What Happened

Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception

By: Scott McClellan

Narrated by: Scott McClellan

Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

Scott McClellan belonged to President Bush's select inner circle of trusted advisers during one of the most challenging, contentious periods of recent history. Over a period of more than seven years, he witnessed, day-to-day, exactly how the presidency veered off course, not only by its decision to topple Saddam Hussein, but by an embrace of confrontational politics in the face of an increasingly partisan Washington and a hostile media.

In this refreshingly clear-eyed book, McClellan provides his unique perspective on what happened and why it happened the way it did, including the Iraq war, Hurricane Katrina, and two hotly contested presidential campaigns. He gives listeners a candid look into who George W. Bush is and what he believes, and explores the lessons this presidency offers the American people as they prepare to elect a new leader.

©2008 Scott McClellan (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The former press secretary of President Bush (No. 43 version) empties out his notebooks, and all of Washington will be holding its breath." ( Seattle Times)

Clueless or Just Pandering?

This book is one I wish I had not ordered. Either the author is really retarded or he feels there is some future benefit of saying that Bush is okay. In case you don't know Bush is intelligent, but lacking intellectual curiousity. What is even more amazing is the author stating the problem in Washington is pandering to a political viewpoint all the while pandering a political viewpoint, i.e. typical Republicanisms of religion and misguided Democratic values. A total waste of time and money! Don't bother with this one, wish I hadn't

Not much new, but insteresting 1st hand look

The author reads the book himself which I found distracting at first. In the end I found it enhanced the book because the real story here is how a true believer comes to see he was duped. It seems more intimate with the author doing the reading. He's not the most ultra sophisticated person which his voice helps answer the question "how did he do it as long as he did?"

It's fascinating how seemingly innocuous statements come to have greater significance when the puzzle slowly comes together. He would have ignored most of them had they not made him lie about the Plame affair. He's not at all happy about that and names names, including the Prez and VP.

Scott McC ultimately seems a decent fellow. You can see how/why he became starstruck and how/why he slowly backed away. His background growing up in a political family (his mother was the mayor of Austin Texas, elected 3 times as a democrat) might have contributed to his inability to drink the Koolaid and become a true believer. Which might also explain why he was not the best press secretary.

It's one of many books about Bush 43 that are must reads if you think we got off track and want to try to understand why.

I LOVED this book!

I expected to hate this book. I assumed that it would be full of floss and excuses for the past 4 years. Instead McClellan comes off as a wholely likable guy who got caught up in some nasty stuff. Fully human and flawed he offer a picture of the president and the press not usually seen. I'm a life long Democrat. I come away from this work seeing Bush as pitiful and sad and all too human. I LOVED this book and highly recommend it! God Bless you Scott McClelan

Boring....rambling...

This should not be a book but a magazine article, at best. Much of it is a painfully boring ramble. (similiar another Texan's book, Dan Rather)
This guy is the classic faint of heart. Everything is sugar coated and clearly he lacks the gonads to say what he thinks. "Tell it like it is" is a foreign concept to this timorous bureaucrat. When he catches Rove and Libby lying to him he meekly accepts their apologies (or at least Rove's).
McCellan offers ad nauseum rambling solutions but he missed the most important one...keep,
namby pamby, mealy mouths like him out of government.

A History Book

Although the author has a monotone, kind of draining voice, the content would not be as meaningful if read by anyone else.

McClellan clearly describes his experience in the White House, much of what the American People can relate to. He provides us with detailed personal experience, describing with great detail each main character in the Bush Administration and giving us a thorough understanding of what lead to one of the worst terms in the White House of all times.

Topics he discusses includes the Iraq War, the CIA leak scandal, the economy and he tends to criticize Bush for going with his intuition and gut feeling instead of thinking things through.

McClellan also talks about his childhood growing up in Politics. Overall, this is an extremely well-written book and I'll bet any listener will get sucked into the stories quite easily.