by Kitty Kelley
Many presidential archivists contributed to the research and I’m grateful to all: Lynn Smith: Hoover Presidential Library, West Branch, Iowa; Raymond Teichman: FDR Presidential Library, Hyde Park, New York; Dennis E. Bilger: Harry S. Truman Library, Independence, Missouri; David J. Haight, Dwight Strandberg, and Hazel Stitt: Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, Abilene, Kansas; Staff: John F. Kennedy Library, Boston, Massachusetts; Claudia Anderson, Mary K. Knill, and Linda M. Seelke: Lyndon Baines Johnson Library, Austin, Texas; Dimitri K. Simes, president: The Nixon Center, Washington, D.C.; Susan Naulty, archivist: Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace, Yorba Linda, California; Leigh Dale, Stacy Davis, Geir Gundersen, Kenneth G. Hafeli, and Donna Lehman: Gerald R. Ford Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Albert Nason: Jimmy Carter Library, Atlanta, Georgia; Jennifer Sternaman, archivist: Ronald Reagan Library, Simi Valley, California; Laura Spencer, Bonnie Burlbaw, Debbie Carter, R. Matthew Lee, Stephanie Oriabure and Deborah Wheeler: George Bush Presidential Library, College Station, Texas.
My thanks to the newspaper and magazine librarians who helped retrieve what was not available online: Press Association of the U.K.; Joshua Balling, managing editor, The Inquirer and Mirror, Nantucket, Massachusetts; Carolyn McClintock, LA Weekly; Cam Willis at D magazine; Susan Butler, Portland Press Herald; Merle Thomason, Fairchild Library, Pasadena, California; Dick Weiss, St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Jeanette Dean, Los Angeles Times; Marie Deitch, librarian, Greenwich Time; Kathy McKula, Hartford Courant; Dina Modianot-Fox, Greenwich Magazine; and Andrea Murphy, American Heritage.
Many people helped me during the four years I worked on this book. While I cannot acknowlege all 937 people I spoke with, I am grateful for their contributions. My thanks to: Rudy Abramson, Herbert and Lois Abrams, David Acheson, Cindy Adams, Peggy Adler, Philip Agee, Lola Aiken, Miriam Ain, Leyla Aker, Linda Aker, Edward Albee, Marcia Alcorn, Janice and Steve Allen, Margaret Alton and Tom Weisser, Kathleen Ambrose, Robert Sam Anson, Steve Arbeit, Dickie Arbiter, Elizabeth A. Archer, Thomas J. Ashley Jr., Rick Atkinson, Doug Bailey, Pat Bailey, Earl Balfour, Tom Bannon, Mike Barnicle, Richard Barrett, Susan Barron, Anita Bartholomew, Charles Bartlett, Ysaye Maria Barnwell, Roberta Baskin, Patrick Beach, Betty Beale, Barry Bearak, Paul Bedard, Sarah Witham Bednarz, Susan Bennett, Michelle Berman, Lynne Bernabei, Susan Biddle, Sonja Bjelland, Ann Biraben, Alex Mayes Birnbaum, Laura Blaustein, Nathan Blumberg, Sidney Blumenthal, John Bollinger, John Brady, Ralph Braibanti, Richard Breitman, David Brock, Charles Brown, Sally Brown (Mrs. Thatcher III), Bruce Buchanan, Martha Buchanan, Carol Buckland, Cathy Burka, Joyce Burland, Iris Burnett, Elizabeth Burr, Kenneth David Burrows, Sharon Bush, Justin Butcher, Christopher Byron, Connie Collins Cain, Jean Calhoun, Courtney Callahan, Margaret Carlson, Peter Carlson, Robert Caro, Dam Carol, Don Carr, Demaris Carroll, David Challinord, Dolly Langdon Chapin, Isolde Chapin, Bill Chaput, Pat Choate, Michael Cieply, Mary Higgins Clark, Richard Claude, Eleanor Clift, Alexander Cockburn, Andrew Cockburn, Leslie Cockburn, William Sloane Coffin, David