Family of Secrets: The Bush Dynasty, the Powerful Forces That Put It in the White House, and What Their Influence Means for America

Family of Secrets: The Bush Dynasty, the Powerful Forces That Put It in the White House, and What Their Influence Means for America French philosopher Jean Paul Sartre said that "words are loaded pistols." In the hands of Russ Baker, they are hydrogen bombs. On each and every page of his masterpiece, "Family of Secrets," he exploses the myths and lies that powerful forces have perpetratred on the American consciousness. He digs beneath the surface in a form of journalistic archeology to reveal the hidden history of one of America's most powerful families, leaving no stone unturned. Moreover, he names all of his sources and documents the materials he relies on to unmask the hypocrisy behind the myth. From Prescott Bush's ties to Nazi Germany to Poppy Bush's secret role in the Watergate scandal that ousted Richard Nixon, which was, in fact, a "silent coup," to George W. Bush's deceit in launching the war in Iraq, Russ Baker unmasks the truth with a relentless brilliance unmatched by his peers. His publisher, Bloomsberry, is to be congratulated for its confidence in Russ Baker at a time when most publishers are hedging their bets and looking over their shoulders in acts of self-censorship. Baker's revelations about George W. Bush's private life is worth the price of the book alone. Here is Bush, forcing himself on a Danish beauty, stripping to the nude, while getting another girl friend he knocks up an abortion, and then later, as president, opposing abortion and cutting funding for organizations that provide information about birth control. How he managed to get the Danish beauty to go on record, as he does with other key players in Watergate and the Kennedy assassination, is nothing short of astonishing. He traces the true history of Poppy Bush's career, from his early ties to the CIA he pretended never existed while declaring himself "out of the loop," to his strange phone call from Dallas to the FBI on the day of Kennedy's assassination, pointing a finger at a suspect who was in fact totally innocent, to his manipulation of Watergate to get rid of Nixon, is a secret story forced out of the shadows by the powerful documentation by Baker in this tour de force that keeps you turning the pages in asonishment. What he discloses is America's War of the Roses, as powerful families fight to the death for ultimate power. The history of Lee Harvey Osward in the world of wealth, power and intelligence that was Dallas, Texas at the time, is amazing. The anodyne courses in political science and history at American colleges and universities need very much to inject Family of Secrets into the curriculum so that young Americans can be more able to understand what America is truly about as a new president strives to change and reform it. It puts the dots together in a way that makes any further naivety amongst Americans impossible. What he tells us simply cannot be ignored. One can fully expect the Establishment media to go after this book in typical fashion, as they make their usual attempt to cover up what can no longer be denied. Family of Secrets takes to what Cyril Connolly so aptly descibed as the "blood crossroads of literature and politics." After Family of Secrets, neither will ever be the same.

First of all 10 out of 10 to Russ Baker for his painstaking research and meticulous handling, sorting, sifting and reporting of the information. Obviously he is driven by some force many of us don't have inside of us nor would we know how to use if we did.This book, for me, was a hard read. Not in terms of the subject matter but more in terms of the overwhelming amount of evidential information supplied. Names and relationships are in abundance along with far reaching geographical ties to places, business', people many of us have never heard of. At times you ask yourself how far did the Bush's reach?Many times I had to refocus as my brain's full signs were reading into the red. Absorbing and assimilating the information becomes almost impossible unless you have a sketch pad handy and can draw your own map to help you navigate the 500 or so pages of information.The Bush family, as painted by Baker, seem, via a clandestine cloak, to have been involved in every major political "happening" since WW II and Prescott Bush, W.'s grand daddy, even before that. Fiercely loyal as a family the Bush's have protected each other and dismissed threats with a swift passion that should be admired due to the complexity.Baker lays out a very plausible case for Bush senior's involvement in JFK's assassination via relationships with key names and places of the time. Also Baker delves into motivations for involvement which always seem to come back to Texas and oil which, ultimately, lead back to greed. Poppy's involvement with Watergate is painstakingly detailed with time lines, relationships, political maneuvering and ever switching alliances.The first two thirds of the book are predominately Prescott and Poppy with W's antics touched upon based on the time line. Baker details W's Air national guard "military" service during the height of the Vietnam war. Again, as is seemingly the overwhelming case with W, privilege and protection from above appear to have played a major role in securing his guard position despite W's apathy and lack of capability. Baker explains how the guard service Bush was obligated too took second place to what he "wanted" to do which was help his father campaign. The last two years of W's service seem to just fallen away due to W's more "pressing" engagements.As poppy drops out of prominence and W. rises to the front then it's W's turn for a more forensic investigation. It's hard to find anything substantial that one can credit to W. His life seems to have been handed to him on a silver platter which in turn, W melted down and turned into lead. As this book, and many others I've read on W portray, the man is one huge train wreck. His abilities in anything appear to be limited, his curiosity and natural desire to learn and grow seem none existent and yet, through his family ties and relationships he rose to the top. As you read Baker's book you realize that had W been born a "Smith" or a "Jones" in a suburb of Milwaukee we'd never have ever heard his name as he doesn't have what it takes to ascend on his own merits.To summarize, if political history is your thing or you have a morbid curiosity with one of America's most influential families this book will serve you well. It's articulate, heavily researched and melds various political happenings and relationships in a very plausible way. If, however, your interest in the Bush's is more a "kick the tires" nature the abundance of names, places and events will probably overwhelm you and you might not make it through.

