The Making of a Global President
Available in print for the first time, this day-by-day diary of George H. W. Bush’s life in China opens a fascinating window into one of the most formative periods of his career. As head of the United States Liaison Office in Beijing from 1974 to 1975, Bush witnessed high-level policy deliberations and daily social interactions between the two Cold War superpowers. The China Diary of George H. W. Bushoffers an intimate look at this fundamental period of international history, marks a monumental contribution to our understanding of U.S.-China relations, and sheds light on the ideals of a global president in the making.
In compelling words, Bush reveals a thoughtful and pragmatic realism that would guide him for decades to come. He considers the crisis of Vietnam, the difficulties of détente, and tensions in the Middle East, while lamenting the global decline in American power. He formulates views on the importance of international alliances and personal diplomacy, as he struggles to form meaningful relationships with China’s top leaders. With a critical eye for detail, he depicts key political figures, including Gerald Ford, Donald Rumsfeld, Deng Xiaoping, and the ever-difficult Henry Kissinger. Throughout, Bush offers impressions of China and its people, describing his explorations of Beijing by bicycle, and his experiences with Chinese food, language lessons, and Ping-Pong.
Complete with a preface by George H. W. Bush, and an introduction and essay by Jeffrey Engel that place Bush’s China experience in the broad context of his public career, The China Diary of George H. W. Bush offers an unmediated perspective on American diplomatic history, and explores a crucial period’s impact on a future commander in chief.
Editorial Reviews
From Booklist:
Former president George H. W. Bush’s reputation significantly resides in his conduct of foreign affairs; this publication of a diary he dictated while de facto U.S. ambassador to the People’s Republic of China in 1974–75 will be important to students of his career. It opens with Bush’s candor about accepting the Beijing appointment: he wanted to get away from Watergate and to burnish his foreign policy credentials. Bringing a conviction that personal friendships matter in international relations, Bush’s meet-and-greet campaign as recorded in his day-to-day impressions collided with the tendency of nations to act according to self-interest. So disenchanted did Bush apparently become with bonhomie’s failure to improve U.S.-China relations that he quit keeping his diary during his last four months in the post. Still, the journal covers some arch gossip about Henry Kissinger and congressional delegations and the ripples felt in the Beijing diplomatic corps from the fall of Saigon, as well as Bush’s reflections about America’s proper role in the world. A trove for researchers, Bush’s observations on late Maoist China will also draw general readers interested in diplomacy. –Gilbert Taylor
“These diary entries–describing a cheerful round of visits, meals, tennis games, and efforts to strike up personal relationships with Chinese officials and the Beijing diplomatic corps–are nonetheless compulsive reading. They convey the local color of a quaint Beijing that is now lost to history, as well as reveal much about the gregarious character and social skills of the man who became the 41st U.S. president. Engel’s exemplary notes and interpretative essay add to the volume’s readability and scholarly value.” –Andrew J. Nathan, Foreign Affairs
