Destined for Destiny : The Unauthorized Autobiography of George W. Bush

by Scott Dikkers; Peter Hilleren

• ISBN13: 9780743299664
• ISBN10: 0743299663
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-10-17
• Publisher: Scribner

Summary

From the creators of America's favorite presidential address, WeeklyRadioAddress.com (as seen on TheOnion.com), comes this unauthorized autobiography of George W. Bush.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction, by Vice President Dick Cheney	xi
1 Like "Roots" Only White	1	(8)
2 A Legacy of Destiny	9	(8)
3 No Bush Child Left Behind	17	(6)
4 Teacher's Pest	23	(10)
5 Campus Radical	33	(8)
6 Flying High!	41	(8)
7 Then I Ran Some Companies into the Ground	49	(8)
8 The Clown-Faced Zombie I Call My Wife	57	(8)
9 George W. Bush, Congressman from Texas's 19th District—Got a Nice Ring to It!	65	(8)
10 My Name Is George W. Bush and I Am Not an Alcoholic	73	(6)
11 The Greatest Love of My Life: Jesus	79	(8)
12 George Walker, Texas Ranger	87	(10)
13 Bush for President: Champion of the Little Guy	97	(12)
14 I Won! Or Lost, Whatever	109	(10)
15 9-11: My Finest Hour	119	(12)
16 It's a Wonderful War	131	(14)
17 2004: Another Mandate	145	(12)
18 My Enduring Legacy: Mount Rushmore?	157

Excerpts

1 LIKE "ROOTS" ONLY WHITE In the great American TV program "Roots," author Kunta Kinte traced his ancestry back to the early times in our history. My heart was touched by this great drama of history. That is why I intend to embark upon the same journey in this chapter. It may not be as interesting as "Roots," since it will not be filled with the rich tapestry of culture enjoyed by our blacks, and it will not feature all of the wonderfully colorful slave names which are so entertaining to listen to when the old-time blacks say them with their funny accents. But it will reveal the history of the Bush family, from the pre-historical times of my grandfather all the way to the present times. To understand a leader, one need not necessarily look into the past to that particular leader's noble forebears to gain insight into that leader's qualities and the "stuff" that he is made of. History has no bearing on the present. One must only look at the kind of man he has grown up to be. Is he likened to the great oak, which will not waiver in the face of the winds of the opposers? Or is he like the mighty rock, which steadfastly governs his fellow man with immobile resolve and the wisdom of the stones? In this first chapter of my autobiography, we will take a momentous ancestral journey through my life in which new facts may come to light, creating a context to understand the man who leads our nation. But let there be no misunderstanding. I will not do any research for this book. That is not the kind of journey I am talking about. I believe that if a book is to be an accurate account of a man's life and times, it must come from the heart, and not from dusty old volumes with a lot of complicated words and pages yellowed by the eons. What I know is this: In the beginning, the universe was a formless void. Then on the first day, God created Adam. Next there were a series of generations that came and went upon the Earth. Finally, some 100 years ago, my grandfather, Prescott Bush was born. Prescott Bush served with distinction as a United States Senator, I am told. His son, George H. W. Bush, also heeded the call of public service and was elected President in the last century, serving one term in which a Great War was begun with a bold code name and determined theme music. In contrast, I am now a two-term President. Will there be a third? It is a hypotheoretical question to which only the prophets can know the answer. It is worth noting that each new generation of the Bush family achieves more accomplishments than the last. Who knows where it all will lead? Will my brother Jeb follow my success with an accomplished administration of his own? Will my daughters serve as twin Presidents who will reign for eight years after that? Or perhaps, one of my daughters will be President, and the other will be Vice President, and then the Vice President will become the President, and vice versa, so that there will be a Bush in the White House for seven generations. Would the constitutional lawyers allow such a scenario? No one can say. The sheer number of possibilities are enough to confuse the mind. One thing is clear. There will always be members of the Bush family ready to answer the call to serve their country and steer it off the cliff of greatness. But that is not what this first chapter is about. This is not a chapter about future-times. It is one about the times of history. The history of the Bush name. As I have said, Prescott Bush lived in an ancient and simpler time, a time when we were not fighting a global war against the enemies of freedom like today. It was a long-ago time of peace and tranquility, the 1930s and 40s. My grandfather demonstrated my family's high ideals and business sense in the area of entrepreneuring. He was a successful banker and merchant who made his fortune by wisely investing i