From
George W. Bushisms: The Slate Book of the Accidental Wit and Wisdom of
Our 43rd President
| "The suicide bombings have increased. There's
too many of them."—Albuquerque, N.M., Aug. 15, 2001 |
"You'll
hear people say it's racist to test. Folks, it's racist not to test. Because
guess who gets shuffled through the system oftentimes? Children whose parents
don't speak English as a first language, inner-city kids. It's so much easier to
quit on somebody than to remediate."—Referring to his education bill,
Independence, Mo., Aug. 21, 2001 (Thanks to Julie Reagan.) |
"There's
a lot of people in the Middle East who are desirous to get into the Mitchell
process. And—but first things first. The—these terrorist acts and, you know,
the responses have got to end in order for us to get the framework—the
groundwork—not framework, the groundwork to discuss a framework for peace, to
lay the—all right."—Referring to former Sen. George Mitchell's report
on Middle East peace, Crawford, Texas, Aug. 13, 2001 (Thanks to Michael
Shively.) |
| "Brie
and cheese."—Taunting a reporter who recently spent time on the
West Coast, Crawford, Texas, Aug. 23, 2001 |
"One
of the interesting initiatives we've taken in Washington, D.C., is we've got
these vampire-busting devices. A vampire is a—a cell deal you can plug in the
wall to charge your cell phone."—Denver, Aug. 14, 2001 |
"My
administration has been calling upon all the leaders in the—in the Middle East
to do everything they can to stop the violence, to tell the different parties
involved that peace will never happen."—Crawford, Texas, Aug, 13, 2001
(Thanks to Michael Shively.) |
| "You
saw the president yesterday. I thought he was very forward-leaning, as they say
in diplomatic nuanced circles."—Referring to his meeting with Russian
President Vladimir Putin, Rome, July 23, 2001 (Thanks to Alex Hernandez.) |
''I
know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I
believe—I believe what I believe is right."—Rome, July 22, 2001 |
"I
can't tell you what it's like to be in Europe, for example, to be talking about
the greatness of America. But the true greatness of America are the
people."—Visiting the Jefferson Memorial, Washington, D.C., July 2, 2001 |
| "Well,
it's an unimaginable honor to be the president during the Fourth of July of this
country. It means what these words say, for starters. The great
inalienable rights of our country. We're blessed with such values in
America. And I—it's—I'm a proud man to be the nation based upon such
wonderful values."—Visiting the Jefferson Memorial, Washington, D.C.,
July 2, 2001 |
"I
want to thank you for coming to the White House to give me an opportunity to
urge you to work with these five senators and three congressmen, to work hard to
get this trade promotion authority moving. The power that be, well most of the
power that be, sits right here."—Washington, D.C., June 18, 2001 |
"We
spent a lot of time talking about Africa, as we should. Africa is a nation that
suffers from incredible disease."—Gothenburg, Sweden, June 14, 2001 |
| "I
haven't had a chance to talk, but I'm confident we'll get a bill that I can live
with if we don't."—Referring to the McCain-Kennedy patients' bill of
rights, Brussels, Belgium, June 13, 2001 |
"Can't
living with the bill means it won't become law."—Referring to the
McCain-Kennedy patients' bill of rights, Brussels, Belgium, June 13, 2001 |
"Russia
is no longer our enemy and therefore we shouldn't be locked into a Cold War
mentality that says we keep the peace by blowing each other up. In my attitude,
that's old, that's tired, that's stale."—Des Moines, Iowa, June 8, 2001 |
| "Anyway, I'm so thankful, and so gracious—I'm gracious that my brother Jeb is concerned about the hemisphere as well."—Miami, Fla., June 4, 2001 | "It's
important for young men and women who look at the Nebraska champs to
understand that quality of life is more than just blocking
shots."—Remarks to the University of Nebraska women's volleyball team,
the 2001 national champions, Washington, D.C., May 31, 2001 |
"So
on behalf of a well-oiled unit of people who came together to serve something
greater than themselves, congratulations."—Remarks to the University of
Nebraska women's volleyball team, the 2001 national champions, Washington, D.C.,
May 31, 2001 |
| "Our
nation must come together to unite."—Tampa, Fla., June 4, 2001 |
"If
a person doesn't have the capacity that we all want that person to have, I
suspect hope is in the far distant future, if at all."—Remarks to the
Hispanic Scholarship Fund Institute, Washington, D.C., May 22, 2001 |
"Presidents,
whether things are good or bad, get the blame. I understand
that."—Washington, D.C., May 11, 2001 (Thanks to Jay Schlossberg.) |
| "Thirdly,
the explorationists are willing to only move equipment during the winter, which
means they'll be on ice roads, and remove the equipment as the ice begins to
melt, so that the fragile tundra is protected."—Conestoga, Pa., May 18,
2001 |
"For
every fatal shooting, there were roughly three non-fatal shootings. And, folks,
this is unacceptable in America. It's just unacceptable. And we're going to do
something about it."—Philadelphia, May 14, 2001 (Thanks to John Brooks.) |
"There's
no question that the minute I got elected, the storm clouds on the horizon were
