Bush told me, he doesn't watch TV ... though it's untrue that he doesn't read the newspapers.

As a journalist, you sort of grind away, taking rejections as they come, building on whatever advances you've achieved.

Bush made a point of emphasizing to me that unlike his father's administration, his was one of significant "walk-in access" to the Oval Office.

Bush always has viewed himself as an "activist," which flies in the face of some conservative notions, such as the federal government's role in education.

I don't think of Bush as a particularly angry person - if anything, he has a facility for not harboring grudges, for letting things roll off of his back after momentarily bristling.

It was my intent all along to write a nonjudgmental narrative of Bush's presidency. Along the way, a number of liberal friends of mine expressed disgust that I would spend time on such an endeavor.

I think there's an underlying insecurity to Bush with a rather classical genesis - namely his being the eldest son of a famous father. I think this has propelled his need to be distinctive, to do big things.

I don't want to paint myself as some kind of saint - that would be laughable - but I do think I've been able over the years to write humanely about subjects who are controversial and even contemptible. I've profiled pedophiles, stalkers, serial rapists, prison gang members and corrupt politicians.

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