"So I analyzed that and decided I didn't want to be the president during
a depression greater than the Great Depression, or the beginning of a depression greater than the Great Depression." --George
W. Bush, Washington D.C., Dec. 18, 2008
"People say, well, do you ever hear any other voices other than, like,
a few people? Of course I do." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Dec. 18, 2008
"I've abandoned free market principles
to save the free market system." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Dec. 16, 2008
"You know, I'm the President during this period of time, but I think
when the history of this period is written, people will realize a lot of the decisions that were made on Wall Street took
place over a decade or so, before I arrived in President, during I arrived in President." --George W. Bush, ABC News interview,
Dec. 1, 2008
"I've been in the Bible every day since I've been the president." --George
W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Nov. 12, 2008
"He was a great father before politics, a great father during politics and
a great father after politics." --George W. Bush, on his father, George H.W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Nov. 12, 2008
"Yesterday, you made note of my -- the lack of my talent when it came
to dancing. But nevertheless, I want you to know I danced with joy. And no question Liberia has gone through very difficult
times." --George W. Bush, speaking with the president of Liberia, Washington, D.C., Oct. 22, 2008
"I want to share with you an interesting program -- for two reasons,
one, it's interesting, and two, my wife thought of it -- or has actually been involved with it; she didn't think of it. But
she thought of it for this speech." --George W. Bush, discussing a company that improves access to clean water in Africa,
Washington D.C., Oct. 21, 2008
"This thaw -- took a while to thaw, it's going to take a while to unthaw."
--George W. Bush, on liquidity in the markets, Alexandria, La., Oct. 20, 2008
"I didn't grow up in the ocean -- as a matter of fact -- near the ocean
-- I grew up in the desert. Therefore, it was a pleasant contrast to see the ocean. And I particularly like it when I'm fishing."
--George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Sept. 26, 2008
"Anyone engaging in illegal financial transactions will be caught and
persecuted." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Sept. 19, 2008
"We're fixing to go down to Galveston and obviously are going to see
a devastated part of this fantastic state." --George W. Bush, Houston, Sept. 16, 2008
"The people in Louisiana must know that all across our country there's
a lot of prayer -- prayer for those whose lives have been turned upside down. And I'm one of them." --George W. Bush, Baton
Rouge, La., Sept. 3, 2008
"First of all, I don't see America having problems." --George W. Bush,
interview with Bob Costas at the 2008 Olympics, Beijing, China, Aug. 10, 2008
"I'm coming as the president of a friend, and I'm coming as a sportsman."
--George W. Bush, on his trip to the Olympics in China, Washington, D.C., July 30, 2008
"There's no question about it. Wall Street got drunk -- that's one of
the reasons I asked you to turn off the TV cameras -- it got drunk and now it's got a hangover. The question is how long will
it sober up and not try to do all these fancy financial instruments." --George W. Bush, speaking at a private fundraiser,
Houston, Texas, July 18, 2008
"I think it was in the Rose Garden where I issued this brilliant statement:
If I had a magic wand -- but the president doesn't have a magic wand. You just can't say, 'low gas.'" --George W. Bush, Washington
D.C., July 15, 2008
"And they have no disregard for human life." --George W. Bush, on the
brutality of Afghan fighters, Washington, D.C., July 15, 2008
"The economy is growing, productivity is high, trade is up, people are
working. It's not as good as we'd like, but -- and to the extent that we find weakness, we'll move." --George W. Bush, Washington,
D.C., July 15, 2008
"Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter." --George W. Bush, in parting
words to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy at his final G-8 Summit, punching the air
and grinning widely as the two leaders looked on in shock, Rusutsu, Japan, July 10, 2008
"Amigo! Amigo!" --George W. Bush, calling out to Italian Prime Minister
Silvio Berlusconi in Spanish at the G-8 Summit, Rusutsu, Japan, July 10, 2008
"Throughout our history, the words of the Declaration have inspired
immigrants from around the world to set sail to our shores. These immigrants have helped transform 13 small colonies into
a great and growing nation of more than 300 people." --George W. Bush, Charlottesville, Va., July 4, 2008
"Should the Iranian regime-do they have the sovereign right to have
civilian nuclear power? So, like, if I were you, that's what I'd ask me. And the answer is, yes, they do." --George W. Bush,
talking to reporters in Washington, D.C., July 2, 2008
"But oftentimes I'm asked: Why? Why do you care what happens outside
of America?" --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., June 26,2008
"I want to tell you how proud I am to be the President of a nation that
-- in which there's a lot of Philippine-Americans. They love America and they love their heritage. And I reminded the President
that I am reminded of the great talent of the -- of our Philippine-Americans when I eat dinner at the White House." --George
W. Bush, referring to White House chef Cristeta Comerford while meeting with Filipino President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Washington,
D.C., June 24, 2008
"And I, unfortunately, have been to too many disasters as president."
--George W. Bush, discussing flooding in the Midwest, Washington, D.C., June 17, 2008
"There is some who say that perhaps freedom is not universal. Maybe
it's only Western people that can self-govern. Maybe it's only, you know, white-guy Methodists who are capable of self-government.
I reject that notion." --George W. Bush, London, June 16, 2008
"Your eminence, you're looking good." --George W. Bush to Pope Benedict
XVI, using the title for Catholic cardinals, rather than addressing him as "your holiness," Rome, June 13, 2008
"The German asparagus are fabulous." --George W. Bush, Meseberg, Germany,
June 11, 2008
"We've got a lot of relations with countries in our neighborhood." --George
W. Bush, Kranj, Slovenia, June 10, 2008
"One of the things important about history is to remember the true history."
--George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., June 6, 2008
"There's no question this is a major human disaster that requires a
strong response from the Chinese government, which is what they're providing, but it also responds a compassionate response
from nations to whom -- that have got the blessings, good blessings of life, and that's us." --George W. Bush, on relief efforts
after a Chinese earthquake, Washington, D.C., June 6, 2008
"Let's make sure that there is certainty during uncertain times in our
economy." -- George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., June 2, 2008
"We got plenty of money in Washington. What we need is
more priority." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., June 2, 2008
"And so the fact that they purchased the machine meant somebody had
to make the machine. And when somebody makes a machine, it means there's jobs at the machine-making place." --George W. Bush,
Mesa, Arizona, May 27, 2008
"I don't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander
in chief playing golf. I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing
golf during a war just sends the wrong signal." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 13, 2008
"I'll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened
inside this Oval Office." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 12, 2008
"How can you possibly have an international agreement that's effective
unless countries like China and India are not full participants?" --George W. Bush, Camp David, April 19, 2008
"Oftentimes people ask me, 'Why is it that you're so focused on helping
the hungry and diseased in strange parts of the world?'" --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 18, 2008
"We want people owning their home -- we want people owning a businesses."