getting nearly directly overhead."—Washington, D.C., May 11, 2001 |
| "But
I also made it clear to [Vladimir Putin] that it's important to think beyond the
old days of when we had the concept that if we blew each other up, the world
would be safe."—Washington, D.C., May 1, 2001 (Thanks to Gene Mosher.) |
"Whatever
it took to help Taiwan defend theirself."—On how far we'd be willing to
go to defend Taiwan, Good Morning America, April 25, 2001 |
"First,
we would not accept a treaty that would not have been ratified, nor a treaty
that I thought made sense for the country."—On the Kyoto accord in an interview
with the Washington Post, April 24, 2001 |
| "It's
very important for folks to understand that when there's more trade, there's
more commerce."—Quebec City, Canada, April 21, 2001 |
"Neither
in French nor in English nor in Mexican."—Declining to answer reporters'
questions at the Summit of the Americas, Quebec City, Canada, April 21, 2001 |
"We
must have the attitude that every child in America—regardless of where they're
raised or how they're born—can learn."—New Britain, Conn., April 18,
2001 (Thanks to Eric Beerbohm.) |
| "It
is time to set aside the old partisan bickering and finger-pointing and
name-calling that comes from freeing parents to make different choices for their
children."—Remarks on "parental empowerment in education,"
Washington, D.C., April 12, 2001 (Thanks to J.R. Taylor.) |
I
think we're making progress. We understand where the power of this country lay.
It lays in the hearts and souls of Americans. It must lay in our pocketbooks. It
lays in the willingness for people to work hard. But as importantly, it lays in
the fact that we've got citizens from all walks of life, all political parties,
that are willing to say, I want to love my neighbor. I want to make somebody's
life just a little bit better."—Concord Middle School, Concord, N.C.,
April 11, 2001 |
"The
Senate needs to leave enough money in the proposed budget to not only reduce all
marginal rates, but to eliminate the death tax, so that people who build up
assets are able to transfer them from one generation to the next, regardless of
a person's race."—Washington, D.C., April 5, 2001 |
| "This
administration is doing everything we can to end the stalemate in an efficient
way. We're making the right decisions to bring the solution to an
end."—Washington, D.C., April 10, 2001 |
"It
would be helpful if we opened up ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge). I think
it's a mistake not to. And I would urge you all to travel up there and take a
look at it, and you can make the determination as to how beautiful that country
is."—Press conference, Washington, D.C., March 29, 2001 |
"I've
coined new words, like, misunderstanding and Hispanically."—Radio-Television
Correspondents Association dinner, Washington, D.C., March 29, 2001 |
| "I
assured the prime minister, my administration will work hard to lay the
foundation of peace in the Middle—to work with our nations in the Middle East,
give peace a chance. Secondly, I told him that our nation will not try to force
peace, that we'll facilitate peace and that we will work with those responsible
for a peace."—Photo opportunity with Ariel Sharon, Washington, D.C.,
March 20, 2001 (Thanks to Scott Beber.) |
"There
are some monuments where the land is so widespread, they just encompass as much
as possible. And the integral part of the—the precious part, so to speak—I
guess all land is precious, but the part that the people uniformly would not
want to spoil, will not be despoiled. But there are parts of the monument lands
where we can explore without affecting the overall environment."—Media
round table, Washington, D.C. March 13, 2001 |
"But
the true threats to stability and peace are these nations that are not very
transparent, that hide behind the—that don't let people in to take a look and
see what they're up to. They're very kind of authoritarian regimes. The true
threat is whether or not one of these people decide, peak of anger, try to hold
us hostage, ourselves; the Israelis, for example, to whom we'll defend, offer
our defenses; the South Koreans."—Media roundtable, Washington, D.C.,
March 13, 2001 (Thanks to Peter Sagal) |
| "And
we need a full affront on an energy crisis that is real in California and looms
for other parts of our country if we don't move quickly."—Press
conference, Washington, D.C., March 29, 2001 |
"A
lot of times in the rhetoric, people forget the facts. And the facts are that
thousands of small businesses—Hispanically owned or otherwise—pay taxes at
the highest marginal rate."—to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce;
Washington, D.C., March 19, 2001 |
"I
do think we need for a troop to be able to house his family. That's an important
part of building morale in the military."—Tyndall Air Force Base,
Florida, March 12, 2001 |
| "I
suspect that had my dad not been president, he'd be asking the same questions:
How'd your meeting go with so-and-so? … How did you feel when you stood up in
front of the people for the State of the Union Address—state of the budget
address, whatever you call it."—Interview with the Washington Post,
March 9, 2001 |
"I'm
also honored to be here with the speaker of the House—just happens to be from
the state of Illinois. I'd like to describe the speaker as a trustworthy man.
