Book: A Charge to Keep

Overview
George W. Bush’s A Charge to Keep (1999) is an autobiographical campaign memoir that introduces the personal history, governing record, and political philosophy he brought to the 2000 presidential race. Written in a brisk, anecdotal style, it frames his life as a story of family, faith, resilience, and leadership learned in business and tested in Texas politics. The book’s central throughline is his notion of “compassionate conservatism,” a pledge to apply conservative principles to help people build better lives, with government setting standards and enabling institutions, especially families, schools, communities, and faith-based groups, to do their work.

Roots and Formation
Bush recounts growing up in Midland and Houston in a politically engaged family, tracing the imprint of his parents’ example and the rites of passage through Andover, Yale, and Harvard Business School. He sketches early business struggles in the oil patch, emphasizing persistence, partnerships, and the discipline of meeting payrolls. A pivotal personal turn comes with his 1986 decision to stop drinking, which he links to deepening Christian faith, marriage to Laura, and the grounding influence of family life with their twin daughters.

The narrative also highlights his part-ownership of the Texas Rangers, casting baseball as a classroom in public leadership: building consensus, attracting investment, and being accountable to fans and taxpayers. These experiences feed his later claims to results-oriented management and comfort with tough calls.

Governor of Texas
Bush presents his 1994 victory over incumbent Ann Richards as a mandate for reform with a collaborative tone, working closely with Democratic leaders like Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock. The heart of his gubernatorial record is education: setting clear standards, testing for accountability, ending social promotion, boosting reading instruction, and supporting charter schools. He pairs these moves with an emphasis on local control and transparency so parents can judge school performance.

He touts tax relief, a cap on state spending growth, and tort reform as growth-friendly measures, and defends a firm stance on crime, including capital punishment, while stressing careful review of cases. Welfare-to-work policies, juvenile justice initiatives, and efforts to strengthen parental responsibility round out a portrait of a governor who seeks measurable outcomes and bipartisan agreements without surrendering conservative commitments.

Compassionate Conservatism and National Vision
The book’s governing philosophy couples limited government with moral purpose: government should do fewer things better, demand results, and invite civic and faith-based partners to address addiction, homelessness, and poverty. Bush argues for pro-growth tax policy, strengthening the military, free trade, and a “humble” foreign policy that prizes alliances and clarity of mission. He stakes out pro-life convictions while emphasizing a culture that supports adoption and responsibility, and he treats immigration as an area requiring humane law and respect for work.

Faith, Family, and the Title’s Meaning
Faith is woven through the narrative as a personal compass rather than a program. The title comes from a Methodist hymn, “A Charge to Keep I Have,” and from a painting he kept in the governor’s office, both symbols of duty and stewardship. Bush portrays leadership as service, anchored by humility, loyalty to friends and staff, and a willingness to set priorities, hire strong people, and hold them accountable.

Style and Purpose
Short chapters, plain language, and disciplined messaging make A Charge to Keep a strategic self-portrait more than an exhaustive policy tract. It situates Bush within a prominent American family yet distinguishes his identity as a Texan executive shaped by business setbacks, spiritual renewal, and a pragmatic record in Austin. The result is a statement of character and agenda designed to persuade voters that conservative principles, applied with empathy and a focus on results, can meet late-20th-century challenges.