--George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 18, 2008
"So long as I'm the president, my measure of success is victory -- and
success." --George W. Bush, on Iraq, Washington, D.C., April 17, 2008
"Thank you, your Holiness. Awesome speech." --George W. Bush, to Pope
Benedict, Washington, D.C., April 15, 2008
"A lot of times in politics you have people look you in the eye and
tell you what's not on their mind." --George W. Bush, Sochi, Russia, April 6, 2008
"Afghanistan is the most daring and ambition mission in the history
of NATO." --George W. Bush, Bucharest, Romania, April 2, 2008
"Soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen, and Coastmen -- Coast Guardmen,
thanks for coming, thanks for wearing the uniform." --George W. Bush, at the Pentagon, March 19, 2008
"I thank the diplomatic corps, who is here as well." --George W. Bush,
Washington, D.C., March 12, 2008
"Removing Saddam Hussein was the right decision early in my presidency,
it is the right decision now, and it will be the right decision ever." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., March 12, 2008
"Let me start off by saying that in 2000 I said, 'Vote for me. I'm an
agent of change.' In 2004, I said, 'I'm not interested in change --I want to continue as president.' Every candidate has got
to say 'change.' That's what the American people expect." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., March 5, 2008
"And so, General, I want to thank you for your service. And I appreciate
the fact that you really snatched defeat out of the jaws of those who are trying to defeat us in Iraq." --George W. Bush,
to Army Gen. Ray Odierno, Washington, D.C., March 3, 2008
"Wait a minute. What did you just say? You're predicting $4-a-gallon
gas? ... That's interesting. I hadn't heard that." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Feb. 28, 2008
"I'm oftentimes asked, What difference does it make to America if people
are dying of malaria in a place like Ghana? It means a lot. It means a lot morally, it means a lot from a -- it's in our national
interest." --George W. Bush, Accra, Ghana, Feb. 20, 2008
"There is no doubt in my mind when history was written, the final page
will say: Victory was achieved by the United States of America for the good of the world." --George W. Bush, addressing U.S.
troops at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, Jan. 12, 2008
"I can press when there needs to be pressed; I can hold hands when there
needs to be -- hold hands." --George W. Bush, on how he can contribute to the Middle East peace process, Washington, D.C.,
Jan. 4, 2008
"In the State of the Union a couple of years ago, I addressed the issue
of steroids, and the reason I did so is because I understand the impact that professional athletes can have on our nation's
youth. And I just urge our -- those in the public spotlight, particularly athletes, to understand that when they violate their
bodies, they're sending a terrible signal to America's young." --George W. Bush, on the baseball steroids scandal, Dec. 14,
2007
"The decisions we make in Washington have a direct impact on the people
in our country, obviously." --George W. Bush, New Albany, Ind., Nov. 13, 2007
"If you've got somebody in harm's way,
you want the president being -- making advice, not -- be given advice by the military, and not making decisions based upon
the latest Gallup poll or focus group." --George W. Bush, New Albany, Ind., Nov. 13, 2007
"I don't particularly like it when people put words in my mouth, either,
by the way, unless I say it." --George W. Bush, Crawford, Texas, Nov. 10, 2007
"In other words, he was given an option:
Are you with us or are you not with us? And he made a clear decision to be with us, and he's acted on that advice." --George
W. Bush, on President Pervez Musharraf, Crawford, Texas, Nov. 10, 2007
"We're going to -- we'll be sending a person on the ground there pretty
soon to help implement the malaria initiative, and that initiative will mean spreading nets and insecticides throughout the
country so that we can see a reduction in death of young children that -- a death that we can cure." --George W. Bush, Washington,
D.C., Oct. 18, 2007
"All I can tell you is when the governor calls, I answer his phone." --George W. Bush, San Diego,
Calif., Oct. 25, 2007
"My hearts are with the Jeffcoats right now, that's what I'm thinking." --George W. Bush, after
meeting with California wildfire victims Kendra and Jay Jeffcoat, San Diego, Calif., Oct. 25, 2007
"I fully understand those who say you can't win this thing militarily.
That's exactly what the United States military says, that you can't win this military." --George W. Bush, on the need for
political progress in Iraq, Washington, D.C., Oct. 17, 2007
"My job is a decision-making job, and as a result, I make a lot of decisions." --George W. Bush, Lancaster,
Pa., Oct. 3, 2007
"I got a lot of Ph.D.-types and smart people around me who come into
the Oval Office and say, 'Mr. President, here's what's on my mind.' And I listen carefully to their advice. But having gathered
the device, I decide, you know, I say, 'This is what we're going to do.'" --George W. Bush, Lancaster, Pa., Oct. 3, 2007
"You know, when you give a man more money in his pocket -- in this case,
a woman more money in her pocket to expand a business, it -- they build new buildings. And when somebody builds a new building
somebody has got to come and build the building. And when the building expanded it prevented additional opportunities for
people to work." --George W. Bush, Lancaster, Pa., Oct. 3, 2007
"As yesterday's positive report card shows, childrens do learn when standards are high and results are measured."
--George W. Bush, on the No Child Left Behind Act, Washington, D.C., Sept. 26, 2007
"We're also talking to different finance ministers about how we can
send a message to the Iranian government that the free world is not going to tolerate the development of know-how in how to
build a weapon, or at least gain the ability to make a weapon." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Sept. 20, 2007
"All of us in America want there to be fairness when it comes to justice."
--George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Sept. 20, 2007
"I heard somebody say, 'Where's (Nelson) Mandela?' Well, Mandela's dead.
Because Saddam killed all the Mandelas." --George W. Bush, on the former South African president, who is still very much alive,
Washington, D.C., Sept. 20, 2007
"Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for your introduction. Thank you for
being such a fine host for the OPEC summit." --George W. Bush, addressing Australian Prime Minister John Howard at the APEC
Summit, Sept. 7, 2007
"As John Howard accurately noted when he went to thank the Austrian
troops there last year..." --George W. Bush, referring to Australian troops as "Austrian troops," APEC Business Summit, Sept.
7, 2007
"We're kicking ass." --George W. Bush, on the security situation in
Iraq, to Australian Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile, Sydney, Australia, Sept. 5, 2007
"I've got God's shoulder to
cry on. And I cry a lot. I do a lot of crying in this job. I'll bet I've shed more tears than you can count, as president."
--George W. Bush, as quoted by author Robert Draper in Dead Certain
"The same folks that are bombing innocent
people in Iraq were the ones who attacked us in America on September the 11th." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., July 12,
2007
"I'm going to try to see if I can remember as much to make it sound like I'm smart on the subject." --George W.
Bush, answering a question about a possible flu pandemic, Cleveland, July 10, 2007
"You know, I guess I'm like any
other political figure: Everybody wants to be loved." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., July 12, 2007
"More than
two decades later, it is hard to imagine the Revolutionary War coming out any other way." --George W. Bush, Martinsburg, W.
Va., July 4, 2007
"I've heard he's been called Bush's poodle. He's bigger than that." --George W. Bush, on former British
Prime Minister Tony Blair, as quoted by the Sun newspaper, June 27, 2007
"Amnesty means that you've got to pay a price
for having been here illegally, and this bill does that." --George W. Bush, on the immigration reform bill, Washington, D.C.,
June 26, 2007
"This process has been drug out a long time, which says to me it's political." --George W. Bush, discussing
the controversy surrounding Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, Sofia, Bulgaria, June 11, 2007
"These are big achievements
for this country, and the people of Bulgaria ought to be proud of the achievements that they have achieved." --George W. Bush,
Sofia, Bulgaria, June 11, 2007
"Bush goes to Hel. That's what a lot of people want." --George W. Bush,
on his visit to the Hel Peninsula, Gdansk, Poland, Jun. 8, 2007
"There's a lot of blowhards in the political process,
you know, a lot of hot-air artists, people who have got something fancy to say." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 17,
2007
"My relationship with this good man is where I've been focused, and that's where my concentration is. And I don't
regret any other aspect of it. And so I -- we filled a lot of space together." --George W. Bush, on British Prime Minister
Tony Blair, Washington, D.C., May 17, 2007
"What I'm telling you is there's too many junk lawsuits suing too many doctors."
