Without Precedent

June 26, 2006
A re-creation of the inner workings of a government commission threatens to be a dry bureaucratic procedural, but the 9/11 Commission was so politically fraught that its story is compelling in its own right. Chairman Kean and vice-chair Hamilton detail the commission's fight with Congress for more money and time; its wranglings with the Bush administration to win access to witnesses and classified documents; its delicate relations with victims' families, who were its harshest critics and staunchest champions; its strategic use of public censure to wring concessions from recalcitrant officials; and the forging of a bipartisan consensus among fractious Republican and Democratic commissioners. Their tone is evenhanded and diplomatic, but some adversaries—NORAD, the FAA, House Republicans—get singled out as stumbling blocks to the investigation. The authors cogently defend the compromises they made and swat conspiracy theories about coverups, but critics unhappy with the commission's refusal to "point fingers" or its lukewarm resistance to White House claims of executive privilege may not be satisfied. The issues the commission wrestled with—official incapacity to prevent disaster, the government's use and misuse of intelligence, presidential accountability—are still in the headlines, which makes this lucid, absorbing account of its work very timely. Photos.

Starred review from July 1, 2006
Former New Jersey governor Kean and former Indiana congressman Hamilton served as chair and vice chair, respectively, of the presidential commission investigating 9/11, which was reluctantly established by President Bush in 2004 and grudgingly funded by Congress. They now present an insiders - account of the commission and the many difficult obstacles it faced to meet its mandate. The military, diplomatic, and intelligence services were reluctant to provide needed materials. In addition, the news media followed the commission -s every move, eager to report any misstep. Families of individuals killed in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania pushed for a deeper investigation. And the commission worked during the highly partisan 2004 presidential elections. Despite these many difficulties, the ten-person group and its many staffers provided a fair, open investigation that highlighted flaws in American efforts to combat terrorism and made recommendations for reforms. The commission -s report later became a best seller. Kean and Hamilton -s account also includes the report card of the 9/11 Public Discourse Project, a private foundation dedicated to insuring that the commission -s recommendations were implemented by Congress, as well as the commission -s final recommendations for reform and a time line of its work. Rich in detail and well written, this book provides excellent insight into the operation of a high-profile governmental commission investigating a national tragedy. Recommended for all libraries. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ "4/1/06.]" -Stephen L. Hupp, West Virginia Univ., Parkersburg"

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2006
" The 9/11 Commission Report" (2004) was an exception to the rule that U.S. government publications are written in unreadable bureaucratese. Its plain English yielded sales of hundreds of thousands of copies, and its success indicates that a huge audience may exist for this account by the commission chairmen. Former politicians Kean and Hamilton adopt a chronological approach and a style dominated by descriptions of their investigative process: theirs is not a source for knowledge about the Islamic terrorist strikes of 2001. Information related to 9/11 does permeate the text, but it appears as the object of fact finding, such as the time line of the FAA's and NORAD's reactions to the hijackings. Along with the formal organization of the commission, Kean and Hamilton dwell on two habits of Washington that they worried would roil the commission: leaks and partisanship. As their narrative rolls forward, this leak or that partisan enters their story, whose most dramatic moments reside in the commission's televised hearings. These, one learns, had scant investigative value and were considered vehicles for educating the public about the terrible attacks. A continuation of that lofty aim, this volume's prominence is assured; less certain is the perseverance of average readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)