Publisher Picks MU Professor for Bush Bio

Random House has asked Jean Edward Smith, a Marshall University political science professor, to write what the publishing giant expects will "undoubtedly be the definitive biography of George W. Bush."

Smith, the author of 12 books, has previously focused on U.S. presidents. "Earlier this year the Society of American Historians awarded Smith the Francis Parkman Prize for historical literature for "FDR," a biography of President Franklin D. Roosevelt," The Associated Press reports. "His 2001 book on Ulysses S. Grant was nominated for a 2002 Pulitzer Prize in biography."

Smith has been working on a biography of President Dwight Eisenhower. Others reporting Random House's announcement include The Charleston Gazette and the Charleston Daily Mail.

Update: Smith spoke to MetroNews' Talkline about the upcoming project. He's also previously written a book involving the president's father: George Bush's War.

Kirkus Reviews said that "in this volatile study, America's adventure in the Persian Gulf War was not a crusade for freedom but a checkpoint on the personal agenda of George Bush, who disregarded constitutional restrictions on presidential power and cynically manipulated the public, the press, Congress, and even the military."