--George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 10, 2007
"You helped our nation celebrate its bicentennial in 17 -- 1976." --George
W. Bush, to Queen Elizabeth, Washington, D.C., May 7, 2007
"I'm honored to be here with the eternal general of the United States,
mi amigo Alberto Gonzales." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 4, 2007
"Information is moving -- you know, nightly news is one way, of course,
but it's also moving through the blogosphere and through the Internets." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 2, 2007
"The
question is, who ought to make that decision? The Congress or the commanders? And as you know, my position is clear -- I'm
a commander guy." --George W. Bush, who apparently is no longer "The Decider," Washington, D.C., May 2, 2007
"Wisdom and
strength, and my family, is what I'd like for you to pray for." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 2, 2007
"Either we'll succeed, or we won't succeed. And the definition of success
as I described is sectarian violence down. Success is not no violence." --George W. Bush, on Iraq, Washington, D.C., May 2,
2007
"And so, what Gen. Petraeus is saying, some early signs, still dangerous, but give me -- give my chance a plan
to work." --George W. Bush, in an interview with Charlie Rose, April 24, 2007
"There are jobs Americans aren't doing. ... If you've got a chicken
factory, a chicken-plucking factory, or whatever you call them, you know what I'm talking about." --George W. Bush. Tipp City,
Ohio, April 19, 2007
"There are some similarities, of course (between Iraq and Vietnam).
Death is terrible." --George W. Bush, Tipp City, Ohio, April 19, 2007
"I've been in politics long enough to know that
polls just go poof at times." --George W. Bush, Tipp City, Ohio, April 19, 2007
"My job is a job to make decisions. I'm a decision -- if the job description
were, what do you do -- it's decision maker." --George W. Bush, Tipp City, Ohio, April 19, 2007
"Politics comes and goes, but your principles don't. And everybody wants
to be loved -- not everybody. ... You never heard anybody say, 'I want to be despised, I'm running for office.'" --George
W. Bush, Tipp City, Ohio, April 19, 2007
"I said to her, make sure the rug says 'optimistic person comes to work.'"
--George W. Bush, on his instructions to First Lady Laura Bush in choosing a rug for the Oval Office, Tipp City, Ohio, April
19, 2007
"One of my concerns is that the health care not be as good as it can
possibly be." --George W. Bush, on military benefits, Tipp City, Ohio, April 19, 2007
"Forms of government matter,
in my opinion. It matters how -- the nature of the government in which people live." --George W. Bush, Tipp City, Ohio, April
19, 2007
"My attitude is, if they're still writing about (number) one, 43 doesn't
need to worry about it." --George W. Bush, on his legacy, Tipp City, Ohio, April 19, 2007
"A good marriage is really
good after serving together in Washington, D.C." --George W. Bush, Tipp City, Ohio, April 19, 2007
"The best thing
about my family is my wife. She is a great first lady. I know that sounds not very objective, but that's how I feel. And she's
also patient. Putting up with me requires a lot of patience." --George W. Bush, Tipp City, Ohio, April 19, 2007
"Iraq
is a very important part of securing the homeland, and it's a very important part of helping change the Middle East into a
part of the world that will not serve as a threat to the civilized world, to people like -- or to the developed world, to
people like -- in the United States." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 3, 2007
"Suiciders are willing to kill
innocent life in order to send the projection that this is an impossible mission." --George W. Busy, Washington, D.C., April
3, 2007
"And my concern, David, is several." --George W. Bush, to NBC's David Gregory, Washington, D.C., April 3,
2007
"The solution to Iraq -- an Iraq that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself -- is more than a military
mission. Precisely the reason why I sent more troops into Baghdad." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 3, 2007
"That's
why we are inconveniencing air traffickers, to make sure nobody is carrying weapons on airplanes." --George W. Bush, Washington,
D.C., April 3, 2007
"They're innocent, they were doing nothing, and they were summarily
plucked out of water." --George W. Bush, on British sailors who were detained by Iran while on patrol in the Persian Gulf,
Camp David, March 31, 2007
"Some call this civil war; others call it emergency -- I call it pure evil." --George W.
Bush, Washington, D.C., March 28, 2007
"I'm a strong proponent of the restoration of the wetlands, for a lot of reasons.
There's a practical reason, though, when it comes to hurricanes: The stronger the wetlands, the more likely the damage of
the hurricane." --George W. Bush, New Orleans, March 1, 2007
"And there is distrust in Washington. I am surprised,
frankly, at the amount of distrust that exists in this town. And I'm sorry it's the case, and I'll work hard to try to elevate
it." --George W. Bush, interview on National Public Radio, Jan. 29, 2007
"I think that the vice president is a person reflecting a half-glass-full
mentality." --George W. Bush, interview on National Public Radio, Jan. 29, 2007
"And one thing we want during this
war on terror is for people to feel like their life's moving on, that they're able to make a living and send their kids to
college and put more money on the table." --George W. Bush, interview on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Jan. 16, 2007
"The
best way to defeat the totalitarian of hate is with an ideology of hope -- an ideology of hate -- excuse me --with an ideology
of hope." --George W. Bush, Fort Benning, Ga., Jan. 11, 2007
"Make no mistake about it, I understand how tough it is, sir. I talk
to families who die." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Dec. 7, 2006
"It's bad in Iraq. Does that help?" --George
W. Bush, after being asked by a reporter whether he's in denial about Iraq, Washington, D.C., Dec. 7, 2006
"And truth of the matter is, a lot of reports in Washington are never
read by anybody. To show you how important this one is, I read it, and our guest read it." --George W. Bush, on the Baker-Hamilton
Report, appearing with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Washington, D.C., Dec. 7, 2006
"This business about graceful
exit just simply has no realism to it at all." --George W. Bush, on speculation that U.S. troops could be withdrawn from Iraq,
Amman, Jordan, Nov. 30, 2006
"The only way we can win is to leave before the job is done." --George W. Bush, Greeley,
Colo., Nov. 4, 2006
"Anybody who is in a position to serve this country ought to understand the consequences of words."
--George W. Bush, interview with Rush Limbaugh, Nov. 1, 2006
"You know, when I campaigned here in 2000, I said, I want
to be a war President. No President wants to be a war President, but I am one." --George W. Bush, Des Moines, Iowa, Oct. 26,
2006
Maria Bartiromo: "I'm curious, have you ever googled anybody? Do you use Google?"
President Bush: "Occasionally.
One of the things I've used on the Google is to pull up maps. It's very interesting to see -- I've forgot the name of the
program -- but you get the satellite, and you can -- like, I kinda like to look at the ranch. It remind me of where I wanna
be sometimes." --interview with CNBC's Maria Bartiromo, Oct. 24, 2006
"We're never been stay the course, George."
--George W. Bush, attempting to distance himself from what has been his core strategy in Iraq for the last three years, interview
with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, Oct. 22, 2006
"This morning my administration released the budget numbers for fiscal
2006. These budget numbers are not just estimates; these are the actual results for the fiscal year that ended February the
30th." --George W. Bush, on the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, Washington, D.C., Oct. 11, 2006
"One has a stronger
hand when there's more people playing your same cards." --George W. Bush, on holding six-party talks with North Korea, Washington,
D.C., Oct. 11, 2006
"I will not withdraw, even if Laura and Barney are the only ones supporting me." --George W. Bush,
talking to key Republicans about Iraq, as quoted by Bob Woodward
"I like to tell people when the final history is written
on Iraq, it will look like just a comma because there is -- my point is, there's a strong will for democracy." --George W.
