George H. W. Bush chief of staff out with memoir on post-presidency life

• Becker recalls his first words to her, in 1987:

He was vice president of the United States and running for president. I was a reporter for USA Today ... I was assigned to travel with the vice president on a trip to South Dakota and had been asking the press staff all day for a short interview. Finally, late at night on the long flight back to Washington, they said I could have five minutes.

I was scared to death. He was by far the most important person I had interviewed, unless you count a phone interview with Billy Joel. I made my way to the front of Air Force Two, introduced myself, and sat across from him with my notebook in hand. He gave me an exhausted — and slightly exasperated — look. "What do you got?" he asked.

And we were off and running.

🥊 My favorite sentence: "Those who travel the high road of humility in Washington, DC, are not bothered by heavy traffic!"

Bush's life was so full that the book includes a cast of characters: "Meacham, Jon" falls between "Major, John" and "Mulroney, Brian."

• Read comments about the book by James A. Baker III, Dana Carvey, Valerie Jarrett, Mary Matalin, Michael Duffy and more.