He's the kind of fellow who says when he gives you his word he means it.
Sometimes that doesn't happen all the time in the political
process."—Chicago, March 6, 2001 (Thanks to Gary Belkin.) |
"Ann
and I will carry out this equivocal message to the world: Markets must be
open."—Swearing-in ceremony for Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman,
Washington, D.C., March 2, 2001 |
| "I
think there is some methodology in my travels." —Washington, D.C., March
5, 2001 |
"Of
all states that understands local control of schools, Iowa is such a
state."—Council Bluffs, Iowa, Feb. 28, 2001 (Thanks to Peter Sagal) |
"My
pan plays down an unprecedented amount of our national debt."—Budget
address to Congress, Feb. 27, 2001
|
| "Those
of us who spent time in the agricultural sector and in the heartland, we
understand how unfair the death penalty is."—Omaha, Neb., Feb. 28, 2001 |
"I
have said that the sanction regime is like Swiss cheese—that meant that they
weren't very effective."—White House press conference, Washington, D.C.,
Feb. 22, 2001 |
"You
teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy
test.''—Townsend, Tenn., Feb. 21, 2001 |
| "The
budget caps were busted, mightily so. And we are reviewing with people like Judd
Gregg from New Hampshire and others some budgetary reform measures that will
reinstate—you know, possibly reinstate budgetary discipline. But the caps no
longer—the caps, I guess they're there. But they didn't mean
much."—Washington, D.C., Feb. 5, 2001 (Thanks to Ehren Meditz) |
"One
reason I like to highlight reading is, reading is the beginnings of the ability
to be a good student. And if you can't read, it's going to be hard to realize
dreams; it's going to be hard to go to college. So when your teachers say,
read—you ought to listen to her."—Nalle Elementary School, Washington,
D.C., Feb 9, 2001 |
"It's
good to see so many friends here in the Rose Garden. This is our first event in
this beautiful spot, and it's appropriate we talk about policy that will affect
people's lives in a positive way in such a beautiful, beautiful part of our
national—really, our national park system, my guess is you would want to call
it."—Washington, D.C., Feb. 8, 2001 |
| "Home
is important. It's important to have a home."—Crawford, Texas, Feb. 18,
2001 |
"We're
concerned about AIDS inside our White House—make no mistake about
it."—Washington, D.C., Feb. 7, 2001 |
"There's
no such thing as legacies. At least, there is a legacy, but I'll never see
it."—To Catholic leaders at the White House, Jan. 31, 2001 |
| "I
appreciate that question because I, in the state of Texas, had heard a lot of
discussion about a faith-based initiative eroding the important bridge between
church and state."—Question and answer session with the press, Jan. 29,
2001 (Thanks to Tim Santry.) |
"I
confirmed to the prime minister that we appreciate our friendship."—After
meeting with Prime Minister Jean Chrétien of Canada, Feb. 5, 2001 |
"I
am mindful not only of preserving executive powers for myself, but for
predecessors as well."—Washington, D.C., Jan. 29, 2001 |
| "My
pro-life position is I believe there's life. It's not necessarily based in
religion. I think there's a life there, therefore the notion of life, liberty
and pursuit of happiness."—Quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle,
Jan. 23, 2001 |
"Then
I went for a run with the other dog and just walked. And I started thinking
about a lot of things. I was able to—I can't remember what it was. Oh, the
inaugural speech, started thinking through that."—Pre-inaugural interview
with U.S. News & World Report, Jan. 22, 2001 issue |
"Redefining
the role of the United States from enablers to keep the peace to enablers to
keep the peace from peacekeepers is going to be an assignment."—Interview
with the New York Times, Jan. 14, 2001 (Thanks to Rachael Contorer.) |
| "The
California crunch really is the result of not enough power-generating plants and
then not enough power to power the power of generating plants."—Interview
with the New York Times, Jan. 14, 2001 |
"I'm
hopeful. I know there is a lot of ambition in Washington, obviously. But I hope
the ambitious realize that they are more likely to succeed with success as
opposed to failure."—Interview with the Associated Press, Jan. 18,
2001 (Thanks to M. Bateman.) |
"If
he's—the inference is that somehow he thinks slavery is a—is a noble
institution I would—I would strongly reject that assumption—that John
Ashcroft is a open-minded, inclusive person."—NBC Nightly News With
Tom Brokaw, Jan. 14, 2001 |
| |
"I
want it to be said that the Bush administration was a results-oriented
administration, because I believe the results of focusing our attention and
energy on teaching children to read and having an education system that's
responsive to the child and to the parents, as opposed to mired in a system that
refuses to change, will make America what we want it to be—a literate country
and a hopefuller country."—Washington, D.C., Jan. 11, 2001 |
"I
mean, these good folks are revolutionizing how businesses conduct their
business. And, like them, I am very optimistic about our position in the world
and about its influence on the United States. We're concerned about the
short-term economic news, but long-term I'm optimistic. And so, I hope
investors, you know—secondly, I hope investors hold investments for periods of
time—that I've always found the best investments are those that you salt away
based on economics."—Austin, Texas, Jan. 4, 2001 |
| "She's just trying to make sure Anthony gets a good meal—Antonio."—On Laura Bush inviting Justice Antonin Scalia to dinner at the White House. NBC Nightly News With Tom Brokaw, Jan. 14, 2001 | "I
do remain confident in Linda. She'll make a fine labor secretary. From what I've
read in the press accounts, she's perfectly qualified."—Austin, Texas,
Jan. 8, 2001 |
"She
is a member of a labor union at one point."—Announcing his nomination of
Linda Chavez as secretary of labor. Austin, Texas, Jan. 2, 2001 |
| "The
person who runs FEMA is someone who must have the trust of the president.