Bush, interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Sept. 24, 2006
"You're one of the outstanding leaders in a very important
part of the world. I want to thank you for strategizing our discussions." --George W. Bush, meeting with the prime minister
of Malaysia, New York, N.Y., Sept. 18, 2006
"The Patriot Act has increased the flow of information within our government
and it has helped break up terrorist cells in the United States of America. And the United States Congress was right to renew
the terrorist act -- the Patriot Act." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C. , Sept. 7, 2006
"You know, one of the hardest
parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror." --George W. Bush, interview with CBS News' Katie Couric, Sept. 6,
2006
"I said I was looking for a book to read, Laura said you ought to try Camus. I also read three Shakespeares. ...
I've got a eck-a-lec-tic reading list." --George W. Bush, interview with NBC's Brian Williams, New Orleans, La., Aug. 29,
2006
"And I suspect that what you'll see, Toby, is there will be a momentum, momentum will be gathered. Houses will
begat jobs, jobs will begat houses." --George W. Bush, talking to reporters along the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast, Gulfport,
Miss., Aug. 28, 2006
"I would guess, I would surmise that some of the more spectacular bombings are done by al Qaeda
suiciders." --George W. Bush, on violence in Iraq, Washington, D.C., Aug. 21, 2006
"The United States of America is
engaged in a war against an extremist group of folks." --George W. Bush, McLean, Va., Aug. 15, 2006
"See, the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah
to stop doing this s**t, and it's over." --George W. Bush, chomping on a dinner roll while talking about the Middle East crisis
with British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the G8 summit, St. Petersburg, Russia, July 17, 2006
"One thing is clear,
is relations between America and Russia are good, and they're important that they be good." --George W. Bush, Strelna, Russia,
July 15, 2006
"I've reminded the prime minister-the American people, Mr. Prime Minister, over the past months that
it was not always a given that the United States and America would have a close relationship." George W. Bush, Washington,
D.C., June 29, 2006
"We shouldn't fear a world that is more interacted." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., June 27,
2006
"I think -- tide turning -- see, as I remember -- I was raised in the desert, but tides kind of -- it's easy to
see a tide turn -- did I say those words?" --George W. Bush, asked if the tide was turning in Iraq, Washington, D.C., June
14, 2006
President Bush: "Peter. Are you going to ask that question with shades
on?"
Peter Wallsten of the Los Angeles Times: "I can take them off."
Bush: "I'm interested in the shade look, seriously."
Wallsten:
"All right, I'll keep it, then."
Bush: "For the viewers, there's no sun."
Wallsten: "I guess it depends on your perspective."
Bush:
"Touche.
--an exchange with legally blind reporter Peter Wallsten, to whom Bush later apologized, Washington, D.C., June
14, 2006
"I tell people, let's don't fear the future, let's shape it." --George W. Bush, Omaha, Neb., June 7, 2006
"Trying
to stop suiciders -- which we're doing a pretty good job of on occasion -- is difficult to do. And what the Iraqis are going
to have to eventually do is convince those who are conducting suiciders who are not inspired by Al Qaeda, for example, to
realize there's a peaceful tomorrow." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 24, 2006
"I would say the best moment
of all was when I caught a 7.5 pound largemouth bass in my lake." --George W. Bush, on his best moment in office, interview
with the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, May 7, 2006
"If people want to get to know me better, they've got
to know my parents and the values my parents instilled in me, and the fact that I was raised in West Texas, in the middle
of the desert, a long way away from anywhere, hardly. There's a certain set of values you learn in that experience." --George
W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 5, 2006
"You never know what your history is going to be like until long after you're
gone." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 5, 2006
"The point now is how do we work together to achieve important
goals. And one such goal is a democracy in Germany." --George W. Bush, D.C., May 5, 2006
"That's George Washington,
the first president, of course. The interesting thing about him is that I read three -- three or four books about him last
year. Isn't that interesting?" --George W. Bush, while showing German newspaper reporter Kai Diekmann the Oval Office, Washington,
D.C., May 5, 2006
"Finally, the desk, where we'll have our picture taken in front of -- is nine other Presidents used
it. This was given to us by Queen Victoria in the 1870s, I think it was. President Roosevelt put the door in so people would
not know he was in a wheelchair. John Kennedy put his head out the door." --George W. Bush, showing German newspaper reporter
Kai Diekmann the Oval Office, Washington, D.C., May 5, 2006
"That's called, A Charge To Keep, based upon a religious
hymn. The hymn talks about serving God. The president's job is never to promote a religion." --George W. Bush, showing German
newspaper reporter Kai Diekmann the Oval Office, Washington, D.C., May 5, 2006
"I was not pleased that Hamas has refused
to announce its desire to destroy Israel." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 4, 2006
"I can look you in the eye
and tell you I feel I've tried to solve the problem diplomatically to the max, and would have committed troops both in Afghanistan
and Iraq knowing what I know today." --George W. Bush, Irvine, Calif., April 24, 2006
"I aim to be a competitive nation."
--George W. Bush, San Jose, Calif., April 21, 2006
"I'm the decider, and I decide what is best. And what's best is
for Don Rumsfeld to remain as the Secretary of Defense." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C. April 18, 2006
"I strongly
believe what we're doing is the right thing. If I didn't believe it -- I'm going to repeat what I said before -- I'd pull
the troops out, nor if I believed we could win, I would pull the troops out." --George W. Bush, Charlotte, N.C., April 6,
2006
"No question that the enemy has tried to spread sectarian violence. They use violence as a tool to do that." --George
W. Bush, Washington, D.C., March 22, 2006
"If the Iranians were to have a nuclear weapon they could proliferate." --George
W. Bush, Washington D.C., March 21, 2006
"After the bombing, most Iraqis saw what the perpetuators of this attack
were trying to do." --George W. Bush, on the bombing of the Golden Mosque of Samarra in Iraq, March 13, 2006, Washington,
D.C.
"And so I'm for medical liability at the federal level." --George W. Bush, on medical liability reform, Washington,
D.C., March 10, 2006
"I believe that a prosperous, democratic Pakistan will be a steadfast partner for America, a peaceful
neighbor for India, and a force for freedom and moderation in the Arab world." --George W. Bush, mistakenly identifying Pakistan
as an Arab country, Islamabad, Pakistan, March 3, 2006
"People don't need to worry about security. This deal wouldn't
go forward if we were concerned about the security for the United States of America." --George W. Bush, on the deal to hand
over U.S. port security to a company operated by the United Arab Emirates, Washington, D.C., Feb. 23, 2006
"And I want
those who are questioning it to step up and explain why all of a sudden a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard
than a Great British company." --George W. Bush, defending a plan to allow a company controlled by the United Arab Emirates
to manage ports in the United States, aboard Air Force One, Feb. 21, 2006
"I think it's really important for this great
state of baseball to reach out to people of all walks of life to make sure that the sport is inclusive. The best way to do
it is to convince little kids how to--the beauty of playing baseball." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Feb. 13, 2006
"I
like my buddies from west Texas. I liked them when I was young, I liked them then I was middle-age, I liked them before I
was president, and I like them during president, and I like them after president." --George W. Bush, Nashville, Tenn., Feb.
1, 2006
"He was a state sponsor of terror. In other words, the government had declared, you are a state sponsor of
terror." --George W. Bush, on Saddam Hussein, Manhattan, Kan., Jan. 23, 2006
"I'll be glad to talk about ranching, but I haven't seen the movie.
