Barbara And Jenna Bush

Check the facts

Editor's note: This Sunday feature will try to vet common misconceptions or false statements in the news. This week's question and answer comes from www.FactCheck.org .

Question: Does a recent book quote Secret Service agents saying denigrating things about Obama and other recent Democratic presidents while praising only Republicans?

Answer: No. The book's author, Ronald Kessler, states that a viral email's descriptions of Obama and Clinton "are completely wrong." His book quotes both flattering and unflattering observations about presidents of both parties.

This partisan screed has some very red flags flying, which should warn the wary reader that it's not accurate. It's not signed, a clue that whoever wrote it does not wish to take responsibility. ...

The truth is the message makes grossly false and misleading claims about what is contained in the book. "In the President's Secret Service" was written by Ronald Kessler, a former Washington Post reporter who is now chief Washington correspondent for the conservative news site Newsmax. When we contacted Kessler, he told us:

[A]bout a third of the items are wrong and not in the book. In addition, the summaries of Obama, Agnew, and Bill Clinton are completely wrong. Contrary to the email, the book actually says Obama treats the Secret Service with respect and appreciates what the agents do. It does not say he hates the military.

Furthermore, the book is not the one-sided, partisan attack that the email describes. As Kessler says:

The book is totally nonpartisan and skewers Democrats -- JFK, LBJ, Carter, Gary Hart -- and Republicans -- Nixon, Jenna Bush, Barbara Bush, Dick Cheney's daughter Mary, Agnew, Ford, and Bush's treasury secretary John Snow -- alike.

We can't vouch for the accuracy of everything in Kessler's book, which sometimes relies on quotes from former agents who are not named. But this anonymous email is wholly one-sided and in many instances a false description of what the book contains.

- Brooks Jackson

For a more detailed analysis with supporting documents, go to www.factcheck.org .

Your source: Disagree with this? Send your claim with its source material to letters@news-leader.com with "Check the Facts" in the subject line.

Barbara Pierce Bush & Jenna Bush Hager to Speak at May Nexus ...

This Thursday marks an event celebrating and benefiting the Nexus Recovery Center, where Barbara Pierce Bush and Jenna Bush Hager will be the featured speakers of this 2011 Spring Luncheon. Taking place at Union Station in Downtown Dallas, the annual event hosted by the The Women’s Auxiliary of Nexus Recovery Center is one to consider for donations and attendance.

A graduate of Yale University, Barbara Pierce Bush is CEO and co-founder of Global Health Corps. Before joining Global Health Corps in 2008, Barbara worked for two years in Educational Programming at the Smithsonian Institution’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. After graduating college, she worked for Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Capetown, South Africa and interned for UNICEF in Botswana. Barbara is a member of UNICEF’s Next Generation Steering Committee and is on the Board of Directors for Covenant House International. She is a Draper Richards Foundation Social Entrepreneur and a fellow of the Echoing Green Foundation.

Jenna Bush Hager, a University of Texas graduate, is currently a contributing correspondent to NBC’s Today. In 2006, Hager traveled to Latin America as an intern with UNICEF; she is still very involved with UNICEF and is currently the chair of UNICEF’s Next Generation, an initiative dedicated to reducing the number of preventable childhood deaths around the world. She is also the author of a New York Times bestseller titled Ana’s Story: A Journey of Hope !