2008 is the 20th anniversary of the great free trade debate that culminated in the majority victory of Prime Minster Brian Mulroney and his Progressive Conservatives, who championed FTA, as well as the 20th anniversary of the election of George H.W. Bush. Bush's initial period as the 41st president saw significant events in Canada and the United States that led to the realization of NAFTA. Age of the Offered Hand features speeches by both leaders, correspondence between them, and transcripts of joint press conferences between 1989 and 1993, when the two men held office.
This book also includes introductions by former US Secretary of Commerce Robert Mosbacher and former Canadian ambassador to the United States Derek H. Burney and features photographs from the Bush Presidential Library and the private collection of the Right Honourable Brian Mulroney.
James McGrath has worked for George H.W. Bush since 1991, at the White House, as his postpresidential spokesman, and currently as his speechwriter.
Arthur Milnes, a journalist and fellow of the Queen's University Centre for the Study of Democracy, served as research assistant to the Right Honourable Brian Mulroney on the latter's Memoirs.