I've heard about it. I hope you go -- you know -- I hope you go back to the ranch and the farm is what I'm about to say."
--George W. Bush, after being asked whether he's seen Brokeback Mountain, Manhattan, Kan., Jan. 23, 2006
"It's
a heck of a place to bring your family." --George W. Bush, on New Orleans, New Orleans, La., Jan. 12, 2006
"You took
an oath to defend our flag and our freedom, and you kept that oath underseas and under fire." --George W. Bush, addressing
war veterans, Washington, D.C., Jan. 10, 2006
"As you can possibly see, I have an injury myself -- not here at the
hospital, but in combat with a cedar. I eventually won. The cedar gave me a little scratch. As a matter of fact, the Colonel
asked if I needed first aid when she first saw me. I was able to avoid any major surgical operations here, but thanks for
your compassion, Colonel." --George W. Bush, after visiting with wounded veterans from the Amputee Care Center of Brooke Army
Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas, Jan. 1, 2006
"[I]t's a myth to think I don't know what's going on. It's a myth to
think that I'm not aware that there's opinions that don't agree with mine, because I'm fully aware of that." --George W. Bush,
Philadelphia, Pa., Dec. 12, 2005
"I mean, there was a serious international effort to say to Saddam Hussein, you're
a threat. And the 9/11 attacks extenuated that threat, as far as I-concerned." --George W. Bush, Philadelphia, Dec. 12, 2005
"I think we are welcomed. But it was not a peaceful welcome." --George W. Bush, defending Vice President Dick
Cheney's pre-war assertion that the United States would be welcomed in Iraq as liberators, NBC Nightly News interview,
Dec. 12, 2005
"Those who enter the country illegally violate the law." --George W.
Bush, Tucson, Ariz., Nov. 28, 2005
"As a matter of fact, I know relations between our governments is good."
--George W. Bush, on U.S.-South Korean relations, Washington D.C., Nov. 8, 2005
"Wow! Brazil is big." --George W. Bush, after being shown a map of Brazil
by Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brasilia, Brazil, Nov. 6, 2005
"Bin Laden says his own role is to tell Muslims, quote, 'what is good
for them and what is not.'" --George W. Bush, Washington D.C., Oct. 6, 2005
"I think it's important to bring somebody from outside the system, the
judicial system, somebody that hasn't been on the bench and, therefore, there's not a lot of opinions for people to look at."
--George W. Bush, on the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, Washington, D.C., October 4, 2005
"We look forward to hearing your vision, so we can more better do our
job. That's what I'm telling you." --George W. Bush, Gulfport, Miss., Sept. 20, 2005
"If it were to rain a lot, there is concern from the Army Corps of Engineers
that the levees might break. And so, therefore, we're cautious about encouraging people to return at this moment of history."
--George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Sept. 19, 2005
"Listen, I want to thank leaders of the -- in the faith -- faith-based
and community-based community for being here." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Sept. 6, 2005
"So please give cash money to organizations that are directly involved
in helping save lives -- save the life who had been affected by Hurricane Katrina." --George W. Bush, Washington D.C., Sept.
6, 2005
"I can't wait to join you in the joy of welcoming neighbors back into
neighborhoods, and small businesses up and running, and cutting those ribbons that somebody is creating new jobs." --George
W. Bush, Poplarville, Miss., Sept. 5, 2005
"Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." --George W. Bush, to FEMA director
Michael Brown, who resigned 10 days later amid criticism over his job performance, Mobile, Ala., Sept. 2, 2005
"We've got a lot of rebuilding to do. First, we're going to save lives
and stabilize the situation. And then we're going to help these communities rebuild. The good news is -- and it's hard for
some to see it now -- that out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles
of Trent Lott's house -- he's lost his entire house -- there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting
on the porch." (Laughter) --George W. Bush, touring hurricane damage, Mobile, Ala., Sept. 2, 2005
"My thoughts are, we're going to get somebody who knows what they're
talking about when it comes to rebuilding cities." --George W. Bush, on rebuilding New Orleans, Biloxi, Miss., Sept. 2, 2005
"Americans should be prudent in their use of energy during the course
of the next few weeks. Don't buy gas if you don't need it." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Sept. 1, 2005
"It's totally wiped out. ... It's devastating, it's got to be doubly
devastating on the ground." --George W. Bush, turning to his aides while surveying Hurricane Katrina flood damage from Air
Force One , Aug. 31, 2005
"The best place for the facts to be done is by somebody who's spending
time investigating it." --George W. Bush, on the probe into how CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity was leaked, Washington
D.C., July 18, 2005
"I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep on the soil of a friend."
--George W. Bush, on visiting Denmark, Washington D.C., June 29, 2005
"I was going to say he's a piece of work, but that might not translate
too well. Is that all right, if I call you a 'piece of work'?" --George W. Bush to Jean-Claude Juncker, prime minister of
Luxembourg, Washington, D.C., June 20, 2005
"The relations with, uhh -- Europe are important relations, and they've,
uhh -- because, we do share values. And, they're universal values, they're not American values or, you know -- European values,
they're universal values. And those values -- uhh -- being universal, ought to be applied everywhere." --George W. Bush, at
a press conference with European Union dignitaries, Washington, D.C., June 20, 2005
"You see, not only did the attacks help accelerate a recession, the
attacks reminded us that we are at war." --George W. Bush, on the Sept. 11 attacks, Washington, D.C., June 8, 2005
"And the second way to defeat the terrorists is to spread freedom. You
see, the best way to defeat a society that is -- doesn't have hope, a society where people become so angry they're willing
to become suiciders, is to spread freedom, is to spread democracy." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., June 8, 2005
"It seemed like to me they based some of their decisions on the word
of -- and the allegations -- by people who were held in detention, people who hate America, people that had been trained in
some instances to disassemble -- that means not tell the truth." --George W. Bush, on an Amnesty International report on prisoner
abuse at Guantanamo Bay, Washington, D.C., May 31, 2005
"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over
and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda." --George W. Bush, Greece, N.Y., May 24, 2005
"We discussed the way forward in Iraq, discussed the importance of a
democracy in the greater Middle East in order to leave behind a peaceful tomorrow." --George W. Bush, Tbilisi, Georgia, May
10, 2005
"I think younger workers -- first of all, younger workers have been
promised benefits the government -- promises that have been promised, benefits that we can't keep. That's just the way it
is." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 4, 2005
"It means your own money would grow better than that which the government
can make it grow. And that's important." --George W. Bush, on what private accounts could do for Social Security funds, Falls
Church, Va., April 29, 2005
"I can only speak to myself." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April
28, 2005
"It's in our country's interests to find those who would do harm to
us and get them out of harm's way." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 28, 2005
"We expect the states to show us whether or not we're achieving simple
objectives -- like literacy, literacy in math, the ability to read and write." --George W. Bush, on federal education requirements,
Washington, D.C., April 28, 2005
"He understands the need for a timely write of the constitution." --George
W. Bush, on Prime Minister Iyad Allawi of Iraq, Washington, D.C., April 28, 2005
"Well, we've made the decision to defeat the terrorists abroad so we
don't have to face them here at home. And when you engage the terrorists abroad, it causes activity and action." --George
W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 28, 2005
"But Iraq has -- have got people there that are willing to kill, and
they're hard-nosed killers. And we will work with the Iraqis to secure their future." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C.,
April 28, 2005
"I appreciate my love for Laura." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C.,
April 20, 2005
"We have enough coal to last for 250 years, yet coal also prevents an
environmental challenge." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 20, 2005
"Part of the facts is understanding we have a problem, and part of the
facts is what you're going to do about it." --George W. Bush, Kirtland, Ohio, April 15, 2005
"I'm going to spend a lot of time on Social Security. I enjoy it. I
enjoy taking on the issue. I guess, it's the Mother in me." --George W. Bush, Washington D.C., April 14, 2005
"We look forward to analyzing and working with legislation that will
make -- it would hope -- put a free press's mind at ease that you're not being denied information you shouldn't see." --George
W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 14, 2005
"I want to thank you for the importance that you've shown for education
and literacy." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 13, 2005
"I understand there's a suspicion that we--we're too security-conscience."
