The People v. Bush

One Lawyer’s Campaign to Bring the President to Justice and the National Grassroots Movement She Encounters Along the Way

by Charlotte Dennett

Praise

"Charlotte Dennett is trying to awaken the conscience of the nation. She wants us to recognize not just that our government officials at the highest level—the president and the people around him—have committed war crimes, but that they should be prosecuted as we prosecute ordinary criminals. She has been carrying this campaign forward with extraordinary persistence and courage, demonstrating that grassroots action can be powerful. Her book is a clarion call for the people to confront the crimes of government, for democracy to come alive."

—Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States

"Many in this country thought the worst thing a president could do was have an extramarital affair and lie about it. But Charlotte Dennett begged to differ. In The People v. Bush she tells the story of her idealistic campaign, beginning in 'the brave little state of Vermont,' to hold President George W. Bush accountable for the lives of American soldiers and Iraqis who died in a war launched under false pretenses. In a time where too few take even a small risk for larger principles, we can all learn something from this conscientious and resolute woman."

—Russ Baker, investigative journalist and author of Family of Secrets: The Bush Dynasty, America's Invisible Government, and the Hidden History of the Last Fifty Years

"Charlotte Dennett—one of the gutsiest women in America—has written an energized, no-holds-barred account of her efforts to hold our leaders criminally accountable for shredding the Constitution. This is a woman who is not scared to call illegality by its true name and who believes in the rule of law the way the Founders intended. The 'accountability' movement deserves broad attention and deep support from across the political spectrum and this book is an unmissable part of its story."

—Naomi Wolf, bestselling author of The End of America and Give Me Liberty

"Charlotte Dennett was a great writer before she was a great activist. Her campaign for attorney general of Vermont highlighted the importance of Americans stepping up at the local and state level to challenge executive lawlessness that went unaddressed by federal authorities. Her recounting of that campaign, and of this accountability activism, offers a timely reminder that the threat posed by an imperial presidency remains unaddressed. Even Americans who recognize that Barack Obama is a better executive than George Bush should recognize that Charlotte is right: The laws of the land must apply to all Americans, even presidents."

—John Nichols, author of The Genius of Impeachment

"What our political culture is missing most is exactly what Charlotte Dennett has provided here: a credible, inspiring blueprint for restoring accountability to our political system. Even for those who believe that something has gone terribly awry, this book makes the definitive case of urgency as to why we must no longer permit lawbreaking and deep corruption from our leaders."

—Glenn Greenwald, former Constitutional lawyer and Salon columnist

"In November 2008, after an 18-month study, the Senate Armed Services Committee concluded, without dissent, that President Bush's Executive Memorandum of Feb. 7, 2002 'opened the door' to the use of torture techniques—crimes under U.S. and international law. And the corporate media yawned. I, for one, am grateful that Charlotte Dennett is not yawning. Although it has become a benighted view in Washington that everyone is accountable under the law, Dennett is in hot pursuit of criminals-in-chief and their cronies to bring them to justice. You ought to read this book."

—Ray McGovern, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)

"Dennett's book describes, from the inside, the birth of a movement to hold top US officials to the rule of law. The eventual success of that movement will be furthered by the success of this remarkable book. Dennett has done us a great service, first by her work and now by her chronicling of it."

—David Swanson, cofounder of AfterDowningStreet.org and author of Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union

"George Bush took America to war in Iraq on a lie, causing incalculable death, horror, and suffering. In this very important and consequential book, Charlotte Dennett, a true American patriot who has been on the front lines of trying to bring Bush to justice, informs all who care deeply about this country what has to be done so that it never happens again."

—Vincent Bugliosi , attorney and bestselling author of The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder and Helter Skelter