I will end where I began: thanking my editor, Sean Desmond, who you know from the Author’s Note suggested I write this book. I am most grateful to him for not only his vision, but his support, encouragement, and patience—especially when I got lost a time or two. He always knew the path forward. I cannot imagine doing a book with another editor.
And then of course there are my fellow authors—the people who took the time to share their stories about President Bush. I am simply the book’s narrator; they really wrote the book. I would list them all but at last count there were 154 contributors. What a gift to me and to all of us that they were willing to tell us what they learned—and what we can learn—from President Bush. Dinner on me the next time I see you.
Organizing and editing 154 different authors is not easy. So I would like to go back to thanking the people at Twelve, who at times had to help me wrestle this book to the ground—and then out of my clutches. They include Sean’s assistant Zohal Karimy, who was very good at sending me gentle deadline reminders; Jim Datz, the art director who designed the cover—a cover that George H. W. Bush would absolutely love; and the best publicity team in publishing, Megan Perritt-Jacobson, director of publicity, and Estefania Acquaviva, associate publicist.
A special shoutout to Carolyn Kurek, the production editor. It is our third book together and my guess is—I drive her nuts. As a former journalist, I will forever have the Associated Press Stylebook etched into my brain, which is very different from the Chicago Manual of Style, used in the world of book publishing. In addition to style differences, she also found mistakes I should have caught in the first place—like having people out of alphabetical order. I am most grateful for her patience and for never giving up on me. (Note to Carolyn: One day I will remember to spell out all the numbers, I promise.)
It’s not possible to write a book about George and Barbara Bush without the help of the team of archivists at the George H. W. Bush Library. Led by the boss, Acting Library Director Bob Holzweiss, the incredible team who helped on this book were: head archivist Chis Pembleton; archivists Doug Campbell, Zachary Roberts, John Blair, and Buffie Hollis; and as always, audiovisual archivist Mary Finch. They were always ready to dig deep to confirm that what I had written—or someone else had written—was actually true or to find a speech or letter for me. Simply put, they are miracle workers.
To put together chapter 6, I leaned on the advice of three of President Bush’s speechwriters—Ed McNally, Mary Kate Cary, and Jim McGrath—to guide me in what speeches were among his best and should be included in this book. I probably would still be researching chapter 6 if it were not for their wonderful advice.
Mary Kate gets a second shout-out, for sending me the transcript of her excellent documentary, 41ON41. Rights to the documentary are owned by the George & Barbara Bush Foundation, so I also appreciate the foundation’s president and CEO, Max Angerholzer, allowing me to use the material.
I am grateful to my little brother, the Reverend Ed Becker, who volunteered to proofread the galley when all my other proofreaders stopped taking my calls. He caught things no one else did!
Speaking of which, there are no words to properly thank my blackbelt volunteer proofreaders. They read every single word at least twice and prevented me from all sorts of things like putting the wrong people in the wrong place at the wrong time. (For the record, that only happened once. I swear.) Drinks will be on me for the rest of their lives. They are Governor Jeb Bush; my sisters, Millie Aulbur and Jo Ann Heppermann; former White House staffers Tom Collamore, Kristin Clark Taylor, and Chase Untermeyer; post–White House staffers Melinda Lamoreaux, Nancy Lisenby, and Laura Pears; and my great friend and fellow author Dava Guerin. They are my heroes.
As is, of course, George Herbert Walker Bush. There would be no book if he had not been the person he was. We need his voice more than ever, a kinder and gentler reminder that yes, character really does matter. Let’s get out there and make him proud.