5 "Can you imagine the signal": Walt Harrington, "Dubya and Me," American Scholar, Autumn 2011, http://theamericanscholar.org/dubya-and-me/.

6 "He never became a Lyndon": Michael Gerson, author interview.

7 "if he has dark nights of the soul": Stephen Hadley, author interview.

8 "He stunned me day after": Dan Bartlett, author interview.

9 "He did get kind of down": Joe O'Neill, author interview.

10 "He feels that pain": Jim Langdon, author interview.

11 "Putting parents, children": Kirbyjon Caldwell, author interview.

12 "It isn't like he's blowing up": Bartlett interview.

13 "You fight the war, and I'll provide": John Abizaid, author interview.

14 "There's always this kind": Frederick Jones, author interview.

15 "our version of Lawrence of Arabia": John Hannah, author interview.

16 "This is not working": Hadley interview. See also George W. Bush, Decision Points, 36364.

17 "impotent" president: Peter Baker, "Press Secretary Relished Job," Washington Post, July 13, 2008.

18 "I asked him about those": George W. Bush, remarks announcing Tony Snow's appointment, April 26, 2006, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/04/20060426.html.

19 "He's hard to ignore": Michele Davis, author interview.

20 "You started with Nixon": Paulson, On the Brink, 1920.

21 "Utter bullshit that I'm": George W. Bush, meeting with Igor Ivanov, the Russian national security adviser, May 4, 2006. Notes of the conversation provided to author.

22 "I just want to know we are": Nicholas Burns, author interview.

23 speech-and-debate clause: Article I, Section 6 of the Constitution says members of Congress are "privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place." http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html. The point of the clause was to guard the independence of the legislative branch, but how much protection it affords lawmakers has been debated for years. The Congressional Research Service determined that the Jefferson search "appears to be unprecedented in U.S. history and raises serious and significant constitutional questions." See Todd B. Tatelman, "The Speech or Debate Clause: Recent Developments," Congressional Research Service, April 17, 2007, http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33668.pdf.

24 Hastert was "livid": Dennis Hastert, author interview.

25 "was just so exercised": Paul McNulty, author interview.

26 "Well, basically here's the deal": Ibid.

27 used the wrong first name: American officials were calling him Jowad, which was a nom de guerre; Maliki asked them to use Nouri instead.

28 "Excuse me, Madame Secretary": George Casey, author interview. See also Graham, By His Own Rules, 614.

29 Rumsfeld was aggravated: Rumsfeld, Known and Unknown, 69091.

30 "Every one of us was worried": Donald Rumsfeld, author interview.

31 "We really got to get rid": Ray LaHood, interview with Lynn Sweet, Chicago Sun-Times, posted June 8, 2006, http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2006/06/rep_ray_lahood.html.

32 "Why didn't I think of that?": Joshua Bolten, author interview.

33 Hadley was summoned: Hadley interview.

34 "That would be a good thing": Tony Snow, news briefing, June 8, 2006, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/06/20060608-7.html.

35 "God, I'm so glad": Bolten interview.

36 "Hey, you might go": Ray LaHood, interview with Fox News, cited on Web site, June 8, 2006, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,198657,00.html.

37 "I was just giddy": Condoleezza Rice, author interview.

38 "You don't seem happy": Meghan O'Sullivan, author interview.

39 the situation had "fundamentally changed": George Casey, author interview. See also Casey, Strategic Reflections, 1056.

40 "My view was always": Casey interview.

41 Kagan offered a robust: O'Sullivan interview.

42 "it is highly unlikely": Michael Vickers, e-mail exchange with author. See also Vickers memo, June 12, 2006. Accessed at http://www.rumsfeld.com.

43 "to be persuasive": Rumsfeld, Known and Unknown, 69596.

44 "behind the mask, the whole thing": Rove, Courage and Consequence, 351.

45 "cutting and running": Karl Rove, speech on New Hampshire Avenue, played on Meet the Press, NBC, June 18, 2006, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13296235/ns/meet_the_press/t/transcript-june/#.T3eEt3gjj-A.

46 "They may be with you": David A. Farenthold, "Rove's Speech to N.H. Republicans Keeps to Partisan Line," Washington Post, June 13, 2006.

47 "brilliant fake out": Bolten interview.

48 left behind to filibuster: Sammon, Strategery, 109.

49 "Meghan, um, where's the president?": Administration official, author interview.

50 "The president's not here": O'Sullivan interview. Years later, O'Sullivan did not remember the Brett McGurk phone call but vividly recalled J. D. Crouch telling her the president was in Baghdad. Likewise, in an e-mail exchange with the author, Charles Dunne said he did not recall rushing to McGurk's office.

51 "He was pumped up": George Casey, author interview.

52 "I have to do a better job": Casey and Hadley interviews.

53 "to make a big case": White House official, author interview.

54 "Troop levels will be decided": George W. Bush, news conference, June 14, 2006, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/06/20060614.html.

