Days of Fire

Bush and Cheney in the White House

By: Peter Baker

Narrated by: Mark Deakins

Length: 29 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

In Days of Fire, Peter Baker, Chief White House Correspondent for The New York Times, takes us on a gripping and intimate journey through the eight years of the Bush and Cheney administration in a tour-de-force narrative of a dramatic and controversial presidency.

Theirs was the most captivating American political partnership since Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger: a bold and untested president and his seasoned, relentless vice president. Confronted by one crisis after another, they struggled to protect the country, remake the world, and define their own relationship along the way. In Days of Fire, Peter Baker chronicles the history of the most consequential presidency in modern times through the prism of its two most compelling characters, capturing the elusive and shifting alliance of George Walker Bush and Richard Bruce Cheney as no historian has done before. He brings to life with in-the-room immediacy all the drama of an era marked by devastating terror attacks, the Iraq War, Hurricane Katrina, and financial collapse.

The real story of Bush and Cheney is a far more fascinating tale than the familiar suspicion that Cheney was the power behind the throne. Drawing on hundreds of interviews with key players, and thousands of pages of never-released notes, memos, and other internal documents, Baker paints a riveting portrait of a partnership that evolved dramatically over time, from the early days when Bush leaned on Cheney, making him the most influential vice president in history, to their final hours, when the two had grown so far apart they were clashing in the West Wing. Together and separately, they were tested as no other president and vice president have been, first on a bright September morning, an unforgettable "day of fire" just months into the presidency, and on countless days of fire over the course of eight tumultuous years.

Days of Fire is a monumental and definitive work that will rank with the best of presidential histories. As absorbing as a thriller, it is eye-opening and essential listening.

©2013 Peter Baker (P)2013 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Peter Baker tells the story of Bush and Cheney with the precision of a crack reporter and the eye and ear of a novelist. This is perhaps the most consequential pairing of a president and vice president in our history. And Baker captures it all - the triumphs and defeats, the partnership and eventual estrangement. It is a splendid mix of sweeping history and telling anecdotes that will keep you turning the page." (Chris Wallace, anchor of Fox News Sunday)

"9/11, two long wars, a crushing recession, neo-cons, and turf wars defined the first decade of 21st-century American politics. In the middle of it all, the president and his powerful vice-president. The complicated and then contentious relationship between Bush and Cheney is worthy of Shakespeare. Peter Baker’s Days of Fire is a book for every presidential hopeful and every citizen." (Tom Brokaw, author of The Greatest Generation)

Informative and entertaining

A comprehensive look at the entirety of Bush and Cheney's careers and time in office. It's in the form of a novel with the politicians seeming like characters of a story. It jumps around from topic to topic and never failed to hold my attention.

Great book!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The content and performance kept me coming back to listen to more.

Informative!

This book took me over a month to complete and at times I struggled to stay with it but it was so worth it. This is a very comprehensive account of the 8 years Bush 43 held the office of the president. I read Decision Points before this one and this really helped fill in any blanks there may have been. I feel like I know all there is to know about George W. Bush and most of his administration. Great book and finishing it makes for a sad day. It's been a part of my morning commute for quite some time. Definitely recommend, and will recommend Decision Points as well.

Best memoir of the Bush years

What did you love best about Days of Fire?

The author writes a very objective memoir of the Bush years. This is a great story because the author tells the interesting a relevant facts without bogging you down in details/dates/too many names.

An objective viewpoint

I hesitated in getting this book, I was not sure if the book was going to be a whitewash job or acrimonious, but instead I found it to be objective report. Peter Baker is a White House reporter for the New York Times. I find he has written a through, engaging and objective history of the Bush-Cheney years in the White House.

Baker states Vice President Cheney was the most powerful vice president in history. He did more than anyone to shape counter terrorism policy after the 9/11 attack and lead us into war in Iraq. In the second term Cheney looked and acted more like the traditional vice president. President Bush generally pursued a more centrist course on many or most of the issues-over Cheney’s objection. One of the questions in the book, was Cheney always an ultra conservative Republican or did the repeated heart problems cause him to change? Before Bush left office he set up the programs to bail out of the banks and the car companies in an attempt to slow down or stop the recession/depression. The historical judgments of the Bush administration are only beginning to take shape. It has taken several years for the key people to write their memoirs and for the presidents’ friend and subordinates to offer stories they wouldn’t volunteer at the time the Bush team was in the White House. Baker painstakingly worked through all the books published so far and interviewed over 200 people for this book.

