Destiny and Power

Destiny and Power, Pulitzer Prize winner Jon Meacham's grandly named 2015 biography of our 41st President, George Herbert Walker Bush is a fascinating look into the life of the last President of the World War 2 generation. Mr. Meacham was granted unprecedented access to Mr. and Mrs. Bush and their diaries in this exhaustive, but friendly look at the most overlooked recent President. Destiny and Power does a wonderful job painting a portrait of a strong, gentle American hero born into wealth, but lived his life believing that "to whom much is given, much is required." The book does tend to gloss over the larger political mistakes of Mr. Bush, but is an engrossing look at who 41 is as a person. In light of our current time of hyper-partisan shouting matches, the civility of George HW Bush is a window into the halcyon days of working across the aisle and speaking with a gentle tone. Destiny and Power is a wonderful portrait of a President that looks better with age.

Destiny and Power, 2015 Random House, Jon Meacham