Because the person who runs FEMA is the first voice, often times, of someone
whose life has been turned upside down hears from."—Austin, Texas, Jan.
4, 2001 |
"Natural
gas is hemispheric. I like to call it hemispheric in nature because it is a
product that we can find in our neighborhoods."—Austin, Texas, Dec. 20,
2000 |
"I
also have picked a secretary for Housing and Human Development. Mel Martinez
from the state of Florida."—Austin, Texas, Dec. 20, 2000 |
| "Let
me put it to you this way, I am not a revengeful person."— Interview with
Time magazine in the Dec. 25, 2000, issue. |
"The
great thing about America is everybody should vote."—Austin, Texas, Dec.
8, 2000 |
"I
knew it might put him in an awkward position that we had a discussion
before finality has finally happened in this presidential race."
—Describing a phone call to Sen. John Breaux. Crawford, Texas, Dec. 2, 2000 |
| "I
am mindful of the difference between the executive branch and the legislative
branch. I assured all four of these leaders that I know the difference, and that
difference is they pass the laws and I execute them."—Washington, D.C.,
Dec. 18, 2000 |
"As
far as the legal hassling and wrangling and posturing in Florida, I would
suggest you talk to our team in Florida led by Jim Baker."—Crawford,
Texas, Nov. 30, 2000 |
"Think
about that. Two hundred and eighty-five new or expanded programs, $2 trillion
more in new spending, and not one new bureaucrat to file out the forms or answer
the phones?"—Minneapolis, Nov. 1, 2000 |
| "Dick
Cheney and I do not want this nation to be in a recession. We want anybody who
can find work to be able to find work."—60 Minutes II, Dec. 5,
2000 |
"They
misunderestimated me."—Bentonville, Ark., Nov. 6, 2000 |
"They
want the federal government controlling Social Security like it's some kind of
federal program."—St. Charles, Mo., Nov. 2, 2000 |
| "The
legislature's job is to write law. It's the executive branch's job to interpret
law."—Austin, Texas, Nov. 22, 2000 |
"I
regret that a private comment I made to the vice presidential candidate made it
through the public airways."—Allentown, Pa., Sept. 5, 2000. |
"The
point is, this is a way to help inoculate me about what has come and is
coming."--on his anti-Gore ad, in an interview with the New York Times,
Sept. 2, 2000 |
| "They
said, 'You know, this issue doesn't seem to resignate with the people.' And I
said, you know something? Whether it resignates or not doesn't matter to me,
because I stand for doing what's the right thing, and what the right thing is
hearing the voices of people who work."—Portland, Ore., Oct. 31, 2000 |
"Anyway,
after we go out and work our hearts out, after you go out and help us turn out
the vote, after we've convinced the good Americans to vote, and while they're at
it, pull that old George W. lever, if I'm the one, when I put my hand on the
Bible, when I put my hand on the Bible, that day when they swear us in, when I
put my hand on the Bible, I will swear to not—to uphold the laws of the
land."—Toledo, Ohio, Oct. 27, 2000 |
"That's
a chapter, the last chapter of the 20th, 20th, the 21st
century that most of us would rather forget. The last chapter of the 20th
century. This is the first chapter of the 21st century. "—On
the Lewinsky scandal, Arlington Heights, Ill., Oct. 24, 2000 |
| "It's
your money. You paid for it."—LaCrosse, Wis., Oct. 18, 2000 |
"Families
is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream."—LaCrosse, Wis.,
Oct. 18, 2000 |
"If
I'm the president, we're going to have emergency-room care, we're going to have
gag orders." |
| "I
don't want nations feeling like that they can bully ourselves and our allies. I
want to have a ballistic defense system so that we can make the world more
peaceful, and at the same time I want to reduce our own nuclear capacities to
the level commiserate with keeping the peace."—Des Moines, Iowa, Oct. 23,
2000 |
"It's
important for us to explain to our nation that life is important. It's not only
life of babies, but it's life of children living in, you know, the dark dungeons
of the Internet."—Arlington Heights, Ill., Oct. 24, 2000 |
"I
think if you know what you believe, it makes it a lot easier to answer
questions. I can't answer your question."—In response to a question about
whether he wished he could take back any of his answers in the first debate.
