Out of curiosity, I asked several colleagues from the upper echelons of corporate America, think tanks, government, and non-governmental organizations how many books they read in 2008. Some in the group actually got paid to read books. Some had kids at home. All lead busy lives. Only one reacted to Rove’s column positively. Of the group, three individuals were able to read between thirty and seventy books, but the rest all read between ten and fifteen books. I managed to read twenty-three books.

According to First Lady Laura Bush, President Bush wakes up at 5:30 AM, eats breakfast and reads the newspaper, and gets to work around 7:00 AM. The Bushes reconvene for dinner at 6:00 PM, watch a movie or read, and then “go to bed early.” Long hours, of course, don’t necessarily translate into a successful presidency. After all, Ronald Reagan was not a night owl and his presidency is rated among the greatest; whereas, Bill Clinton was known to engage in endless policy debates into the wee hours of the night and his presidency is rated as mediocre.

I don’t mean to be mean-spirited or belittle him, but, after all that reading, President Bush ends his presidency having advocated for a $700 billion feckless and opaque federal program and giving inefficient and ineffective Detroit automakers $17 billion so they can survive until Barack Obama and congressional Democrats effectively can nationalize them. It would have been nice had he learned a few lessons from history about massive federal spending programs – they rarely work and come loaded with unintended consequences that tend to do more harm than good.

Like all of us, President Bush needs time to read as he, too, needs to learn the lessons and wisdom contained in books. He also needs downtime to recharge his batteries. Being the president is draining. While it is unfair, one has to wonder how different things might have been had President Bush read half the books on his list and spent the time instead diving a little more deeply into issues like counterinsurgency, financial markets, monetary policy, housing policy, and government spending.

As Roman philosopher Seneca said, “It is quality, rather than quantity that matters.”