--George W. Bush, Washington D.C., April 14, 2005
"If they pre-decease or die early, there's an asset base to be able
to pass on to a loved one." --George W. Bush, on Social Security money held in private accounts, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, March
30, 2005
[I'm] occasionally reading, I want you to know, in the second term."
--George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., March 16, 2005
"In this job you've got a lot on your plate on a regular basis; you
don't have much time to sit around and wander, lonely, in the Oval Office, kind of asking different portraits, 'How do you
think my standing will be?'" --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., March 16, 2005
"In terms of timetables, as quickly as possible -- whatever that means."
--George W. Bush, on his time frame for shoring up Social Security, Washington D.C., March 16, 2005
"I like the idea of people running for office. There's a positive effect
when you run for office. Maybe some will run for office and say, vote for me, I look forward to blowing up America. I don't
know, I don't know if that will be their platform or not. But it's -- I don't think so. I think people who generally run for
office say, vote for me, I'm looking forward to fixing your potholes, or making sure you got bread on the table." --George
W. Bush, on elections in the Middle East, Washington, D.C., March 16, 2005
"I repeat, personal accounts do not permanently fix the solution." --George
W. Bush, Washington, D.C., March 16, 2005
"This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran
is simply ridiculous. And having said that, all options are on the table." --George W. Bush, Brussels, Belgium, Feb. 22, 2005
"If you're a younger person, you ought to be asking members of Congress
and the United States Senate and the president what you intend to do about it. If you see a train wreck coming, you ought
to be saying, what are you going to do about it, Mr. Congressman, or Madam Congressman?" --George W. Bush, Detroit, Mich.,
Feb. 8, 2005
"Because the -- all which is on the table begins to address the big
cost drivers. For example, how benefits are calculate, for example, is on the table; whether or not benefits rise based upon
wage increases or price increases. There's a series of parts of the formula that are being considered. And when you couple
that, those different cost drivers, affecting those -- changing those with personal accounts, the idea is to get what has
been promised more likely to be -- or closer delivered to what has been promised. Does that make any sense to you? It's kind
of muddled. Look, there's a series of things that cause the -- like, for example, benefits are calculated based upon the increase
of wages, as opposed to the increase of prices. Some have suggested that we calculate -- the benefits will rise based upon
inflation, as opposed to wage increases. There is a reform that would help solve the red if that were put into effect. In
other words, how fast benefits grow, how fast the promised benefits grow, if those -- if that growth is affected, it will
help on the red." --George W. Bush, explaining his plan to save Social Security, Tampa, Fla., Feb. 4, 2005
"You work three jobs? Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic
that you're doing that." --George W. Bush, to a divorced mother of three, Omaha, Nebraska, Feb. 4, 2005
"After all, Europe is America's closest ally." --George W. Bush, Mainz,
Germany, Feb. 23, 2005
"Because he's hiding." --George W. Bush, responding to a reporter who
asked why Osama bin Laden had not been caught, aboard Air Force One, Jan. 14, 2005
"I'm also mindful that man should never try to put words in God's mouth.
I mean, we should never ascribe natural disasters or anything else to God. We are in no way, shape, or form should a human
being, play God." --George W. Bush, ABC's 20/20, Washington D.C., Jan. 14, 2005
"I want to appreciate those of you who wear our nation's uniform for
your sacrifice." --George W. Bush, Jacksonville, Fla., Jan. 14, 2005
"I speak plainly sometimes, but you've got to be mindful of the consequences
of the words. So put that down. I don't know if you'd call that a confession, a regret, something." --George W. Bush, speaking
to reporters, Washington, D.C., Jan. 14, 2005
"Who could have possibly envisioned an erection -- an election in Iraq
at this point in history?" --George W. Bush, at the white House, Washington, D.C., Jan. 10, 2005
"We need to apply 21st-century information technology to the health
care field. We need to have our medical records put on the I.T." --George W. Bush, Collinsville, Ill., Jan. 5, 2005
"I believe we are called to do the hard work to make our communities
and quality of life a better place." --George W. Bush, Collinsville, Ill., Jan. 5, 2005
"It's a time of sorrow and sadness when we lose a loss of life." --George
W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Dec. 21, 2004
"They can get in line like those who have been here legally and have
been working to become a citizenship in a legal manner." --George W. Bush, on immigrant workers, Washington, D.C., Dec. 20,
2004
"And so during these holiday seasons, we thank our blessings." --George
W. Bush, Fort Belvoir, Va., Dec. 10, 2004
"Justice ought to be fair." --George W. Bush, speaking at the White
House Economic Conference, Washington, D.C., Dec. 15, 2004
"The president and I also reaffirmed our determination to fight terror,
to bring drug trafficking to bear, to bring justice to those who pollute our youth."
--George W. Bush, speaking with Chilean President Ricardo Lagos, Santiago, Chile,
Nov. 21, 2004
"We thought we were protected forever from trade policy or terrorist
attacks because oceans protected us." --George W. Bush, speaking to business leaders at APEC Summit, Santiago, Chile, Nov.
20, 2004
"I always jest to people, the Oval Office is the kind of place where
people stand outside, they're getting ready to come in and tell me what for, and they walk in and get overwhelmed in the atmosphere,
and they say, man, you're looking pretty." --George
W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Nov. 4, 2004
"I have a record in office, as well. And all Americans have seen that
record. September the 4th, 2001, I stood in the ruins of the Twin Towers. It's a day I will never forget." --George W. Bush,
Marlton, New Jersey, Oct. 18, 2004
"After standing on the stage, after the debates, I made it very plain,
we will not have an all-volunteer army. And yet, this week -- we will have an all-volunteer army!" --George W. Bush, Daytona
Beach, Fla., Oct. 16, 2004
"I hear there's rumors on the Internets that we're going to have a draft."
