George W. Bush is a direct and decisive man who is much nicer to his Secret Service agents than Bill Clinton was, according to author Ronald Kessler, and smarter than his critics believe him to be. A Matter of Character, Kessler's examination of the 43rd U.S. President, treads lightly on policy issues as the author instead focuses on Bush's positive personality traits and relates how those traits are positive indicators of his ability as a policymaker and leader of the world's lone superpower. Kessler spoke to several Bush cabinet members, long time friends of Bush, and other associates who speak, perhaps not surprisingly, in glowing terms of what a great guy he is. As for the criticisms of Bush, such as handling of pre-9/11 intelligence, the war in Iraq, and the economy, Kessler dismisses them as the product of jealous former employees, and a pervasive, biased liberal media (particularly Washington Post reporter Dana Milbank). By attacking the accusers instead of thoroughly dissecting the accusations, Kessler misses out on an opportunity to defend the president in a more substantive way. The portrait that ultimately emerges of Bush is not a particularly complicated one. He appears to be a man without flaw, and the book presents a similarly simple view of the greater political landscape: Bush and his allies as honest, shrewd, and virtuous, all others as jerks, fools, and ditherers. A Matter of Character lacks the complexity of Plan of Attack, the book Bob Woodward wrote after gaining similarly close access to Bush and his cabinet. It's more like a forceful piece of campaign material, passionate in its advocacy of the candidate and complete with a heroic black-and-white photograph on the cover, which will give Bush supporters plenty to cheer about. --John Moe

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Honesty. Integrity. Clarity of purpose. These are the qualities that Ronald Kessler, author of the New York Times best-seller Inside the White House, discovered while investigating our current president who is so scrutinized -- and so criticized -- at home and around the world. After digging deeply into the inner sanctum of the White House and George W. Bush's personal life, Kessler discovered that most of what people think they know about Bush simply isn't true. For instance, that he's not very smart. That he can't focus on complex issues. That he has repeated and intentionally lied to the public. That he's narrow-minded about his Christian faith and his conservative beliefs. That he lets other people make the big decisions for him. All myths -- driven mainly by biased reporting in the media. Kessler has been granted extraordinary access to the administration and its key players, including Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld, Andrew Card, Karl Rove, Condoleezza Rice, and many others.