Reynoldsburg, Ohio, Oct. 4, 2000 (Thanks to Peter Feld.) |
| "Drug
therapies are replacing a lot of medicines as we used to know it." |
"It's
one thing about insurance, that's a Washington term." |
"I
think we ought to raise the age at which juveniles can have a gun." |
| "Quotas
are bad for America. It's not the way America is all about." |
"Our
priorities is our faith."—Greensboro, N.C., Oct. 10, 2000 |
"If
affirmative action means what I just described, what I'm for, then I'm for
it."—St. Louis, Mo., October 18, 2000 |
| "Mr.
Vice President, in all due respect, it is—I'm not sure 80 percent of the
people get the death tax. I know this: 100 percent will get it if I'm the
president." |
"I
mean, there needs to be a wholesale effort against racial profiling, which is
illiterate children."—Second presidential debate, Oct. 11, 2000 (Thanks
to Leonard Williams.) |
"I
would have my secretary of treasury be in touch with the financial centers, not
only here but at home."—Boston, Oct. 3, 2000 (Thanks to M. Bateman.) |
| "It's
going to require numerous IRA agents."—On Gore's tax plan, Greensboro,
N.C., Oct. 10, 2000 |
"I
know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."—Saginaw, Mich.,
Sept. 29, 2000 |
"I
will have a foreign-handed foreign policy."—Redwood, Calif., Sept. 27,
2000 |
| "One
of the common denominators I have found is that expectations rise above that
which is expected."—Los Angeles, Sept. 27, 2000 |
"It
is clear our nation is reliant upon big foreign oil. More and more of our
imports come from overseas."—Beaverton, Ore., Sep. 25, 2000 |
"I
am a person who recognizes the fallacy of humans."—Oprah, Sept.
19, 2000 |
| "Well,
that's going to be up to the pundits and the people to make up their mind. I'll
tell you what is a president for him, for example, talking about my record in
the state of Texas. I mean, he's willing to say anything in order to convince
people that I haven't had a good record in Texas."—MSNBC, Sept. 20, 2000
(Thanks to Gregory H. Monberg.) |
"Listen,
Al Gore is a very tough opponent. He is the incumbent. He represents
the incumbency. And a challenger is somebody who generally comes from the pack
and wins, if you're going to win. And that's where I'm coming
from."—Detroit, Sept. 7, 2000 (Thanks to Michael Butler, Houston, Texas.) |
"I
don't know whether I'm going to win or not. I think I am. I do know I'm ready
for the job. And, if not, that's just the way it goes."—Des Moines, Iowa,
Aug. 21, 2000 |
| "A
tax cut is really one of the anecdotes to coming out of an economic
illness."—The Edge With Paula Zahn, Sept. 18, 2000 |
"The
woman who knew that I had dyslexia—I never interviewed her."—Orange,
Calif., Sept. 15, 2000 |
"The
best way to relieve families from time is to let them keep some of their own
money."—Westminster, Calif., Sept. 13, 2000 |
| "They
have miscalculated me as a leader."—Ibid. |
"I
don't think we need to be subliminable about the differences between our views
on prescription drugs."—Orlando, Fla., Sept. 12, 2000 |
"This
is what I'm good at. I like meeting people, my fellow citizens, I like
interfacing with them."—Outside Pittsburgh, Sept. 8, 2000 |
| "That's
Washington. That's the place where you find people getting ready to jump out of
the foxholes before the first shot is fired."—Westland, Mich., Sept. 8,
2000 |
"We'll
let our friends be the peacekeepers and the great country called America will be
the pacemakers."—Houston, Texas, Sept. 6, 2000 |
"We
don't believe in planners and deciders making the decisions on behalf of
Americans."—Scranton, Pa., Sept. 6, 2000 |
| "As
governor of Texas, I have set high standards for our public schools, and I have
met those standards."--CNN online chat, Aug. 30, 2000 |
"Well,
I think if you say you're going to do something and don't do it, that's
trustworthiness."--Ibid. |
''This
campaign not only hears the voices of the entrepreneurs and the farmers and the
entrepreneurs, we hear the voices of those struggling to get
ahead."—Ibid. |
| "I
have a different vision of leadership. A leadership is someone who brings people
together."—Bartlett, Tenn., Aug. 18, 2000 (Thanks to Tarja Black.) |
"We
