Family of secrets : the Bush dynasty, the powerful forces that put it in the White House, and what their influence means for America

How did Bush happen? -- Poppy's secret -- Viva Zapata -- Where was Poppy? -- Oswald's friend -- The hit -- After Camelot -- Wings for W. -- The Nixonian Bushes -- Downing Nixon: The setup; The execution -- In from the cold -- Poppy's proxy and the Saudis -- Poppy's web -- The handoff -- The quacking duck -- Playing hardball -- Meet the help -- The conversion -- The skeleton in W.'s closet -- Shock and ... oil? -- Deflection for reelection -- Domestic disturbance.;The long-hidden story of a family we thought we knew--and of a power-making apparatus that we have barely begun to comprehend. George W. Bush left office as one of the most unpopular presidents in American history. Russ Baker asks the question that lingers even as this benighted administration winds down: Who really wanted this man at the helm, and why did his backers promote him despite his obvious liabilities and limitations? This book goes deep behind the scenes to deliver an arresting new look at George W. Bush, his father George H.W. Bush, their family, and the network of figures in intelligence, the military, finance, and oil who enabled the family's rise to power. Baker offers new insights into lingering mysteries, from the death of John F. Kennedy to Richard Nixon's downfall in Watergate, and helps us understand why we have not known these things before.--From publisher description. "Shocking in its disclosures, elegantly crafted, and faultlessly measured in its judgments."-Roger Morris, author of Richard Milhous Nixon and Partners in Power How did the deeply flawed George W. Bush ascend to the highest office in the nation, what forces abetted his rise, and-perhaps most important-were those forces really vanquished by Obama's election? Award-winning investigative journalist Russ Baker gives us the answers in Family of Secrets , a compelling and startling new take on the Bush dynasty and the shadowy elite that has quietly steered the American republic for the past half century and more. Baker shows how this network of figures in intelligence, the military, oil, and finance enabled-and in turn benefited handsomely from-the Bushes' perch at the highest levels of government. As Baker reveals, this deeply entrenched elite remains in power regardless of who sits in the Oval Office. Family of Secrets offers countless disclosures that challenge the conventional accounts of such central events as the JFK assassination and Watergate. It includes an inside account of George W.'s cynical religious conversion and the untold real background to the disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina. Baker's narrative is gripping, sobering, and deeply sourced. It will change the way we understand not just the Bush years, but a half century of postwar history-and the present. How did the deeply flawed George W. Bush ascend to the highest office in the nation, what forces abetted his rise, and-perhaps most important-have those forces really been vanquished by Obama's election' Award-winning investigative journalist Russ Baker gives us the answers in Family of Secrets, a compelling and startling new take on the Bush dynasty and the shadowy elite that has quietly steered the American republic for the past half century and more. Baker shows how this network of figures in intelligence, the military, oil, and finance enabled-and in turn benefited handsomely from-the Bushes' perch at the highest levels of government. As Baker reveals, this deeply entrenched elite remains in power regardless of who sits in the Oval Office. Family of Secrets offers countless disclosures that challenge the conventional accounts of such central events as the JFK assassination and Watergate. It includes an inside account of George W.'s cynical religious conversion and the untold real background to the disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina. Baker's narrative is gripping, sobering, and deeply sourced. It will change the way we understand not just the Bush years, but a half century of postwar history-and the present George W. Bush leaves office as one of the most unpopular-many would say, the most disastrous-presidents in American history, Russ Baker asks the telling question: Who really wanted this man at the helm of the country, and why did his backers promote the advancement of a person with such obvious liabilities and limitations? This book is a startling new look at George W. Bush, his family and immediate network, and the enabling environment within which they have operated. Baker's exhaustive investigation tracks the rise to power of the Bushes, up to and including W's presidency. It contains many new revelations, shining a clinical light on a remarkable clan whose core of absolute loyalty and hermetic secrecy has so far concealed the Bushes' far-reaching-and disturbing-role in events from the Bay of Pigs invasion, to Watergate, to the Iraq war debacle. Combining gripping narrative, explosive revelations, and trenchant analysis, How Bush Happened is nothing less than the secret...