I found the section of the book about selecting judges most interesting. I noticed that Bush selected the people whose job it was to find, obtain information on and interview attorneys for judgeship even before moving into the White House. He set about filling every vacancy on all Federal courts. He also had staff looking for a Supreme Court justice, at that time Chief Justice Rehnquist was ill and most likely would be resigning soon. Bush was surprised and pleased to be able to appoint two justices as that would change the balance of the Court. He was looking for someone who was conservative and would not change after being appointed as did Justice Souter. I noted Bush called and spoke to each person appointed to a judgeship, so they would know that he was involved in their appointment. Baker claimed no other president, had called to speak to appointees of the lower courts. Baker spent several chapters describing in detail the court selection process. As I have been reading about the Supreme Court and the legal system recently, I was excited to learn about the process from the viewpoint of the presiding President.

The book traces the upbringing and early careers of both Bush and Cheney and follows them to the end of their time in the White House. The author’s book is notable for its scope and ambition. I am sure it will become a reference source for historians in the future. The process of disillusionment which culminated in Bush’s refusal to pardon Cheney’s aid Scooter Libby forms the heart of the book. Mark Deakins did an excellent job narrating the book.

In depth for policy wonks

If you love details this is your book. It provides a thorough account of the Bush-Cheney years in the White House. An even-handed assessment that historians will rely on for years to come

Great insight!

This plays like a miniseries. Very compelling book on the Bush-Cheney partnership from 2001-2009.

Lots of details, characters, and surprises.

Changed my opinion Bush

So much has changed since the election of Donald Trump. I still dislike the vice president, Cheney, maybe even more so after listening to this book, George Bush made an awesome mistake invading Iraq chasing down something that didn’t exist even though at that time, I thought the United States should at least go into Iraq to look for weapons of mass destruction, but not Try to change Iraq into some sort of democracy. We should’ve just looked for the weapons and left after not finding them or if we did find them destroy them.

Very balanced

Any additional comments?

Very balanced report of the Bush/Cheney years. Previously I was a Bush-basher but by the time the audio book ended, I felt some compassion for him. This is not to say that the book is pro-Bush; indeed, the author was careful to point out his mistakes and shortcomings. The portrait of Cheney was excellent. Even if you don't agree with the man, you can't help but respect him for his deference to the president in spite of his oft-held disagreements. Highly recommend this audio book.

Rigorous and complete analysis of Bush admin.

What did you love best about Days of Fire?

George W. Bush comes across as rather well-intentioned and the popular caricature of Bush as stupid and apathetic quickly falls apart as you read this book. Instead, we are allowed to see inside a fractured administration, led by an earnest man who was out of his depth in the oval office until it was too late to the right the course. Intense conflict between the Cheney/Addington true believers vs/ the Rice/Powell/Card/ pragmatists becomes evident early. Bush slowly loses confidence in Cheney and eventually discards his advice almost without exception. Dick Cheney comes across as manipulative, paranoid, deeply impacted by 9/11 and possibly cognitively compromised due to his history of multiples MIs. As his administration draws to a close, Bush tries to do the right thing and clean things up for his successor, but it's too late. (It;s remarkable how unideological Bush seems and how effective Cheney is in promoting a far right ideology on energy, foreign policy and the Supreme Court.)

Who was your favorite character and why?

Cheney was fascinating. The way he lurked quietly, waiting to the end to issue his sober and aggressive assessment of things. The way he conducts the vetting of the 2000 vice POTUS candidates is classic Cheney. It is also rather satisfying to watch him lose influence within the white house and to watch him lose the respect of Bush and associates.

Any additional comments?

If you want a very realistic account, absent caricatures, of how Bush/Cheney went down, this is the book I would suggest reading first.