Rating: 
Summary: The truth is out there - probably
Review: I put off reading this book for a long time, thanks to the questions we all had about Hatfield's integrity and the credibility of his charges against the Accidental President. This newly updated and better-annotated edition put these concerns to rest, and although it's not the best Bush biography I've read thus far, it deserves far more respect than it's received from the mainstream media. For a book which Bush's supporters went to great lengths to prevent from ever being published, Hatfield shows a surprising lack of antagonism toward his subject for the most part. Molly Ivins' "Shrub," Mark Crispin Miller's "The Bush Dyslexicon" and Paul Begala's "Is Our Children Learning?" are all far more openly partisan (and better written), but Hatfield does provide information not available elsewhere about the youthful indiscretion that Bush and his allies have otherwise done a superb job of keeping buried. Using straightforward accounts from the public record and those who know him, Hatfield illustrates such issues as Bush's obliviousness to racial segregation in his hometown, his indifference to his studies at Andover and Yale, his alcoholism, his spotty record in the Air National Guard, his questionable business dealings, and his performance as governor. Bush's actions and words speak for themselves throughout the book, and Hatfield shows little inclination to analyze them to death or to put an actively anti-Bush spin on them. In fact, he occasionally sounds pro-Bush, noting, for example, that he got off to a respectable start in the oil business after graduating from Harvard Business School. Some of the less flattering accounts, such as that of his "service" in the Air National Guard, have a necessarily vague and incomplete feel to them, mainly because there simply isn't a lot of reliable information available about that period of Bush's life. Hatfield is, however, able to provide a number of accounts of cocaine use and womanizing that stand in sharp contrast to the family-values image Bush's handlers have managed to convey to the public. If Hatfield's research failed to answer many questions about the extended adolescence Bush himself has always refused to discuss, he did succeed brilliantly in raising many questions that deserve to be addressed but haven't been thus far. The book's most famous accusation - that Bush was arrested for cocaine posession in 1972 and his father got the charges dropped - is more solidly supported than I'd been led to believe. Although Hatfield did fail to produce a source who was willing to confirm the story on the record, he names a number of sources who probably know the answer but - like Bush himself - refuse to confirm or deny it. Additionally, he provides three anonymous sources, not a lone Deep Throat as has been widely reported. The afterword does have a cloak-and-dagger feel to it all the same, and there are typographical and grammatical errors sprinkled throughout the narrative which have helped to make the book easy for Bush supporters to vilify. But for all that, most of what Hatfield reports is well-annotated (in contrast to the original printing) and presented in a non-sensationalistic style. If Hatfield was not the ideal messenger, he at least provided us with an important collection of information that other journalists chose to gloss over or didn't have access to. As Mark Crispin Miller points out in his introduction, the Bush campaign's reaction to the book was just as telling in one sense as the book itself is. If it's inaccurate, why suppress it? Celebrate your right to know. Whatever your politics, read the book and decide for yourself whether or not it's worth believing.
Rating: 
Summary: A Much Better Written Biography Than Most
Review: Most biographies I have read seem to have a definited lean towards the subject. Either they like them or they don't. From the reputation this book got by being dropped from a more mainstream press, I expected this book to be very radical like some of the other political biographies. This one was obviously done by a professional writer who knows how to craft a biography in such a way that the reader will stay involved. Hatfield praises the things that George W. has done well and has given you a good picture of the Bush background. He also points out the things which don't seem to add up (specifically, George W.'s volunteer work back in the 70's). After reading the author's train of though in the Afterword, you find yourself questioning why no one has thought of this sooner. If you are reading to find dirt or scandal, just read the Introduction parts and the Afterword. That is where you read of how the book was burned by the original publisher (even after it was doing well and they vouched for the soundness of the research) and how the author was hounded by press and others. Hearing this, you would wonder why they just didn't ignore him. Instead, there seems to have been a conscious effort to keep the book off of the shelves. From the Bush biographies and autobiography I have read, this is probably the best one. The author takes him time to explain relevence (which sometimes require and jump to the future to explain where it will lead or a jump to the past to explain why it seems odd that Bush favored a particular legislation) without giving the reader a sense of vertigo. It flows well and is entertaining (not funny, but it engages you to keep turning the pages). I would recommend this for the people who voted for and the people who voted against. This is well done.
Rating:
Summary: Very good
Review: George W. Bush is not the sharpest tool in the shed and I think we all know that, but he is certainly sneaky, conniving and out for himself. This well researched book tells just what a spoiled rich kid he is and how he is used to getting his own way no matter what the expense or who gets in the way. This book details his business failures, his drinking and drug problems including his arrest for cocaine . But not to worry, daddy took care of that little mess. The author and the publisher were even threatened with a lawsuit because George didn't want the truth to get out. The author was eventually killed...what a surprise. A very interesting book even if your not into politics.
