those mentioned as a possible running mate for Bob Dole, but he realized he would need more than one term as an elected Texas official first. It was in 1998 that he seriously began looking into the possibilities of running for president in the 2000 election. He began raising funds, taking polls to gauge the public’s view of his possible candidacy, but still would not publicly admit any presidential aspirations. By crushing opponent Garry Mauro in the 1998 governor’s race, he solidified his base for a run at the presidency. He soon began gathering backers and declared himself a candidate for 2000 presidential race, as all his close friends had been sure he would.I found “First Son: George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty” to be a very informative writing about this year’s Republican candidate. It did not go into any controversial issues about Bush’s past, instead treating it much as Bush himself did, by saying he had done irresponsible things when he was younger but that those days were long in the past. With Bush’s drunk driving charge coming out recently, I was surprised that Ann Richards had told her campaign to find evidence of Bush getting a DUI, but did not find any. Also, he does not rely on the rumors of George W.’s cocaine use and instead only hints at what might have went on as opposed to assuming the worst. Minutaglio spends a large portion of the book describing how being part of a “political dynasty” affected almost every political action he took throughout his life. It doesn’t charge that he deliberately used his family name to avoid the Vietnam draft or to obtain special favors, but instead that he simply took what was given to him. I found it interesting that Bush saw his family name as a liablility. It is mentioned as a factor in almost every important decision he made in his life, starting in college and continuing through his run at the pres...