55 one study found that: Heidi Urben, " 'Decider' vs. 'Commander Guy': Presidential Power, Persuasion, and the Surge in Iraq," unpublished manuscript, May 12, 2008. Cited by Peter D. Feaver, "The Right to Be Right: Civil-Military Relations and the Iraq Surge Decision," International Security, spring 2011.

56 "We came away from that": Sammon, Evangelical President, 113.

57 "What I thought would": Peter Feaver, author interview.

58 had become a "PR session": O'Sullivan interview.

CHAPTER 27: "MAKE DAMN SURE WE DO NOT FAIL".

1 "drive-by briefing": Peter Baker and Michael Abramowitz, "A Governing Philosophy Rebuffed," Washington Post, June 30, 2006. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/29/AR2006062902300_pf.html.

2 "I will protect the people": George W. Bush and Junichiro Koizumi of Japan, news conference, June 29, 2006, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/06/20060629-3.html.

3 "I was just shocked": John Bellinger, author interview.

4 "we're not going to get": Karen Hughes, author interview.

5 "you cannot overturn": Condoleezza Rice, author interview.

6 "I'm not going to overrule": Senior administration official, author interview.

7 "I'm not worried about": Ibid.

8 "I think we are headed": George W. Bush, call with Tony Blair, April 2, 2006. Notes of call provided to author.

9 "He thought the Bush administration": Michael McFaul, author interview.

10 "unfairly and improperly": Dick Cheney, address, Vilnius Conference, May 4, 2006, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/05/20060504-1.html.

11 "The vice president put a stake": George W. Bush, call with Tony Blair, May 16, 2006. Notes of call provided to author.

12 "a few more moves": Vladimir Putin, call with George W. Bush, June 5, 2006. Notes of call provided to author.

13 "We've had some tough": George W. Bush, meeting with Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark at Camp David, June 9, 2006. Notes of conversation provided to author.

14 "I think Putin is not a democrat": George W. Bush, meeting with Prime Minister Janez Jana of Slovenia, July 10, 2006. Notes of conversation provided to author.

15 "I talked about my desire": George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin, remarks to reporters, Strelna, Russia, July 15, 2006, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/07/20060715-1.html.

16 "charged and pointed debate": Annan, Interventions, 45.

17 "I can't be his national security": Rice, No Higher Honor, 47879.

18 "Blair, what are you": Peter Baker, "Bush's Bull Session: Loud and Clear, Chief," Washington Post, July 18, 2006. The conversation was mistakenly transmitted via a live microphone to a separate press center where reporters heard it. When he later heard about the conversation, Kofi Annan wrote that he wished he "could simply 'make something happen' with just a phone call." See Annan, Interventions, 45.

19 "Speaking of sanctions against": Peter Finn and Peter Baker, "Kremlin Sells Russia's Best Self," Washington Post, July 18, 2006.

20 "I left St. Petersburg more": George W. Bush, call with Tony Blair, July 28, 2006. Notes of call provided to author.

21 staged a ceremony: George W. Bush, remarks to audience in East Room, July 19, 2006, http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/07/20060719-3.html.

22 "We were trying to keep": Sara Taylor Fagen, author interview.

23 "If I were running": Mary Clare Jalonick, "Thune Says He Would Distance Himself from Bush Agenda," Associated Press, July 19, 2006.

24 "He thought Thune was ungrateful": White House official, author interview.

25 "The deteriorating security": Administration official, author interview.

26 "Do people call you Sparky?": Ibid.

27 pulse rate of forty-seven: The White House released a four-page summary after George W. Bush's annual physical exam. http://www.bethesda.med.navy.mil/professional%5Cpublic_affairs%5Cpress_releases%5C2005%5C019_-_pres_annual_physical.htm.

28 "He's the first one to admit": Peter Baker, "The Final Days," New York Times Magazine, August 29, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/magazine/31bush-t.html?pagewanted=all.

29 "It's something you can solve": Pamela Hudson Nelson, author interview.

30 "When you're working for the president": Baker, "Final Days."

31 "Riding helps clear my head": Steve Holland, Reuters, August 5, 2006.

32 "The more pressure there was": Mark McKinnon, author interview.

33 "I was just, you know, trying": Tony Snow told the story in a commencement address at Catholic University on May 12, 2007. http://publicaffairs.cua.edu/Releases/2007/07CommencementAddress.cfm.

34 "crater the runways": John Hannah, author interview.

35 "We need to let the Israelis": George W. Bush, Decision Points, 414.

36 "Here's a copy of something": Condoleezza Rice, author interview.

37 "He is a natural debater": Ibid.

38 "It made a difference when": Michael Gerson, author interview.

39 "It wasn't personal": Liz Cheney, author interview.

40 "George Bush's mental weakness": Joe Scarborough, Scarborough Country, MSNBC, August 15, 2006, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14375558/#.T3x_Fngjj-A.

41 "success in Iraq seems more": "A Fighting Chance in Iraq," National Review, August 10, 2006, http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/218448/fighting-chance-iraq/editors.

42 "we seem not to be winning": Quin Hillyer, "Lessons from the Black and Silver," American Spectator, August 16, 2006, http://spectator.org/archives/2006/08/16/lessons-from-the-black-and-sil.