cannot let terrorists and rogue nations hold this nation hostile or hold our
allies hostile.''—Ibid. |
"And
if he continues that, I'm going to tell the nation what I think about him as a
human being and a person."—President George H.W. Bush, on the Today
show, Aug. 1, 2000 |
| "I
think he needs to stand up and say if he thought the president were wrong on
policy and issues, he ought to say where."—Interview with the Associated
Press, Aug. 11, 2000 (Thanks to Ryan Rhodes.) |
"I
want you to know that farmers are not going to be secondary thoughts to a Bush
administration. They will be in the forethought of our
thinking."—Salinas, Calif., Aug. 10, 2000 (Thanks to Kris Sester.) |
"You
might want to comment on that, Honorable."--To New Jersey's secretary of
state, the Hon. DeForest Soaries Jr., as quoted by Dana Milbank in the Washington
Post, July 15, 2000 |
| "This
case has had full analyzation and has been looked at a lot. I understand the
emotionality of death penalty cases."--Seattle Post-Intelligencer,
June 23, 2000 (Thanks to Johnny Green.) |
"States
should have the right to enact reasonable laws and restrictions particularly to
end the inhumane practice of ending a life that otherwise could
live."—Cleveland, June 29, 2000 (Thanks to Douglas Basford.) |
"Unfairly
but truthfully, our party has been tagged as being against things.
Anti-immigrant, for example. And we're not a party of anti-immigrants. Quite the
opposite. We're a party that welcomes people."—Cleveland, July 1, 2000
(Thanks to M. Bateman.) |
| "The
fundamental question is, 'Will I be a successful president when it comes to
foreign policy?' I will be, but until I'm the president, it's going to be hard
for me to verify that I think I'll be more effective."—In Wayne, Mich.,
as quoted by Katharine Q. Seelye in the New York Times, June 28, 2000 |
"The
only things that I can tell you is that every case I have reviewed I have been
comfortable with the innocence or guilt of the person that I've looked at. I do
not believe we've put a guilty ... I mean innocent person to death in the state
of Texas." All Things Considered, NPR, June 16, 2000 (Thanks to
Andy Nouraee.) |
Bush:
"First of all, Cinco de Mayo is not the independence day. That's dieciséis
de Septiembre, and ..." Matthews:
"What's that in English?" Bush:
"Fifteenth of September." (Dieciséis de Septiembre = Sept.
16) —Hardball,
MSNBC, May 31, 2000 (Thanks to numerous readers.) |
| "I'm
gonna talk about the ideal world, Chris. I've read—I understand reality. If
you're asking me as the president, would I understand reality, I do."—On
abortion, Hardball, MSNBC; May 31, 2000 |
"There's
not going to be enough people in the system to take advantage of people like
me."—On the coming Social Security crisis; Wilton, Conn.; June 9, 2000
(Thanks to Andy Mais.) |
"I
think anybody who doesn't think I'm smart enough to handle the job is
underestimating."—U.S. News & World Report, April 3, 2000
(Thanks to Alfred Stanley, Austin, Texas.) |
| "This
is a world that is much more uncertain than the past. In the past we were
certain, we were certain it was us versus the Russians in the past. We were
certain, and therefore we had huge nuclear arsenals aimed at each other to keep
the peace. That's what we were certain of. ... You see, even though it's an
uncertain world, we're certain of some things. We're certain that even though
the 'evil empire' may have passed, evil still remains. We're certain there are
people that can't stand what America stands for. ... We're certain there are
madmen in this world, and there's terror, and there's missiles and I'm certain
of this, too: I'm certain to maintain the peace, we better have a military of
high morale, and I'm certain that under this administration, morale in the
military is dangerously low."—Albuquerque, N.M., the Washington Post,
May 31, 2000 |
GOV.
BUSH: Because the picture on the newspaper. It just seems so un-American to me,
the picture of the guy storming the house with a scared little boy there. I
talked to my little brother, Jeb—I haven't told this to many people. But he's
the governor of—I shouldn't call him my little brother--my brother, Jeb, the
great governor of Texas. JIM
LEHRER: Florida. GOV.
