43: Inside the George W. Bush presidency

Bush 43 and his Cabinet

'43: Inside the George W. Bush presidency'

A new book edited by three Miller Center scholars reveals insights from the Bush White House

George W. Bush on phone in Air Force One

43: Inside the George W. Bush presidency

A new book edited by three Miller Center scholars reveals insights from the Bush White House

Bush holding a child

43: Inside the George W. Bush presidency

A new book edited by three Miller Center scholars reveals insights from the Bush White House

Excerpts

Bush 43 sits at the desk in the Oval Office for the first time, as his father looks on
A post–Cold War president

By the time George W. Bush entered the White House, the presidency was in an institutionally diminished state, writes Russell Riley, co-chair of the Miller Center’s Presidential Oral History Program
George W. Bush and his SCOTUS nominee Samuel Alito
George W. Bush's Supreme Court nominations

The GOP 2000 platform included five references to the nation’s highest court. Miller Center Director of Presidential Studies Barbara Perry explores Bush 43's relationship with SCOTUS
President Bush and Andy Card conferring on Air Force One on Sept. 11, 2001
'America is under attack'

What the morning of 9/11 was like for President George W. Bush and his top advisors
Cover of the book entitled 43
About the book

The presidency of George W. Bush has been the subject of extensive commentary but limited scholarly analysis in the years since he left office. 43 draws from the interviews of the Miller Center’s Presidential Oral History Program at the University of Virginia
Left

George W. Bush Oral History Project

Scholars who participated in the George W. Bush Oral History Project conducted interviews with key figures of the Bush White House and Cabinet, outside political advisors, members of Congress, and foreign leaders. Forty-four interviews were made available on November 1, 2019, the first part of the approximately 100 interviews in the project.

Read more

About the editors

Barbara Perry standing among UVA columns
Barbara A. Perry

Barbara A. Perry is the Gerald L. Baliles Professor and director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, where she co-directs the Presidential Oral History Program. She has conducted interviews for the Bush 41, Bush 43, and Obama projects
Russell Riley headshot
Russell Riley

Russell Riley, co-chair of the Miller Center’s Presidential Oral History Program, is the White Burkett Miller Center Professor of Ethics and Institutions and is one of the nation’s foremost authorities on elite oral histories
Mike Nelson headshot
Michael Nelson

Michael Nelson, a nonresident faculty senior fellow at the Miller Center, is the Fulmer Professor of Political Science at Rhodes College and the editor of the American Presidential Elections book series for the University Press of Kansas
President Carter's oral history group
Miller Center Presidential Oral History Program

Interviews by scholars at UVA's Miller Center examine the presidency from a diversity of perspectives: from those who worked inside the administration, from key associates outside the executive branch, from select members of Congress
Support the Miller Center