All you ever wanted to know about the Bushes.Poppy Bush is a true icon of American Evil.One thing not covered: How is the bottled water brand “Richard’s Rainwater” related to Richard Rainwater, a Bush family financier?

Good book

I imagine the purpose of writing this book was to veer away the potentially naive and curious from the internet conspiracy sites and twitter posts about Operation Paperclip etc.Given that the book does not even mention people like Prince Bandar, the Saudi Ambassador to Washington at the time of Dubya, you can be sure the book is there to cover up recent events and give a sanitised NYT, CNN ready version of the story.

Baker is a brilliant and trustworthy investigator, following the thread of CIA activity through high level American politics from Eisenhower and Kennedy through to the Bushes. He makes a highly convincing case that the demise of Kennedy and Nixon were both CIA managed coups, and that the elder Bush was a CIA agent long before he became head of that agency. Really a spectacular history of the ruling class, and especially relevant now that politics is more explicitly populism vs elitism... To paraphrase the younger Bush - to all you C-grade college students with elite intelligence connections, you too can be an establishmentarian president of the United States. Here's how.

If you were puzzled by how it was possible for GWB ever become POTUS then this is the book for you. A very interesting and in depth account (as far as is possible given the secrecy that surrounds them) of the Bush political dynasty. Fascinating and disturbing at the same time and delivers the knock out blow to the fallacy that the US was ever the 'land of the free and the home of the brave'. Democracy is an illusion in most of the developed world but you would have to be seriously deluded to believe that it was anything other than stillborn in the US in 1776. Hardly surprising that the Americans in their desperation have lurched from one Presidential disaster to another over the course of their history. It is a shame the book does not elaborate on the strangeness of the events surrounding 9/11 and also makes no mention of the rumours regarding the paternity of Barbara Bush nee Pierce but it is a true WTF moment when you hear the story and check out the resemblance.

This is an excellent book although it is unusual in the sense that the author is not part of the well established cadre of Bush critics that emerged out of the "truth movement" following 9/11. I am not all the way through the book yet but I am thoroughly enjoying it. The author has reached people that are usually beyond the reach of researchers primarily concerned with 9/11. The workings of the old money clique in the US are made very apparent in this book. The connections between old school, banking, the oil industry and the CIA are elucidated clearly. This book is a must for any one interested in contemporary American history.My one disappointment in reading so far is that there is no mention of an early incident in Brownsville, Texas, involving a grisly multiple murder scenario in relation to which George W. Bush was sought for questioning, as a potential witness, by law enforcement authorities. Nobody knows definitively what happened in this case but it is my understanding that avenues of investigation, insofar as they related to attempts to question Mr. Bush, were truncated by people with power enough to control police investigations. It would have been interesting to read the author's impression of this incident.

As we enter a possible new chapter of 'Jeb' Bush....there's stuff we need to know about the Bush family, and this book is a cracking start. Very readable, but does flit quite a bit chronologically between 'Poppy' (dad) and junior (son), which can be a little distracting. Mr Baker has clearly done his homework on this project and interviewed a lot of people.Very in-depth coverage of the build up to the JFK incident focusing more on the interlocking relationships of influential business and political leaders who had issue with JFK. A lot of new analysis with Junior's lack of time with the National Air Guard drilled into and his numerous positions on energy companies with CIA links . If I had one disappointment it would be the lack of coverage on the Crisis Management Team which was set up shortly before the assassination attempt of Reagan which neatly allowed Poppy Bush a back door to the job he had been after for so long, but than darn Reagan refused to die.All in all, a very good job indeed. Happy to recommend this to anyone wishing to gain a better understanding of the power politics of those who wish (and do) rule us.