BUSH: Florida. The state of the Florida.—The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer,
April 27, 2000 |
"I've
got a reason for running. I talk about a larger goal, which is to call upon the
best of America. It's part of the renewal. It's reform and renewal. Part of the
renewal is a set of high standards and to remind people that the greatness of
America really does depend on neighbors helping neighbors and children finding
mentors. I worry. I'm very worried about, you know, the kid who just wonders
whether America is meant for him. I really worry about that. And uh, so, I'm
running for a reason. I'm answering this question here and the answer is, you
cannot lead America to a positive tomorrow with revenge on one's mind. Revenge
is so incredibly negative. And so to answer your question, I'm going to win
because people sense my heart, know my sense of optimism and know where I want
to lead the country. And I tease people by saying, 'A leader, you can't say,
follow me the world is going to be worse.' I'm an optimistic person. I'm an
inherently content person. I've got a great sense of where I want to lead and
I'm comfortable with why I'm running. And, you know, the call on that speech
was, beware. This is going to be a tough campaign."—Interview with the Washington
Post, March 23, 2000 |
| "Actually,
I—this may sound a little West Texan to you, but I like it. When I'm talking
about—when I'm talking about myself, and when he's talking about myself, all
of us are talking about me."—Ibid. |
"He
has certainly earned a reputation as a fantastic mayor, because the results
speak for themselves. I mean, New York's a safer place for him to be."—On
Rudy Giuliani, The Edge With Paula Zahn, May 18, 2000 (Thanks to Peter
Goldman.) |
"The
fact that he relies on facts—says things that are not factual—are going to
undermine his campaign."—New York Times, March 4, 2000 (Thanks
to Garry Trudeau.) |
| "I
hope we get to the bottom of the answer. It's what I'm interested to
know."—On what happened in negotiations between the Justice Department
and Elián González's Miami relatives, as quoted by the Associated Press, April
26, 2000 (Thanks to Saul Selzer.) |
"You
subscribe politics to it. I subscribe freedom to it."—Responding to a
question about whether he and Al Gore were making the Elián González case a
political issue. In Palm Beach, Fla., as quoted by the Associated Press, April
6, 2000 (Thanks to Helen Kennedy.) |
"We
want our teachers to be trained so they can meet the obligations, their
obligations as teachers. We want them to know how to teach the science of
reading. In order to make sure there's not this kind of federal—federal
cufflink."—At Fritsche Middle School, Milwaukee, March 30, 2000 |
| "I
think we agree, the past is over."—On his meeting with John McCain, Dallas
Morning News, May 10, 2000 |
"It's
clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it."--Reuters, May 5, 2000
(Thanks to Allison Fansler.) |
"Laura
and I really don't realize how bright our children is sometimes until we get an
objective analysis."—CNBC, April 15, 2000 |
| "I
was raised in the West. The west of Texas. It's pretty close to California. In
more ways than Washington, D.C., is close to California."—In Los Angeles
as quoted by the Los Angeles Times, April 8, 2000 |
"Reading
is the basics for all learning."—Announcing his "Reading First"
initiative in Reston, Va., March 28, 2000 (Thanks to Carl LaRocca.) |
"Other
Republican candidates may retort to personal attacks and negative
ads."—Fund-raising letter from George W. Bush, quoted in the Washington
Post, March 24, 2000 |
| "People
make suggestions on what to say all the time. I'll give you an example; I don't
read what's handed to me. People say, 'Here, here's your speech, or here's an
idea for a speech.' They're changed. Trust me."—Interview with the New
York Times, March 15, 2000 |
"It's
evolutionary, going from governor to president, and this is a significant step,
to be able to vote for yourself on the ballot, and I'll be able to do so next
fall, I hope."—In an interview with the Associated Press, March 8, 2000
(Thanks to Joshua Micah Marshall.) |
"I
don't have to accept their tenants. I was trying to convince those college
students to accept my tenants. And I reject any labeling me because I happened
to go to the university."—Today, Feb. 23, 2000 |
| "It
is not Reaganesque to support a tax plan that is Clinton in nature.''—Los
Angeles, Feb. 23, 2000 |
"I
understand small business growth. I was one."—New York Daily News,
Feb. 19, 2000 |
"If
you're sick and tired of the politics of cynicism and polls and principles, come
and join this campaign."—Hilton Head, S.C., Feb. 16, 2000 |
| "The
senator has got to understand if he's going to have—he can't have it both
ways. He can't take the high horse and then claim the low road."—To
reporters in Florence, S.C., Feb. 17, 2000 |
"Really
proud of it. A great campaign. And I'm really pleased with the organization and
the thousands of South Carolinians that worked on my behalf. And I'm very
gracious and humbled."—To Cokie Roberts, This Week, Feb. 20,
2000 |
"I
don't want to win? If that were the case why the heck am I on the bus 16 hours a
day, shaking thousands of hands, giving hundreds of speeches, getting pillared
in the press and cartoons and still staying on message to win?"—Newsweek,
Feb. 28, 2000 |
| "I
thought how proud I am to be standing up beside my dad. Never did it occur to me
that he would become the gist for cartoonists."—ibid. |
"How
do you know if you don't measure if you have a system that simply suckles kids
through?"—Explaining the need for educational accountability in Beaufort,
S.C., Feb. 16, 2000 |
"We
ought to make the pie higher."—South Carolina Republican Debate, Feb. 15,
2000 |
| "I
do not agree with this notion that somehow if I go to try to attract votes and
to lead people toward a better tomorrow somehow I get subscribed to some—some
doctrine gets subscribed to me."—Meet The Press, Feb. 13, 2000 |
"I've
changed my style somewhat, as you know. I'm less—I pontificate less, although
it may be hard to tell it from this show. And I'm more interacting with
people."—ibid |
"The
most important job is not to be governor, or first lady in my
case."—Pella, Iowa, as quoted by the San Antonio Express-News,
Jan. 30, 2000 |
| "I
think we need not only to eliminate the tollbooth to the middle class, I think
we should knock down the tollbooth."—Nashua, N.H., as quoted by Gail
Collins in the New York Times, Feb. 1, 2000 |
"This
is Preservation Month. I appreciate preservation. It's what you do when you run
for president. You gotta preserve."—Speaking during "Perseverance
Month" at Fairgrounds Elementary School in Nashua, N.H. As quoted in the Los
Angeles Times, Jan. 28, 2000 |
"When
I was coming up, it was a dangerous world, and you knew exactly who they
were," he said. "It was us vs. them, and it was clear who them was.