--George W. Bush, second presidential debate, St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 8, 2004
"The truth of that matter is, if you listen carefully, Saddam would
still be in power if he were the president of the United States, and the world would be a lot better off." --George W. Bush,
second presidential debate, St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 8, 2004
"When a drug comes in from Canada, I wanna make sure it cures ya, not
kill ya... I've got an obligation to make sure our government does everything we can to protect you. And one -- my worry is
that it looks like it's from Canada, and it might be from a third world." --George W. Bush, second presidential debate, St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 8, 2004
"We all thought there was weapons there, Robin. My opponent thought
there was weapons there." --George W. Bush, second presidential debate, St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 8, 2004
"Let me see where to start here. First, the National Journal named Senator
Kennedy the most liberal senator of all." --George W. Bush, referring to Sen. Kerry, second presidential debate, St. Louis,
Mo., Oct. 8, 2004
"I own a timber company? That's news to me.--George W. Bush, second
presidential debate, St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 8, 2004
"Another example would be the Dred Scott case, which is where judges,
years ago, said that the Constitution allowed slavery because of personal property rights. That's a personal opinion. That's
not what the constitution says. The constitution of the United States says we're all -- you know, it doesn't say that. It
doesn't speak to the equality of America." --George W. Bush, second presidential debate, St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 8, 2004
"The enemy understands a free Iraq will be a major defeat in their ideology
of hatred. That's why they're fighting so vociferously." --George W. Bush, first presidential debate, Coral Gables, Fla.,
Sept. 30, 2004
"You know, it's hard work to try to love her as best as I can, knowing
full well that the decision I made caused her loved one to be in harm's way." --George W. Bush, first presidential debate,
Coral Gables, Fla., Sept. 30, 2004
"I think it's very important for the American President to mean what
he says. That's why I understand that the enemy could misread what I say. That's why I try to be as clearly I can." --George
W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Sept. 23, 2004
"I saw a poll that said the right track/wrong track in Iraq was better
than here in America. It's pretty darn strong. I mean, the people see a better future." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C.,
Sept. 23, 2004
"I'm not the expert on how the Iraqi people think, because I live in
America, where it's nice and safe and secure." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Sept. 23, 2004
"It's the Afghan national army that went into Najaf and did the work
there." --George W. Bush, referring to Iraqi troops during a joint press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi,
Washington, D.C., Sept. 23, 2004
"The CIA laid out several scenarios and said life could be lousy, life
could be OK, life could be better, and they were just guessing as to what the conditions might be like." --George W. Bush,
New York City, Sept. 21, 2004
"Free societies are hopeful societies. And free societies will be allies
against these hateful few who have no conscience, who kill at the whim of a hat." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Sept.
17, 2004
"Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs
aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." --George W. Bush, Poplar Bluff, Mo., Sept. 6, 2004
"We will make sure our troops have all that is necessary to complete
their missions. That's why I went to the Congress last September and proposed fundamental -- supplemental funding, which is
money for armor and body parts and ammunition and fuel." --George W. Bush, Erie, Pa., Sept. 4, 2004
"Had we to do it over again, we would look at the consequences of catastrophic
success, being so successful so fast that an enemy that should have surrendered or been done in escaped and lived to fight
another day." --George W. Bush, telling Time magazine that he underestimated the Iraqi resistance
"They've seen me make decisions, they've seen me under trying times,
they've seen me weep, they've seen me laugh, they've seen me hug. And they know who I am, and I believe they're comfortable
with the fact that they know I'm not going to shift principles or shift positions based upon polls and focus groups." --George
W. Bush, interview with USA Today, Aug. 27, 2004
"I hope you leave here and walk out and say, 'What did he say?'" --George
W. Bush, Beaverton, Oregon, Aug. 13, 2004
"So community colleges are accessible, they're available, they're affordable,
and their curriculums don't get stuck. In other words, if there's a need for a certain kind of worker, I presume your curriculums
evolved over time." --George W. Bush, Niceville, Fla., Aug. 10, 2004
"Let me put it to you bluntly. In a changing world, we want more people
to have control over your own life." --George W. Bush, Annandale, Va, Aug. 9, 2004
"As you know, we don't have relationships with Iran. I mean, that's
-- ever since the late '70s, we have no contacts with them, and we've totally sanctioned them. In other words, there's no
sanctions -- you can't -- we're out of sanctions." --George W. Bush, Annandale, Va, Aug. 9, 2004
"Tribal sovereignty means that; it's sovereign. I mean, you're a --
you've been given sovereignty, and you're viewed as a sovereign entity. And therefore the relationship between the federal
government and tribes is one between sovereign entities." --George W. Bush, speaking to minority journalists, Washington,
D.C., Aug. 6, 2004
"We actually misnamed the war on terror. It ought to be the Struggle
Against Ideological Extremists Who Do Not Believe in Free Societies Who Happen to Use Terror as a Weapon to Try to Shake the
Conscience of the Free World." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Aug. 6, 2004
"I cut the taxes on everybody. I didn't cut them. The Congress cut them.
I asked them to cut them." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Aug. 6, 2004
"I wish I wasn't the war president. Who in the heck wants to be a war
president? I don't." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Aug. 6, 2004
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never
stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Aug.
5, 2004
"We stand for things." --George W. Bush, Davenport, Iowa, Aug. 5, 2004
'I don't know why you're talking about Sweden. They're the neutral one.
They don't have an army.'' --George W. Bush, during an Oval Office meeting with Rep. Tom Lantos, as reported by the New York
Times
"Give me a chance to be your president and America will be safer and
stronger and better." --Still-President George W. Bush, Marquette, Michigan, July 13, 2004
"I mean, if you've ever been a governor of a state, you understand the
vast potential of broadband technology, you understand how hard it is to make sure that physics, for example, is taught in
every classroom in the state. It's difficult to do. It's, like, cost-prohibitive." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., June
24, 2004
"And I am an optimistic person. I guess if you want to try to find something
to be pessimistic about, you can find it, no matter how hard you look, you know?" --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., June
15, 2004
"I want to thank my friend, Senator Bill Frist, for joining us today.
You're doing a heck of a job. You cut your teeth here, right? That's where you started practicing? That's good. He married
a Texas girl, I want you to know. Karyn is with us. A West Texas girl, just like me." --George W. Bush, Nashville, Tenn.,
May 27, 2004
"I'm honored to shake the hand of a brave Iraqi citizen who had his
hand cut off by Saddam Hussein." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 25, 2004
"Like you, I have been disgraced about what I've seen on TV that took
place in prison." --George W. Bush, Parkersburg, West Virginia, May 13, 2004
"Iraqis are sick of foreign people coming in their country and trying
to destabilize their country." --George W. Bush, interview with Al Arabiya Television, May 5, 2004
"My job is to, like, think beyond the immediate." --George W. Bush,
Washington, D.C., April 21, 2004
"They could still be hidden, like the 50 tons of mustard gas on a turkey
farm." --George W. Bush, on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, Washington, D.C. , April 13, 2004
"This has been tough weeks in that country." --George W. Bush, Washington,
D.C., April 13, 2004
"Coalition forces have encountered serious violence in some areas of
Iraq. Our military commanders report that this violence is being insticated by three groups." --George W. Bush, Washington,
D.C., April 13, 2004
"Obviously, I pray every day there's less casualty." --George W. Bush,
Fort Hood, Texas, April 11, 2004
"We're still being challenged in Iraq and the reason why is a free Iraq
will be a major defeat in the cause of freedom." --George W. Bush, Charlotte, N.C., April 5, 2004
"Earlier today, the Libyan government released Fathi Jahmi. She's a
local government official who was imprisoned in 2002 for advocating free speech and democracy." --George W. Bush, citing Jahmi,
who is a man, in a speech paying tribute to women reformers during International Women's Week, Washington, D.C., March 12,
2004
"The march to war hurt the economy. Laura reminded me a while ago that
remember what was on the TV screens -- she calls me, 'George W.' -- 'George W.' I call her, 'First Lady.' No, anyway -- she
said, we said, march to war on our TV screen." --George W. Bush, Bay Shore, New York, Mar. 11, 2004
"God loves you, and I love you. And you can count on both of us as a
powerful message that people who wonder about their future can hear." --George W. Bush, Los Angeles, Calif., March 3, 2004
"Recession means that people's incomes, at the employer level, are going
down, basically, relative to costs, people are getting laid off." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Feb. 19, 2004
"Joe, I don't do nuance." --George W. Bush to Sen. Joseph Biden, as
quoted in Time, Feb. 15, 2004
"The march to war affected the people's confidence. It's hard to make
investment. See, if you're a small business owner or a large business owner and you're thinking about investing, you've got
to be optimistic when you invest. Except when you're marching to war, it's not a very optimistic thought, is it? In other
words, it's the opposite of optimistic when you're thinking you're going to war." --George W. Bush, Springfield, Mo., Feb.