Cogan, Lou Colasuonno, Joe Conason, Sydney “Terry” Cone, David Corn, David Crossland, Page Crossland, Julie Currie, Rick Curry, S.J., Robert Dallek, Tom D’Amore, Sam Dash, John Davidson, John Claiborne Davis, Osborne Day, June DeHart, Sally Denton, Stephanie deSibour, Betsy Trippe DeVecchi, Robert DeVecchi, Mary Devlin, Alex Dickie Jr., Mollie Dickenson, Kathleen Dillon, Ymelda Dixon, Byron Dobell, Ariel Dockerty, Jack Doll, Pier Dominquez, Jim Donovan, Michael Dorman, Jenna Dorn, Bob Dotchin, Virginia Douglas, Conway “Doc” Downing, Molly and George Downing, Brian Doyle, Roberta Hornig Draper, Pam Droog, Joseph Duffey, Robert W. Duffy, Indiana Earl, Nadine Eckhardt, Robert J. Edgeworth, Maureen Egan, Sara Ehrman, Daniel and Marina Ein, Albert Eisele, Donna M. Eller, Rayna G. Eller, Dave Elliott, Kim Elliott, Daniel Ellsberg, Roy Elson, Allison Engel, Lionel Epstein, Sally Eskew, Michael Evans, Mrs. Lawrence J. Evaristo, Peter and Pamela Evans, Penny Farthing, Allen Ferguson, Geraldine Ferraro, Robert Fink, Howard Fineman, David Fink, Harry Finkenstaedt, Jim Finkenstaedt, Gerry Fitzgerald, Roland Flamini, Heather Foley, Thomas S. Foley, Bitsey Folger, Jane Fonda, Allan Fotheringham, Barney Frank, Toby Frankel, Roberta Fulbright Foote, Elizabeth Friedsam, Harriet M. Fulbright, Len Funk, Bob Gardner, Ann Geracimos, Ann Gerber, Robin Gerber, Elbridge Gerry, Doug Giebel, Kenneth Gilpin, Ruth Gilson, Todd Gitlin, Vivian Glick, Robert A. Glick, Lynn Goddess, Paul Goldberg, Bonnie Goldstein, Richard Gooding, Suzkie Gookin, John Goerman, Sarah Gorman, Phillip Grace, Jim Grady, Susan Granger, Ellsworth Grant, Carol Taylor Gray, Bobbie Greene, Wayne Greenhaw, Ralph Grogan, Lloyd Grove, Tammy Haddad, Margaret Hall, Ralph Hallow, Mary Hall-Ries, Kent Hance, Joyce Harris, Richard Hart, Charles Hartman, William Hathaway, Lester Hyman, Richard Helms, Lois Herbert, Seymour Hersh, Stephen Hess, John Hicket, William Hildenbrand, Cragg Hines, Randy Hobler, Elizabeth W. Holden, Tony Holden, Pat Holt, Ellen Horan, Marne Hornblower, Sandy Horwitt, Jay Houston, Janet Howard, Joseph Howerton, Richard M. Huber, Cather Bell Hudson, Edith Hunter, Lester S. Hyman, Aubrey Irby, Michael Isikoff, Molly Ivins, Beverly Jackson, Matt Jacob, John C. Jansing, Marian Javits, Ken Jennings, J. Milburn “Kim” Jessup, Tom Johnson, Erica Jong, Carol Ross Joynt, Geoffrey Kabaservice, Marvin Kalb, Louis J. Kaposta, Steve Katz, Martin Kasindorf, Barbara Kellerman, Charles Kelly, David Hume Kennerly, Michael Kernan, Martha Kessler, Kathy Kiley, James J. Kilpatrick, Richard Kimball Jr., Susan King, Worth Kinlaw, Jill Kirkpatrick, Gerrit Kouwenhoven, Donna Kullberg, Mark Lackritz, Joseph Laitin, Judy Lang, Nelson D. Lankford, Carla Langjahr, Kitty Lansdale, Christopher Larsen, Jim Latimer, Dianne Laughlin, Jenny Lawrence, Jack Leachman, Jay Lefkowitz, Nicholas Lemann, Ann Lenore, Robert Lenzner, Terry Lenzner, Zach Leonard, Larry Lewin, Nancy Lewinsohn, Charles Lewis, Randy and Pat Lewis, R.W.B. Lewis, Stephanie Lilley, Jack Limpert, Aura Lippincott, Juliet Lloyd, Laura Liswood, John Loftus, Joseph Lopez, Claus Lutterbeck, Thomas Lynch, Suzanne Jones Maas, Torbert Macdonald, Ian MacLaughlin, Isabel Maddux, Stephen Maitland-Lewis, Emily Malino, Julia Malone, Charles Marshall, Sheryl Marshall, John Mashek, Kathleen Matthews, Jane Mayer, Bob McAllister, Jerry McCoy, Sandra McElwaine, Kyle