George W. Bush: To write memoir about 'decisions'

George W. Bush: To write memoir about 'decisions'

Former President George W. Bush, who once popularly called himself "The Decider," is writing a book on decisions.

During a brief telephonic interview on Wednesday with a popular news agency he said, "I want people to understand the environment in which I was making decisions. I want people to get a sense of how decisions were made and I want people to understand the options that were placed before me".

The tentative title of Bush's book is called "Decision Points," that is scheduled for release in the year 2010 by Crown, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group. It is unusual in a couple of ways.

Instead of telling his life story, it is reported that George W. Bush is going to concentrate on numerous personal and presidential choices, from giving up drinking to picking Dick Cheney as his vice president to send his troops to Iraq. He will also write about his relationship with family members, including his father, the first President Bush, his religious faith and his highly criticized response to Hurricane Katrina.

Instead of having competing publishers bid, George Bush and Washington attorney Robert Barnett, his representative, negotiated for world rights only with Crown Publishers, where authors include President Obama and Bush's secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice. Barnett used a similar strategy in working out deals with publisher Alfred A. Knopf for another client, former President Clinton.


While talking to the reporters of a popular news agency on Wednesday Bush told he was not "comfortable with the first book, only since it seemed rushed," and that his current memoir would have "a lot more depth," thanks to his years as president. Although he did not keep a diary during his stay  in the White House he "jotted" down the occasional note and  said that he started writing  "Decision Points" only two days after leaving the White House . Till date he has written "maybe" 30,000 words.

George Bush is working with research assistants and Chris Michel, a former White House speechwriter.

Once known for his reluctance to acknowledge mistakes, Bush added that  the book would include self-criticism but cautioned that "hindsight is very easy" and that he would make sure readers view events from his eyes.

Bush added, "I want to recreate what it was like, for example, right after 9/11," he said, "and have people understand the emotions I felt and what others around me felt at the time."