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True Faith and Allegiance






True Faith and Allegiance: A Story of Service and Sacrifice in War and Peace by Alberto Gonzales

As the 80th Attorney General of the United States under the mantle of President George W. Bush, Alberto Gonzales ran into many difficult situations including the post 9/11 terror that ensued after the Twin Towers were bombed.  Gonzales has a long history with Bush, all the way back to their days in the state of Texas, where Gonzales was Secretary of State and then a Supreme Court Justice.  This new book, True Faith and Allegiance, tells the story of Gonzales’ time with the President as he served him as Attorney General.

One particularly chilling part of the book was when Gonazalez went to the Huntsville death chamber to attend a midnight execution.  Alberto was concerned for the chaplain who had counseled and prayed with so many of the inmates right before their execution.  After hearing about the inmates confessing to the crime they committed to the chaplain, Gonzales writes, “And then he revealed something that bothers me even to this day.  He told me that many of these midnight confessions were not limited to the crime for which these criminals were being executed.   These confessions sometimes included other killings and other crimes…(64).”  At that point in the stage of the criminal’s life, the end is the conclusion of his life and of his case, but the knowing that other people could be dead or injured is still a gut-churning truth.

Another aspect of the book that was very interesting concerned the fate of Saddam Hussein.  Gonzalez gives us a window into how other senators and politicians were feeling about the situation, many on the side of taking Hussein out.  Gonzalez says this about Saddam’s presence outside the U.S, “It’s important to note, however, that the CIA was not alone in assuming Saddam had become a dangerous threat.  Intelligence services from Britain, Spain, Australia, Poland and Italy shared that opinion… (255).”  The viable threat was seen from John Kerry, Joe Biden and many others inside the political machinery of Washington D.C.  Saddam was an imminent threat and Gonzalez was outlining the fact from outside the U.S.

This is a really fascinating book, not least of which is a picture of someone who worked with Bush.


Thanks to BookLook Bloggers for the copy of this book in exchange for review.

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