Safire's Political Dictionary
Author: William Safir
When it comes to the vagaries of language in American politics, its uses and abuses, its absurdities and ever-shifting nuances, its power to confound, obscure, and occasionally to inspire, William Safire is the language maven we most readily turn to for clarity, guidance, and penetrating, sometimes lacerating, wit.
Safire's Political Dictionary is a stem-to-stern updating and expansion of the Language of Politics, which was first published in 1968 and last revised in 1993, long before such terms as Hanging Chads, 9/11 and the War on Terror became part of our everyday vocabulary. Nearly every entry in that renowned work has been revised and updated and scores of completely new entries have been added to produce an indispensable guide to the political language being used and abused in America today.
Safire's definitions--discursive, historically aware, and often anecdotal--bring a savvy perspective to our colorful political lingo. Indeed, a Safire definition often reads like a mini-essay in political history, and readers will come away not only with a fuller understanding of particular words but also a richer knowledge of how politics works, and fails to work, in America. From Axis of Evil, Blame Game, Bridge to Nowhere, Triangulation, and Compassionate Conservatism to Islamofascism, Netroots, Earmark, Wingnuts and Moonbats, Slam Dunk, Doughnut Hole, and many others, this language maven explains the origin of each term, how and by whom and for what purposes it has been used or twisted, as well as its perceived and real significance.
For anyone who wants to cut through the verbal haze that surrounds so much of American political discourse, Safire's PoliticalDictionary offers a work of scholarship, wit, insiderhood and resolute bipartisanship.
Graham R. Walden - Library Journal
Safire, now 78 and a Presidential Medal of Freedom winner in 2006, describes this dictionary as a lifelong work-it was first published 40 years ago. A self-described "libertarian conservative" who was a speechwriter in the Nixon White House, Safire has labored diligently to create a bipartisan work covering the language of politics. Because it deals with the "specialized world of words," the book is neither a standard dictionary of government nor a traditional source for definitions of political science terminology; works like David Robertson's A Dictionary of Modern Politics(Routledge, 2007) or Jack C. Plano and Milton Greenberg's The American Political Dictionary(Harcourt, 2002; 11th ed.) are better suited to those roles. Entries in this fifth edition cover such phrases as Reagan's "evil empire," George W. Bush's "axis of evil," and Bill Clinton's "what the meaning of 'is' is." Also covered are "depth polling," "nattering nabobs of negativism," "policy wonk," "scorched earth," and "thought police." The WorldCat record for the fourth edition (published in 1993) indicates 1,359 library holdings, representing a diverse group of public and academic sites. This record represents a strong vote of confidence for the work of a writer who has established a national reputation through political columns appearing in hundreds of newspapers.
Interesting textbook: Value Engineering or Total Quality Service
Soldier: The Life of Colin Powell
Author: Karen DeYoung
Over the course of a lifetime of service to his country, Colin Powell became a national hero, a beacon of wise leadership and, according to polls, “the most trusted man in America.” From his humble origins as the son of Jamaican immigrants to the highest levels of government in four administrations, he helped guide the nation through some of its most heart-wrenching hours. Now, in the first full biography of one of the most admired men of our time, award-winning Washington Post journalist Karen DeYoung takes us from Powell’s Bronx childhood and meteoric rise through the military ranks to his formative roles in Washington’s corridors of power and his controversial tenure as secretary of state.
With psychological acumen and a reporter’s eye for detail, DeYoung introduces us to the racially integrated neighborhood where Powell grew up, his courtship of and marriage to Alma Johnson, and his years as a promising young Army officer. We are witness to the pivotal events that helped shaped his world view, including two tours of duty in Vietnam, where he was disillusioned by a breakdown in leadership and the lack of a clear objective, and a 1988 meeting as President Reagan’s national security adviser with Mikhail Gorbachev, who looked at him dead-on and effectively declared an end to the Cold War. We are privy to his reasoning as the architect of Operation Desert Storm and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, a position that made him a household name and an international celebrity. And we experience his agonizing deliberations in the face of a groundswell of public desire that he run for thepresidency.
Yet it was his capacity as America’s chief diplomat in the administration of George W. Bush that brought Powell the most renown—and criticism. Charged with the formidable task of making the case for war with Iraq, he convinced a wary nation that it was both necessary and right, only to find his own credibility hanging in the balance as the justification for invasion began to unravel. At odds with the White House on a range of foreign policy issues, Powell’s counsel went unheeded and his reputation was tarnished.
With dramatic new information about the inner workings of an administration locked in ideological combat, DeYoung makes clearer than ever before the decision-making process that took the nation to war and addresses the still-unanswered questions about Powell’s departure from his post shortly after the 2004 election. Drawing on interviews with U.S. and foreign sources as well as with Powell himself, and with unprecedented access to his personal and professional papers, Soldier is a revelatory portrait of an American icon: a man at once heroic and all-too-humanly fallible.
The Washington Post - George Packer
DeYoung might have done better to limit herself to Powell's years as secretary of state. She imbues this story with narrative tension and a steady accumulation of detail that shows exactly how he allowed himself to be used, mastered and then cast aside by his antagonists in the administration, above all by his longtime colleague Dick Cheney, now the vice president…As the administration moved with blind self-confidence toward war in Iraq, Powell slowly became part of the machinery that he thought he was helping to brake. The process by which he began to accept the White House's terms of the argument makes for the best pages of Soldier, a fascinating study in bureaucratic maneuvering, groupthink and subtle self-deception.
The New York Times - Michiko Kakutani
Mr. Powell gave Ms. DeYoung six lengthy, on-the-record interviews (five in 2003-4, when he was secretary of state, and one in 2005 after leaving office), and this book's chief usefulness is in fleshing out the narrative of the administration's road to war from the general's perspective—much the way Mr. Suskind's book The Price of Loyalty fleshed out a portrait of the administration from the point of view of Paul O'Neill, the former treasury secretary.
