In 1991, President George H. W. Bush called Ambassador Joseph Wilson a "true American hero." In 2003, senior officials in President George W. Bush's White House tried to intimidate critics and punish Wilson for what he knew - and finally made public - about the administration's lies before the invasion of Iraq. The disclosure of the undercover identity of Wilson's wife, CIA operative Valerie Plame, was an unprecedented and potentially criminal act. The Politics of Truth tells the revealing story of this courageous American diplomat and his pivotal career in foreign policy, from telling Saddam Hussein to leave Kuwait to confronting the White House leaks that have breached national security. With fearless insight and disarming candor, Ambassador Joseph Wilson recounts more than two decades in the US Foreign Service. Under presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr. and Clinton - from Angola to Iraq to Bosnia to Niger - here is an unprecedented look at the career of an American diplomat as well as an unvarnished account of our nation's foreign policy. Whether fostering peaceful democratisation in African nations or facing down Saddam Hussein just days before the first Gulf War or accompanying Bill Clinton on his historic 1998 African tour, Wilson vividly chronicles history in the making. And on page after compellingly-narrated page, he demonstrates the courage of his convictions in the face of volatile situations, violent conflicts, and vindictive governments.