A deeply researched and deliciously delivered account of the forces that brought Bush to power - and why they're probably here to stay when his term is over No other state has a tighter hold on America's psyche, politics and wallet than Texas. Two of the last three American Presidents - and three of the last eight - have been Texans. Lyndon B Johnson, George Bush and George W Bush all got to the White House by exploiting a network of money and power that no other state can match. In this fascinating book, investigative journalist Robert Bryce explains how Texas' business has become America's business and how Texas' politics are now America's politics. Through an absorbing narrative that moves from the days of the oil boom, through the rise and reign of LBJ to the present, Cronies illuminates how Texas turned its vast energy resources into political power and how a small group of Texas corporations, lawyers and politicians have used that power to protect and defend their own economic interests.
Along the way, Cronies also provides a provocative analysis of the second Iraq War; demonstrates how George W Bush's victory during the Florida recount of 2000 was the quintessential example of the Lone Star State's enormous clout; details for the first time the central role that the Bush family's lawyer, James A Baker III has played in the Bushes' political dynasty; and explains how Texas' most controversial company Halliburton gained political power and why it and other Texas energy companies are likely to continue playing a major role in American foreign policy. Like it or not - and many Americans don't - Texas dominates the United States. And because of that, Texans are now running the world. This book tells how they got there - and why they might just stay.
- ISBN10 1586483374
- ISBN13 9781586483371
- Publish Date 5 July 2005 (first published 25 May 2004)
- Publish Status Out of Stock
- Out of Print 15 May 2009
- Publish Country US
- Publisher INGRAM PUBLISHER SERVICES US
- Imprint PublicAffairs,U.S.
- Edition New edition
- Format Paperback
- Pages 352
- Language English