Publishers Weekly
Washington Post reporter DeYoung covers Powell's entire career in this nuanced, comprehensively researched first complete biography to bring to life the Jamaican immigrants' son who became chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, secretary of state and a widely supported potential candidate for president. DeYoung presents her subject as above all a soldier, with an ethic of honor and service shaped by his career in the U.S. Army, during which he brought a combination of intellectual force and moral courage to his senior military appointments that distinguished him among his contemporaries. DeYoung, who obtained six in-depth interviews with Powell, explains that he wrestled with whether or not he had the duty to run for president in 2000, but ultimately realized he didn't want the presidency from the "depth of [his] stomach or soul." She correspondingly demonstrates that his continuing commitment to public service drove his ascension to secretary of state-a commitment that was strained to the limit during Powell's four years in office. DeYoung paints a favorable but balanced portrait of Powell, and she avoids using him as an instrument for Bush-bashing. Powell emerges from her account as a person who grew to meet his wider responsibilities. Photos not seen by PW. (Oct. 10) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
KLIATT
Colin Powell is a respected figure in American public life today. It would be interesting enough to read a straightforward account describing his rise from a drifting college student to the highest circles of the government. Author Karen DeYoung digs behind the simple facts, however, to explain the reasons behind his phenomenal rise through the Army ranks and his post-military career as a Cabinet member and advisor to four presidents. For one thing, all of the US armed services like to single out their future leaders early in their careers, hand-picking them for increasingly sophisticated assignments and spending years grooming them in the ways of high command. This is by no means simple favoritism—a personality flaw or a professional blunder will swiftly drop these proteges back into the pack. DeYoung is a Washington journalist who understands this and, even better, knows thoroughly the ins and outs of official Washington. She is gifted at explaining the intricacies and the amazingly subtle methods by which political insiders manage to survive and prosper in the highly charged atmosphere of the nation's capitol. How General Powell managed to accomplish this is a great testament to his skills as well as his character. The Washington years, indeed, form the greater part of the book. Unlike most biographies, the author devotes comparatively little space to the general's family, childhood, and years as a junior officer in the Army. Her easy familiarity with the Washington scene, and insight into the numerous personalities, however, will make difficult sledding for the average YA reader. But for adults and mature teens ready for a seminar in political sophistication, this book will bea treasure. Reviewer: Raymond Puffer, Ph.D.
Nicole A. Cooke - Library Journal
In a timely and fascinating biography, journalist DeYoung details the life of former Secretary of State Powell. Born to Jamaican parents and raised in the Bronx, NY, Powell has led a life that reads like a history lesson, rich in experiences that include such milestones as the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War. He found structure, comfort, and his niche in the military, which he transformed into an admirable and distinguished career. DeYoung's swift and detailed narrative gives the listener insight into Powell's family life, his military career, and his profound sense of honor, which ultimately could not salve the events that occurred during his tenure as Secretary of State. Read by Coleen Marlo, this book is recommended for all public and academic library collections, especially those devoted to history, biography, and African American studies.
Library Journal
This first major biography of Powell presents the inspiring story of the son of Jamaican immigrants and his rapid rise through the army ranks, vital service as President Reagan's national security advisor, and appointment by President George H.W. Bush as the first African American chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the youngest ever. DeYoung (assoc. editor, the Washington Post), cowinner of the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for the Post's coverage of the war on terror, uses six lengthy interviews with Powell, as well as interviews with military officers, government officials, and family members, in her deft portrait of Powell's many accomplishments and more recent conflicts when he served as President George W. Bush's secretary of state. DeYoung is at her best when she describes Powell's clashes with Vice President Richard Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and others who prodded Powell to resign during Bush's first term which this dutiful soldier refused to do, instead deciding not to stay on for Bush's second term. The author concludes that Powell was the only senior official of the Bush administration who tried to slow the invasion of Iraq and who would not excuse or condone prisoner abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guant namo. Compulsively readable, this book is sure to be in great demand at public libraries; highly recommended. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 6/1/06.] Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, PA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
The story of a good soldier sacrificed. Colin Powell, Washington Post associate editor DeYoung shows, fought many times against being the odd man out. In the Army, he was from the start a consistently superior, even model officer, rebuking the widespread racism within that supposedly integrated institution. He disappointed himself only when he did not do as well as he thought he could; when he graduated from Command and General Staff College second in his class, for example, he blamed it on a final exam question that he answered by recommending "a tactical defense, withholding a counterattack until there was more information about the enemy's strength and position." In this moment from 1968 can be discerned the seed of the Powell Doctrine. He distilled the lesson onto an index card: "Avoid Conservatism." Serving as Reagan's national security advisor in the wake of the Iran-Contra imbroglio, Powell learned firsthand the war that is Washington, and even though a comrade characterized him as not a warrior but a mediator, Powell proved a good fighter, not without large ambitions though "more politic...than political." Alas, the old soldier fell in with a bad lot in the Bush crowd, and though he was Bush's first Cabinet appointee, he found himself immediately shut out of policy discussions dominated by Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, who spoiled for war with Iraq even before 9/11, even as Powell associates issued white papers bearing titles such as "Planning for a Self-Inflicted Wound." Unceremoniously fired although the most popular member of the Bush administration, Powell agonized about having delivered to the United Nations assurances about WMDs that turned out to be lies. "I'm the guywho will always be known as the 'Powell Briefing,'" he lamented, too late. By DeYoung's account, Powell should have revised his index card to read, "Avoid Neoconservatism." An excellent study in leadership-and the lack thereof. First printing of 200,000; first serial to the Washington Post
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