By Jean Becker

Twelve (June 1, 2021), 368 pages, $30

George H. W. Bush, America's 41st President, out of 46 to date, was only the ninth incumbent president who failed to be re-elected at the end of his first term since John Adams in 1800. He was preceded in that ignominious position by Jimmy Carter in 1980, and subsequently followed by Donald Trump in 2020. As Bush put it, "I was fired by the American people. It hurt. [But] it will be okay."