McEnearney, Floretta Dukes McKenzie, Phyllis McKenzie, Lucie McKinney, Harry McPherson, William McPherson, Howard Means, Marianne Means, Elizabeth Mehren, Phillip Merrill, Albert S. Messina, Tammy Faye Bakker Messner, Zoe and Abner Mikva, Leslie Milk, William Millburn, John Mintz, George J. Mitchell, Roger Molander, John Monjo, Jonathan A. Moore, Anthony A, Morano, Jason Morano, Jefferson Morley, Barbara and David Morowitz, Celia Morris, Dick Morris, David Mortimer, Herb Moses, Mary Mueller, Bill Moyers, Diego Mulligan, John H. Napier, Robert Nash, Simon Nathan, Kevin Nealon, Ralph Neas, Judy Nelson, David Newscom, Jesse Nichols, Peggy Noonan, Alf Nucifora, Michael Nussbaum, Marylouise Oates, Frank “Junie” O’Brien, Ginny Oler, Deborah Orin, Betsy Osborne, Curtis Owne, Susan Page, William S. Paley Jr., Stephen Pauley, Jan Paulk, Pamela Peabody, Bill Penrose, Ann Peretz, Martin Peretz, Marjorie Perloff, Jost Pollek, Victoria Pope, Jennifer Porter, E. Barrett Prettyman, Raymond Price, Ann Pritchard, Ellen Proxmire, Fred Purdy, Donnie Radcliffe, Douglas Rae, George Ramonas, Dan Rapaport, Marcus Raskin, Ollie Rauh, Sonny Rawls, Coates Redmon, Roy Reed, Deborah B. Reeve, Ken Reigner, Peter Ribicoff, Cindy Rich, Hamilton Richardson, Cam Richey, Jane Rizer, Gary Boyd Roberts, Alexandra Robbins, Randall Roden, Dave Roe, Robert A. “Hawkeye” Rogers, Warren Rogers, Louisa Romano, Marci Rosenberg, Hanna Rosin, Rick Ross, Dan Rostenkowski, Larry J. Sabato, Blair Sabol, Mark Salter, Cindy Samuels, Alexander Sanger, Arnold Scaasi, James Scheuer, Marian Schlesinger, Judith Schiff, Ina Schnell, Daniel Schorr, Aniko Gaal Schott, Dorothy Scott, Bette Seabrook, Elliott Segal, Ruth Osterweis Selig, Carol Seron, Cody Shearer, Riki and Michael Sheehan, Gail Sheehy, Alicia Shepard, Mike Shropshire, Howard E. Shuman, Ellen and Gerry Sigal, Carol Siegal, Ira Silverman, Stephanie Slewka, Mark Smith, Mike Smith, Skip Smith, Terence Smith, Sarakay Smullens, Sydney Soderberg, Mark Soler, Paula Span, Daphne Srinivasan, Dobli and Sheila Srinivasan, Bill Stadiem, Susan Stamberg, Robert Stein, Andrew Stephen, Charles Stephan, Serena Stewart, Juanita Stickney, Karen Street, Elizabeth Streicher, Mickey Stuart, Beverly S
ullivan, George Sullivan, Linda Sullivan, Ron Suskind, James W. Symington, Stuart Symington Jr., Franny Taft, Deborah Tannen, Sam Tannenhaus, Erik Tarloff, Steven Thayer, Gene Theroux, Phyllis Theroux, Michael Thomas, Robert E. Thomason, Elizabeth Thompson, Judy Timberman, Dolph Tillotson, Mary Tillotson, Martin Tolchin, Jeffrey Toobin, Nina Totenberg, Calvin Trillin, Yoshi Tsurumi, Frank Valeo, Robert Van Leeuwen, Gore Vidal, Neil Vigdor, Lindy Von Eichel, Christopher Walker, George M. Walker, Ray Walker, Eric Wallach, George Walldrodt, Mary Wallace, French Wallop, Jeannette Walls, Janice Walsh, Ian Walters, Ellen Warren, George “Red Dog” Warren, Susan Watters, Claudia Weicker, Lowell Weicker, Erika Wenzke, Tim Westmoreland, Bob White, Kenneth White, Robert K. Whitt, Thomas Wik, Lilyan Wilder, Leon Wieseltier, Lee Williams, Majorie Williams, Miyuki Williams, Stanley Willis, Tom Wilner, Mark H. Wilson, Page Wilson, Betsy Winnaker, Ellie Winninghoff, Michael Sean Winters, Herman Wolf, Bobby Wood, Randall “Buck” Wood, Judy Woodruff, Diane Woolley, Anne Woolston, Susan Yerkes, Cathy Wolfman Young, Genevieve “Gene” Young, Peck Young, Bernie Yudain, and Sid Yudain.
