While George W. Bush has been out of office for only a few years, an early historical assessment is much needed. This is very difficult for a historian, and especially when one’s subject is George W. Bush. He no longer has a legislative or political career against which to measure his presidency. There are virtually no public records available for the first two-thirds of his life. He is too recently out of office to have a presidential library, or records from his administration declassified. Even his papers as governor remain officially closed and await transfer to the campus of Southern Methodist University where his presidential papers will be prepared for eventual release. Despite these shortcomings in methodology, this book is an attempt at such a historical assessment.