Wead won the Republican nomination by proposing a tax limit and airing a television commercial featuring praise by former President Ronald Reagan for his humanitarian efforts.

Wead countered that Goldwater's support of abortion rights spurred the unexpected crossing of party lines.

Wead was an active participant in the 2000 United States presidential election, receiving some credit for George W. Bush's victory in the Iowa straw polls of 1999.

The book made headlines when it claimed that the Obama White House held "Political Correctness" meetings.

[19] George Bush: Man of Integrity, which includes accounts of all family members, was published in 1988, written primarily from these taped conversations.

In February 2005, a month after Bush was sworn into office for his second term as president, Wead revealed the existence of the tapes to The New York Times, and publicly released twelve excerpts from them, each one ranging in length from five minutes to half an hour.

[21] Other excerpts seemed to match Bush's public persona, such as his statement that he was not worried about getting corrupted by the presidency because he read the Bible daily, which he called "pretty good about keeping your ego in check"; and his insistence that he was not homophobic, regardless of his opposition to gay marriage.