on 2006-2008, and it's already drawing some interesting attention in the media. According to this Fox News article, the book is less critical than #3 ("State of Denial"), but accuses him of failure to lead even as the surge succeeded.

Calling Bush "the nation’s most divisive figure," Woodward criticized the president for failing to fulfill what some might view as impossible expectations.

 

"He had not rooted out terror wherever it existed," Woodward scolded. "He had not achieved world peace. He had not attained victory in his two wars."

In my opinion, what makes Woodward's opinion so valuable is that he has an open mind, and is not predisposed to judge the president by his party or ideological affiliations. He looked at the evidence and he came to very fair, reasonable conclusions, carefully and thoughtfully stopping short of the rash, pointless, partisan yammering that so often comes from the Bush haters.

In short, he's objective. That makes his opinion worth listening to.