Today, we are not so sure who the they are, but we know they're
there."—Iowa Western Community College, Jan 21, 2000 |
| "Will
the highways on the Internet become more few?"—Concord, N.H., Jan. 29,
2000 |
"I
know how hard it is for you to put food on your family."—Greater Nashua,
N.H., Chamber of Commerce, Jan. 27, 2000 |
"Rarely
is the question asked: Is our children learning?"—Florence, S.C., Jan.
11, 2000 |
| "What
I am against is quotas. I am against hard quotas, quotas they basically
delineate based upon whatever. However they delineate, quotas, I think vulcanize
society. So I don't know how that fits into what everybody else is saying, their
relative positions, but that's my position.''—Quoted by Molly Ivins, the San
Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 21, 2000 (Thanks to Toni L. Gould.) |
"The
administration I'll bring is a group of men and women who are focused on what's
best for America, honest men and women, decent men and women, women who will see
service to our country as a great privilege and who will not stain the
house."—Des Moines Register debate, Iowa, Jan. 15, 2000 |
"I
think it's important for those of us in a position of responsibility to be firm
in sharing our experiences, to understand that the babies out of wedlock is a
very difficult chore for mom and baby alike. ... I believe we ought to say there
is a different alternative than the culture that is proposed by people like Miss
Wolf in society. ... And, you know, hopefully, condoms will work, but it hasn't
worked."—Meet the Press, Nov. 21, 1999 |
| "This
is still a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and uncertainty and
potential mential losses."—At a South Carolina oyster roast, as quoted in
the Financial Times, Jan. 14, 2000 |
"We
must all hear the universal call to like your neighbor just like you like to be
liked yourself."—ibid. |
"Gov.
Bush will not stand for the subsidation of failure."—ibid. |
| "There
needs to be debates, like we're going through. There needs to be
town-hall meetings. There needs to be travel. This is a huge
country."—Larry King Live, Dec. 16, 1999 |
"I
read the newspaper."—In answer to a question about his reading habits,
New Hampshire Republican Debate, Dec. 2, 1999 |
"The
students at Yale came from all different backgrounds and all parts of the
country. Within months, I knew many of them."—From A Charge To Keep,
by George W. Bush, published November 1999 |
| "It
is incredibly presumptive for somebody who has not yet earned his party's
nomination to start speculating about vice presidents."—Keene, N.H., Oct.
22, 1999, quoted in the New Republic, Nov. 15, 1999 |
"The
important question is, How many hands have I shaked?"—Answering a
question about why he hasn't spent more time in New Hampshire, in the New
York Times, Oct. 23, 1999 |
"I
don't remember debates. I don't think we spent a lot of time debating it. Maybe
we did, but I don't remember."—On discussions of the Vietnam War when he
was an undergraduate at Yale, Washington Post, July 27, 1999 |
| "The
only thing I know about Slovakia is what I learned first-hand from your foreign
minister, who came to Texas."—To a Slovak journalist as quoted by Knight
Ridder News Service, June 22, 1999. Bush's meeting was with Janez Drnovsek, the
prime minister of Slovenia. |
"Keep
good relations with the Grecians."—Quoted in the Economist, June
12, 1999 |
"Kosovians
can move back in."—CNN Inside Politics, April 9, 1999 |
| "If
the East Timorians decide to revolt, I'm sure I'll have a
statement."—Quoted by Maureen Dowd in the New York Times, June
16, 1999 |
"It was just inebriating what Midland was all about then."—From a 1994 interview, as quoted in First Son, by Bill Minutaglio |