Anti-Imperialism/Foreign Policy

An Oral History of the George W. Bush Shoe Throwing, 15 Years Later

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Shortly before handing over the presidency to Barack Obama, George W. Bush did a farewell tour of Iraq in December 2008. It was supposed to be — despite his 24 percent approval rating — a kind of victory lap, culminating in a press event with Iraq’s new leader, Nouri al-Maliki. But things didn’t go as intended. Muntadhar al-Zaidi, an Iraqi journalist who was furious about the American invasion and occupation of his country, decided to throw his shoes at the American president as a pointed act of protest. Bush ducked both of them — you probably have seen the video — and al-Zaidi was swarmed by security and badly beaten. Later, he endured torture at the hands of Iraqi authorities and was sentenced to three years in prison. It was a small act by one person, but it caught the world’s attention and inspired a great many copycat protests. Fifteen years to the day after the shoe throwing, this oral history by writer Jordan Heller looks back at that moment, through the eyes of al-Zaidi and others who were there, and seeks to do an accounting of its importance and its consequences.

—Jebediah Reed, editor, Intelligencer

An Oral History of the George W. Bush Shoe Throwing, 15 Years Later Revisiting the viral protest by an Iraqi journalist against a U.S. president.

Photo: AP
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Categories: Anti-Imperialism/Foreign Policy, History and Historiography

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