I’ll give Josh Patashnik a B+

The New Republic‘s Josh Patashnik has set up an amusing memoir matrix of ex-Bush officials.  While it’s mostly for laughs, I have three quibbles:  Paul O’Neill wins the award for most influential and and sincere.  I’ll give him sincere, but O’Neill was not all that influential… or effective.  I want to see a similar matrix ...

By , a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

The New Republic's Josh Patashnik has set up an amusing memoir matrix of ex-Bush officials.  While it's mostly for laughs, I have three quibbles:  Paul O'Neill wins the award for most influential and and sincere.  I'll give him sincere, but O'Neill was not all that influential... or effective.  I want to see a similar matrix of the more Bush-friendly memoirs -- Tommy Franks, David Frum, Ari Fleischer, Karen Hughes, etc.  There are clear differences between them -- Frum was clearly willing to put in criticisms that did not appear in, say, Fleischer's.  Call it the Toady Matrix.  Where the heck does Alan Greenspan belong? 

The New Republic‘s Josh Patashnik has set up an amusing memoir matrix of ex-Bush officials.  While it’s mostly for laughs, I have three quibbles: 

  • Paul O’Neill wins the award for most influential and and sincere.  I’ll give him sincere, but O’Neill was not all that influential… or effective
  • I want to see a similar matrix of the more Bush-friendly memoirs — Tommy Franks, David Frum, Ari Fleischer, Karen Hughes, etc.  There are clear differences between them — Frum was clearly willing to put in criticisms that did not appear in, say, Fleischer’s.  Call it the Toady Matrix. 
  • Where the heck does Alan Greenspan belong? 

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner

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