Huckleberry Finn had it right. “If I’d a knowed what a trouble it was to make a book,” he said, “I wouldn’t a tackled it.” I wouldn’t a tackled this one, either, except for the galvanizing force of John Bennett, a journalist of thirty years who was retired when I started knocking on his door. Since it was January and too cold for golf, he agreed to spend the winter in the Library of Congress, gathering more than five thousand articles on the Bushes. In Connecticut, Diane Stamm did the same thing, poring through the archives of the Connecticut State Library and the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center at the University of Connecticut to assemble the background material on the family. In Greenwich, I was fortunate enough to meet Stephanie S. Gaj, who responded generously to all my requests, and in New York City Marsha Berkowitz retrieved numerous records and documents while researching everything from the files of Brown Brothers Harriman to the Social Register. In Boston, Margo Howard became my beloved leg woman, chasing down everything she could, which blossomed into a mother lode of information. In Washington, D.C., I needed assistance organizing the vast amounts of material pouring in, and was blessed by Sumner MacLeish and Rebecca Hunter. I also received assistance with some of the nearly one thousand interviews conducted for this book. Throughout the process, I also was guided by Patti Pancoe, who has worked on every book I’ve written. A year into the project Stephanie K. Eller became my full-time assistant, and brought the scholarship of her PhD studies to the detailed research required. She worked tirelessly with no concern for the clock or the calendar, putting in long days and nights, and forgoing vacations until the manuscript was completed. Her commitment has been exemplary and I’m most grateful.
For the last four years, Stephanie and I have been helped every day by Internet retrievals from the California journalist Richard Brenneman. He showed us there is no better resource than a generous journalist, and we also found such a treasure in the investigative reporter David Robb, who sent all of his files on the Bushes, including original taped interviews, which are cited when used. Jefferson Morley from The Washington Post was equally generous with his tapes and notebooks, and Carol Taylor Gray’s scrapbooks, complete with pink ribbons, were a colorful addition to our Gray files.
The best part of completing a long project is publicly thanking those who have been loving and long-suffering. My list is long and my heart is full, especially for Margaret Engel, managing editor of the Freedom Forum and director of the Alicia Patterson Foundation; for Colleen Ryan, whose friendship sets the gold standard; for Judy (Demetra) Green, a constant support for over thirty-five years; for Tom and Jean Gilpin, who make Clark County a paradise; for my wonderful book club—writers all, who understand: Linda Cashdan, Patricia O’Brien, Patricia Shakow, Susan Tolchin, Irene Wurtzel, and Catherine Wyler; for the board of directors of the National Women’s Health Resource Center, its president, Julie Johnson, and executive director, Amy Niles, who tolerated my absences from meetings; for the Sisters of the Holy Names, who taught me years ago, and who, despite my lapses, continue to send up their prayers; for those who kept life on an even keel while I was in the bunker: James Henderson, Maria DiMartini, Fabiola Molina, Marvin McIntyre, Bob Parr, Steve Weisman, Tracy Noble, Gretchen and Jeremy Zucker, Seymour Zucker, Felice Ross, and Amanda and David Bowker.
My thanks to the Washington Biography Group led by Marc Pachter, who always inspires; to my sister, Mary Cary Coughlan, who honors every publication with a Chicago book party; to Marc E. Miller of McLeod, Watkinson and Miller, who read the manuscript with care, as did Mervin Block and my revered agent, Wayne S. Kabak, co–Chief Operating Officer, in the New York office of William Morris Agency, Inc.
Now comes praise for the magicians who turn a manuscript into a book. I’m ecstatic about the publisher of Doubleday, Steve Rubin, whose enthusiasm is exceeded only by his charm. His choice of Peter Gethers as my editor was the best professional break of my life. I loved every exhilarating moment of working with this wonderful man and I finally understand why F. Scott Fitzgerald worshipped Max Perkins.
It’s fair to say that in the course of publishing this book I’ve fallen in love with everyone at Doubleday: Kathy Trager, general counsel of Random House; Bill Thomas, editor in chief; Rebecca Holland, publishing director; Frieda Duggan, production editor; Ingrid Sterner, copy editor; Katherine Duffy, managing editor; John Fontana, art director; Lorraine Hyland, production manager; Elizabeth Rendfleisch and Gretchen Achilles, designers; Jeff Ward, family tree illustrator; Ada Yonenaka, production editor; Karen Broderick, photo researcher; Claudia Herr, Gethers’s assistant; Suzanne Herz and David Drake, publicity; and Janet Renard, proofreader. All have my gratitude.
My deepest thanks to my husband, Jonathan E. Zucker, the dear and glorious physician to whom this book is dedicated. He came into my life twelve years ago and continues to fill my heart with joy.
June 8, 2004
ALSO BY KITTY KELLEY
Jackie Oh!
Elizabeth Taylor: The Last Star
His Way: The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra
Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography
The Royals
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eISBN: 978-0-385-51405-7
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