American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush.

• Author: Fischer, Raymond L.
• Position: Book Review

AMERICAN DYNASTY: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush BY KEVIN PHILLIPS VIKING 2004, 348 PAGES, $25.95

In the preface of American Dynasty, Kevin Phillips confesses that his disdain of the Bushes began in the 1960s, and, in "Acknowledgements," he admits he disliked the Bushes even when he was involved in GOP politics before their two presidencies. After researching and writing the book, Phillips "discovered why." Pour generations of Bushes have been working to build a family "dynasty" According to the author, the Republicans under the "House of Bush" have become the new "imperial party"

This so-called American dynasty began with George Herbert Walker, the "founding father" of the clan and the first to make "arms deals, clandestine shipments, foreign covert operations, rogue banks, and money laundering" part of the family "escutcheon." It is charged that the family has shown favoritism toward the energy sector, defense industries, Pentagon, and CIA. Meanwhile, for today's investor class and upper-income groups, it has insisted on tax breaks, which have put the American political system in a "perilous state." The emergence of such a dynastic presidency contradicts the American political tradition "and the shorter its duration the better."

In 1985, evangelist Billy Graham "planted a mustard seed" in the soul of George W. Bush, a liaison with the religious right for his father's presidential campaign. In fact, the fundamentalists made history in "securing" the elections of the Bushes: Republican presidents elected by a religious, conservative, southern-centered coalition led by a block of white Protestant evangelicals. The book contends that George H.W. received 70% of the evangelical vote, and George W. 84% of "high-commitment evangelicals."

The author believes George W. leads the nation's Christian right because of conspicuous personal religiosity...