Gov. Bobby Jindal is on the offensive in his new book, “Leadership and Crisis,” which hit stores yesterday.
The book, part-memoir, part political manifesto, has stirred up headlines nationwide for its pointed criticisms of President Barack Obama, “liberal elites” and the national news media, and has reignited speculation that Jindal has possible national political ambitions.
The opening chapter details Jindal’s perception of response efforts to the BP oil spill and is laden with criticism aimed squarely at Obama, the federal government and oil giant BP.
Jindal criticizes the Obama administration for letting “political posturing become more important than reality.” He complains that the president lectured Jindal and other Louisiana officials about making him look bad before actually dealing with the spill.
“That encounter with President Obama served as a reminder to me of why Americans are frustrated with Washington: The feds focus on the wrong things,” he said. “It’s called core competence or the lack thereof.”
After the first chapter’s salvo, Jindal begins an account of his personal story, from his childhood raised by Indian immigrants to his ascendancy to governor.
That story is peppered with disdain for “Northeastern elites,” who Jindal says are out of touch with “real Americans” — and with whom he says he has had cultural clashes.
“Reporters from Washington and New York often treat me as something exotic,” he writes. “I’m a Christian with Hindu parents, a son of immigrants who was elected a Republican governor of a southern state, a social conservative who graduated from Brown University and Oxford.”
The University is featured heavily in stories about Jindal’s early life – Jindal’s parents moved to America so his mother could pursue a graduate degree in nuclear physics.
“LSU was so accommodating, and the opportunity to come to America so thrilling, that my parents accepted,” he writes.
“For this reason alone, I’m an LSU Tiger fan for life.”
Religion also plays heavily in the book — Jindal talks about his conversion from Hinduism to Catholicism, the defining moment of which he says occurred at LSU’s Chapel on the Campus.
Jindal has traveled the country to promote the book — yesterday he appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Fox News’ “Fox and Friends” and Fox News opinion personality Sean Hannity’s radio show.
The book and Jindal’s promotion have rekindled some speculation that Jindal plans to run for national office. Jindal has repeatedly denied those rumors, saying he “has the job he wants.”
The book is available in the LSU Bookstore.
 
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Contact Matthew Albright at [email protected]