BOOK
REVIEW
A Book Review
By Jonathan Herbert
I Call Him
“Mr. President”
The book “I Call Him Mr. President: Stories of Golf, Fishing, and Life with My Friend George H. W.
Bush” is an intimate portrayal of the friendship between President George H. W. Bush and
professional golfer Ken Raynor. This “Presidential Tale of Friendship, Travel, and the Great Outdoors”
was written by Ken Raynor with Michael Patrick Shiels, an advance volunteer for this POTUS’s two
presidential campaigns, author of several golf books and contributor to Forbes.com.
While these well-versed stories of golf and fishing contribute to the life of a beloved POTUS, they also
remind us of “all the good in living life to the fullest. If you did not know already, George Herbert Walker
Bush has done just that!”
“For me and my family, Ken has been an inspiration. Though Ken is a serious golfer he can play fast, and he
is just plain a lot of fun to be around out on the links. Pro-mine! Friend, fisherman, great guy.”
- President George H. W. Bush
Raynor has likely played more rounds with a POTUS than any
PGA professional in history.
“The president has been an incredibly active man throughout
his life,” he said. “When he was vice president, then president,
now former president, a normal ‘vacation’ day started with a
little office time first thing in the morning at about 6 a.m. Then
he might go fishing or get some exercise by taking a power
walk, or play a few sets of tennis. After lunch a round of golf
might be in order. He’d have guests in for dinner or go out,
and then be early to bed by 9 p.m. In between all that was
working time. He’s done all that as long as I have known him.
You might call him a man who loves all that life has to offer.”
Collaborative author Michael Patrick Shiels writes a telling
preface that reminds us who this POTUS really was and
that, “if you look at his long career in public service, he always
seemed willing to take the tougher road. He enlisted
in the Navy before the bombs stopped dropping on Pearl
Harbor and was shot down in the Second World War.”
Barbara Bush writes a heartfelt foreword, proclaiming,
“This is really not a book about golf and fishing so much
as it is, for George and me at least, a story about friendship.
It’s about two men who love being on the water,
even in the roughest of seas, if fish are biting – even when they are not.
It’s about two men who love to battle it out on the course, even in a driving rainstorm.”
She went on to say, “Ken has become a part of our family, and both he and his wonderful wife Anne
have made life before, during, and after the White House a joy for George and me. Ken Raynor is, in
George’s words, ‘a good man and a treasured friend.’ ”
/Forbes.com