Rating:
Summary: More Substance than Substance Abuse
Review: Much has been made of this book and its allegation that George W Bush was a user of cocaine during an earlier life. Arguably, this would seem to be the case from the information presented but, so what? Does this really affect how the man operates on a day to day basis today? Let's put this historical irrelevance behind us. Or perhaps Bush should just own up? Now that really would be sensational, especially in a country like the USA. Similarly, the author's background is equally irrelevant. Should it matter that he is a convicted felon? The fact that Hitchfield has a criminal past should have no impact on the quality of his book. Let bygones be bygones. Beyond the matter of drugs, this book is a fairly standard biography that is well written and concise. I would recommend it to readers on this basis alone. The matter of drugs is really just a minor part of the book and any reader expecting to find a detailed expose will be disappointed. Overall, Hitchfield has produced a book of some substance but the market is focussing only on the issue of substance abuse. This is a pity.
Rating:
Summary: Information backed up by locatable information
Review: This was a very good biography of a political person. The story of his pre-political times, relationship with his father, drug abuse and money/oil ties help to show why George Bush does the things he does. I had to walk away from the book for a few months because the information about our current president is so disturbing. After researching the writer, Soft Skull Press, and the stories presented in the book, I had to aknowledge that our president is much worse than any one had ever presented before. This book prooves (with over 20 pages of source notes) just how corrupt the Bush family is. In fact, if there were falsehoods, couldn't the very wealthy Bush family file a law suit? I am quite pleased that Soft Skull decided to reprint the book after St. Martins decided to drop it. Even if a person is an ardent believer in the sainthood of George Bush, I would assume that knowing what others have to say and verify those stories would be useful.
Rating: 
Summary: Listen up, naive liberals and conspiracy theorists!
Review: I strongly urge all of you Bush-Haters to read the July/August 2003 issue of The Oxford American. Then pray that you can have your glowing and glaringly ignorant reviews deleted. Remember the Mena Airport? I'm a Republican and that 'theory' didn't pass the smell test either. Members of both parties: Please stop taking as fact absolutely everything you read and hear when it suits your own political purposes!
Rating:
Summary: Hatfield Died for this Information
Review: Released by Soft Skull Press in 1999 before the 2000 presidential elections, J.H. Hatfield's "Fortunate Son: George W. Bush and the Making of an America President," presents a comprehensive piece on three generations of Bush family interaction with America and the surrounding environment. Hatfield asked George W. repeatedly for an interview before he released this book, but was turned down time and time again by the 43rd president of the United States. During Hatfield's years of investigation for this book, he interviewed many close friends and relatives of George W. Bush who revealed many deep and hidden secrets not revealed through the mainstream media; also, Hatfield used an unnamed source to provide information presented in the piece. Hatfield, who is now dead by means of suicide, brought a lot of heat on George W. Bush during his 2000 presidential campaign with the release of this book; and thus, released a storm of criticism upon himself. By bringing to light the fact of George W. Bush's problems with alcohol and his disputed use of cocaine, the author Hatfield wrote about the best and worst sides of three generations of Bush family. Beginning with the history of grandfather Prescott Bush, the writer lays out a historical perspective that could of easily caused an insidious demise to the family's reputation. The war veteran and 41st president George H. W. Bush, who left his mark on the oil rush, and son George Bush's controversial past and new found reform. The piece is a hard and sometimes slow read and there are numerous facts and figures brought up in the piece which gives the reader a whole view of how the family worked through it's rough spots, and triumphed in successes. The book is easily defined as a political history of a family with massive influence on the United States of America, and their actions and reactions to the surrounding environment. Although the read has it's slow spots and down points, Hatfield's piece is one of the few biographies burned at publishing, and for this, the book is necessary for future generations.
Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly Sympathetic
Review: Like many readers, I expected "Fortunate Son" to provide a shocking exposé of George W. Bush. While, author J.H. Hatfield provides powerful evidence that George W. Bush committed at least two felonies (he was busted for cocaine possession, and he was absent without leave from the latter portion of his service in the national guard), he fails to provide any shocking revelations about his career or character. Hatfield's portrayal of Bush is, in fact, surprisingly sympathetic. As a boy of seven, Bush had to cope with the tragic death of his younger sister and with the adult responsibility of comforting his grieving mother. While Hatfield does not psychoanalyze Bush, his account of Bush's early childhood trauma helps to explain why the adult Bush subsequently reacted viciously toward real and perceived opponents of his family. It also provides a more plausible explanation of Bush's drinking problem than merely crediting it to the antics of a spoiled rich kid. Perhaps the book's most surprising revelation is that Bush is not stupid and in fact has always been a highly astute and capable politician. Contrary to popular perception, Bush didn't tag along on his father's political fortunes, he played a decisive role in shaping them. Bush is credited with pioneering the "Willie Horton" strategy and other negative campaign maneuvers that rescued his father's beleaguered 1988 presidential campaign, and with doing a lot of the "dirty work" that assured the elder Bush's victory. Bush subsequently began his first Texas gubernatorial campaign by analyzing the errors of his father's failed 1992 presidential bid and determining how he could avoid repeating them himself. These example and numerous others in this book, demonstrate that while Bush may lack intellect, he is highly analytical and is clearly a learning animal. Hatfield also provides the most illuminating perspective of Bush's business strategy. In several instances, Bush started an oil company based on flawed assumptions about the rising price of oil (it went down when he thought it would go up) and subsequently turned to his father's powerful associates for help. When these men acquired Bush's failing companies and made him the CEO of the resulting new corporate entity, Bush obtained the most favorable terms with which he and they could liquidate their stock at a tremendous profit before bankrupting the company altogether at the expense of its shareholder and employees. Many years later, Bush applied these principles to his management of the national economy during a time of deep recession. Hatfield's account of Bush's drinking problem also reveals him to be a surprisingly sympathetic person. After the birth of his twin daughters, Bush faced the fact that he had a drinking problem and attempted to quit. While success did not come instantly, Bush was able to give up drinking altogether, partly with the help of his spiritual mentor, the Reverend Billie Graham and partly from honestly examining his own sense of pain and failure. Finally, Hatfield, destroys the myth of George W. Bush as the hapless puppet of his father's powerful friends. True, for most of his adult life, Bush was helped and exploited by these men, but it is important to note that he also helped and exploited them much to his own advantage. In fact, part of Bush's tremendous political talent lies in his ability to influence more powerful and experienced people from an apparent position of weakness. While "Fortunate Son" is not well written, and contains few shocking revelations about his character or conduct, it paints a superbly informative portrait of Bush as a human being and as a politician. If they ignore the sensationalism behind the book's generally un-sensational allegations, Bush friends and foes alike can obtain a fascinating glimpse of who Bush the person actually is.
Rating:
Summary: Shades of Farenheit 451
Review: How could I resist buying this book when I heard it had been ordered all but burned when the first edition came out on the eve of Bush's 2000 campaign. That alone would be reason enough for reading FORTUNATE SON (and keeping America safe for democracy) but in addition, it is a good read. I discovered that my biggest mistake as a proud liberal is underestimating Bush. Even if I cringe when I hear his rhetoric, he is a savvy politician with shrewd instincts. Now I understand a recent news magazine story which explains how Ms. Rice translates these instincts into articulate policy. Unlike his lucky dad who struck it rich with Texas gold, Duwya had the ability to keep oil companies (temporarily) afloat when the wells were dry. One wonders if that is what he is doing now--Convincing Americians to buy an empty foreign policy. I Hope anyone who runs agains Bush reads this book and I thank Amazon.com and Soft Skull Press for making it available to the public against surprising odds.
Rating:
Summary: An extremely important book
Review: ...P>When this book was originally published at the end of 1999, it was immediately suppressed not because of inaccuracies on the author's behalf but rather because of ad hominem attacks against the author ... Neither George W. nor any of his advisors have denied the accuracy of Hatfield's book, only the propriety of its author. J.H. Hatfield, as the forward of this (second) edition admits, served five years in a penitentiary for solicitation of capital murder. It was this fact, not any failure in his meticulous research that made his first publisher announce that they were going to burn all 80,000 copies, and made the book all but disappear. Eighteen months later a new publisher would release a second edition of this book, and ten days after that, J.H. Hatfield would be dead in an apparent suicide. If the controversy alone isn't enough to spark your interest, let me assure you that the book is worth your time. When I picked it up I was expecting a heavy-handed inflammatory text more along the lines of Michael Moore's "Stupid White Men," but what I got was a fair and well-documented description of the events of George W.'s life. George W. is not a successful entrepreneur, not an idiot, not a spineless puppet of his advisors, not any of the things which our popular media has portrayed him as. Democracy relies on a well-informed populace, so please, regardless of your political leanings, read this book for your own and our nation's benefit. The implications of this text go far beyond the life of our president, even touching the roots of our system.
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