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"To explain the actions of the Bush administration since 9/11, Roberts...offers a provocative and intriguing thesis: that the decisions made by Bush were tightly constrained by the American political system's entrenched liberalism, and a prevailing culture of neomilitarism....[T]he book deserves a wide audience. It will likely raise many questions to pose to presidential candidates in this election cycle. Highly recommended for all libraries."
—Thomas J. Baldino, Library Journal

"In the years following the September 11 attacks, supporters and critics of the Bush administration have debated its broad expansion of executive authority. Syracuse professor Roberts breaks decisively from these assertions, instead arguing that the Bush administration has repeatedly failed to consolidate presidential authority. Where critics decry recent infringements on civil liberties, the author counters that, in comparison to previous historical crises, legal and social protections have limited the scope of these infringements. Similarly, the realities of geo-politics have constrained espoused changes in foreign policy typified by the Bush Doctrine advocating preemptive action against threats to American interests. The author insists that the institutional design of the federal government and political shifts of the 1960s and 1970s have made the consolidation of executive power extremely difficult. This provocative, intelligent book will likely challenge the opinions of Bush's champions and detractors alike. With his simple but compelling central argument that personnel may change, but the broad constraints on federal action do not shift so readily, Roberts suggests that institutional forces have shaped American politics more profoundly than the personalities and aspirations of those in power."
—Publishers Weekly

"Roberts' fresh analysis of the Bush II presidency is an insightful and thought-provoking must-read. It is certain to prompt reevaluation and reinterpretation of the Bush administration and the actions of its key participants."
—David H. Rosenbloom, Distinguished Professor of Public Administration, American University

"Roberts gives us a wonderfully readable and richly contextualized account of the Bush imperial presidency. Without being an anti-Bursh screed, this is an excellent account of what went wrong and why."
—H. George Frederickson, co-author of Measuring the Performance of Hollow State

"Will history record Bush administration as an era of historic overreaching or epic underperformance? In this fascinating analysis, Roberts confounds Bush critics and loyalists alike. His carefully reasoned argument on the challenges and constraints Bush faced provides a fresh and important view, not only his presidency but also on the government that future presidents will somehow struggle to govern."
—Donald F. Kettl, author of System Under Stress: Homeland Security and American Politics

A trenchant analysis of the last eight years of American political history. . . . A work of rare insight that fills gaps glaringly evident in most public discourse.
—Kirkus Reviews

When the Bush presidency began to collapse, pundits were quick to tell a tale of the imperial presidency gone awry, a story of secretive, power-hungry ideologues who guided an arrogant president down the road to ruin. But the inside story of the failures of the Bush administration is both much more complex and alarming, says leading policy analyst Alasdair Roberts. In the most comprehensive, balanced view of the Bush presidency to date, Roberts portrays a surprisingly weak president, hamstrung by bureaucratic, constitutional, cultural and economic barriers and strikingly unable to wield authority even within his own executive branch.

The Collapse of Fortress Bush shows how the president fought—and lost—key battles with the defense and intelligence communities. From Homeland Security to Katrina, Bush could not coordinate agencies to meet domestic threats or disasters. Either the Bush administration refused to exercise authority, was thwarted in the attempt to exercise authority, or wielded authority but could not meet the test of legitimacy needed to enact their goals. Ultimately, the vaunted White House discipline gave way to public recriminations among key advisers. Condemned for secretiveness, the Bush administration became one of the most closely scrutinized presidencies in the modern era.

Roberts links the collapse of the Bush presidency to deeper currents in American politics and culture, especially a new militarism and the supremacy of the Reagan-era consensus on low taxes, limited government, and free markets. Only in this setting was it possible to have a total war on terrorism in which taxes were reduced, private consumption was encouraged, and businesses were lightly regulated.

A balanced, incisive account by a skilled observer of U.S. government, The Collapse of Fortress Bush turns the spotlight from the powerful cabal that launched the war in Iraq to tell a much more disturbing story about American power and the failure of executive leadership.

Alasdair Roberts is Professor of Public Administration in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. He is also a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the School of Public Policy, University College, London. He received his Ph.D. in public policy from Harvard University and a law degree from the University of Toronto. He is the author of Blacked Out: Government Secrecy in the Information Age, winner of the 2007 Book Award from the American Society for Public Administrations Section on Public Administration Research, the 2007 Best Book Award of the Academy of Managements Public and Non-Profit Division, the International Political Science Associations 2007 Levine Book Prize, and the 2006 Louis Brownlow Book Award from the National Academy of Public Administration.