9, 2004
"But the true strength of America is found in the hearts and souls of
people like Travis, people who are willing to love their neighbor, just like they would like to love themselves." --George
W. Bush, Springfield, Mo., Feb. 9, 2004
"In my judgment, when the United States says there will be serious consequences,
and if there isn't serious consequences, it creates adverse consequences." --George W. Bush, Meet the Press, Feb. 8,
2004
"There is no such thing necessarily in a dictatorial regime of iron-clad
absolutely solid evidence. The evidence I had was the best possible evidence that he had a weapon." --George W. Bush, Meet
the Press, Feb. 8, 2004
"The recession started upon my arrival. It could have been -- some say
February, some say March, some speculate maybe earlier it started -- but nevertheless, it happened as we showed up here. The
attacks on our country affected our economy. Corporate scandals affected the confidence of people and therefore affected the
economy. My decision on Iraq, this kind of march to war, affected the economy." --George W. Bush, Meet the Press, Feb.
8, 2004
"We do know that Saddam Hussein had the intent and the capabilities
to cause great harm. We know he was a great danger….What we don't know yet is what we thought and what the Iraqi Survey
Group has found, and we want to look at that." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C. Feb. 2, 2004
"My views are one that speaks to freedom." --George W. Bush, Washington,
D.C., Jan. 29, 2004
"See, one of the interesting things in the Oval Office -- I love to
bring people into the Oval Office -- right around the corner from here -- and say, this is where I office, but I want you
to know the office is always bigger than the person." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Jan. 29, 2004
"More Muslims have died at the hands of killers than -- I say more Muslims
-- a lot of Muslims have died -- I don't know the exact count -- at Istanbul. Look at these different places around the world
where there's been tremendous death and destruction because killers kill." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Jan. 29, 2004
"Then you wake up at the high school level and find out that the illiteracy
level of our children are appalling." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Jan. 23, 2004
"Just remember it's the birds that's supposed to suffer, not the hunter."
--George W. Bush, advising quail hunter and New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici, Roswell, N.M., Jan. 22, 2004
"For diplomacy to be effective, words must be credible, and no one can
now doubt the word of America." --George W. Bush, State of the Union Address, Jan. 20, 2004
"I want to thank the astronauts who are with us, the courageous spacial
entrepreneurs who set such a wonderful example for the young of our country." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C. Jan. 14,
2004
"I was a prisoner too, but for bad reasons." --George W. Bush, to Argentine
President Nestor Kirchner, on being told that all but one of the Argentine delegates to a summit meeting were imprisoned during
the military dictatorship, Monterrey, Mexico, Jan. 13, 2004
"One of the most meaningful things that's happened to me since I've
been the governor -- the president -- governor -- president. Oops. Ex-governor. I went to Bethesda Naval Hospital to give
a fellow a Purple Heart, and at the same moment I watched him--get a Purple Heart for action in Iraq -- and at that same --
right after I gave him the Purple Heart, he was sworn in as a citizen of the United States -- a Mexican citizen, now a United
States citizen." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Jan. 9, 2004
"And if you're interested in the quality of education and you're paying
attention to what you hear at Laclede, why don't you volunteer? Why don't you mentor a child how to read?" --George W. Bush,
St. Louis, Mo., Jan. 5, 2004
"So thank you for reminding me about the importance of being a good
mom and a great volunteer as well." --George W. Bush, St. Louis, Mos., Jan. 5, 2004
"I want to remind you all that in order to fight and win the war, it
requires an expenditure of money that is commiserate with keeping a promise to our troops to make sure that they're well-paid,
well-trained, well-equipped." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Dec. 15, 2003
"See, without the tax relief package,
there would have been a deficit, but there wouldn't have been the commiserate - not 'commiserate' - the kick to our economy
that occurred as a result of the tax relief." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Dec. 15, 2003
"[T]he Iraqis need to
be very much involved. They were the people that was brutalized by this man." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Dec. 15,
2003
"[T]he best way to find these terrorists who hide in holes is to get people coming forth to describe the location
of the hole, is to give clues and data." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Dec. 15, 2003
"Justice was being delivered
to a man who defied that gift from the Almighty to the people of Iraq." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Dec. 15, 2003
"This very week in 1989, there were protests in East Berlin and in Leipzig.
By the end of that year, every communist dictatorship in Central America had collapsed." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C.,
Nov. 6, 2003
"America stands for liberty, for the pursuit of happiness, and for the
unalienalienable right of life." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Nov. 3, 2003
"[A]s you know, these are open forums, you're able to come and listen
to what I have to say." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Oct. 28, 2003
"The ambassador and the general were briefing me on the - the vast majority
of Iraqis want to live in a peaceful, free world. And we will find these people and we will bring them to justice." -George
W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Oct. 27, 2003
"[W]hether they be Christian, Jew, or Muslim, or Hindu, people have
heard the universal call to love a neighbor just like they'd like to be called themselves." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C.,
October 8, 2003
"See, free nations are peaceful nations. Free nations don't attack each
other. Free nations don't develop weapons of mass destruction." -George W. Bush, Milwaukee, Wis., Oct. 3, 2003
"Washington is a town where there's all kinds of allegations. You've
heard much of the allegations. And if people have got solid information, please come forward with it. And that would be people
inside the information who are the so-called anonymous sources, or people outside the information - outside the administration."
-George W. Bush, Chicago, Sept. 30, 2003
"[W]e've had leaks out of the administrative branch, had leaks out of
the legislative branch, and out of the executive branch and the legislative branch, and I've spoken out consistently against
them, and I want to know who the leakers are." -George W. Bush, Chicago, Sept. 30, 2003
"I glance at the headlines just to kind of get a flavor for what's moving.
I rarely read the stories, and get briefed by people who are probably read the news themselves." -George W. Bush, Washington,
D.C., Sept. 21, 2003
"I'm so pleased to be able to say hello to Bill Scranton. He's one of
the great Pennsylvania political families." -George W. Bush, Drexel Hill, Penn., Sept. 15, 2003
"We had a chance to visit with Teresa Nelson who's a parent, and a mom
or a dad." -George W. Bush, Jacksonville, Florida, Sept. 9, 2003
"As Luce reminded me, he said, without data, without facts, without
information, the discussions about public education mean that a person is just another opinion." -George W. Bush, Jacksonville,
Florida, Sept. 9, 2003
"I'm a follower of American politics." -George W. Bush, Crawford, Texas,
Aug. 8, 2003
"[T]hat's just the nature of democracy. Sometimes pure politics enters
into the rhetoric." -George W. Bush, Crawford, Texas, Aug. 8, 2003
"We had a good Cabinet meeting, talked about a lot of issues. Secretary
of State and Defense brought us up to date about our desires to spread freedom and peace around the world." -George W. Bush,
Washington, D.C., Aug. 1, 2003
"And the other lesson is that there are people who can't stand what
America stands for, and desire to conflict great harm on the American people."
-George W. Bush, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, July 28, 2003
"Security is the essential roadblock to achieving the road map to peace."
-George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., July 25, 2003
"Our country puts $1 billion a year up to help feed the hungry. And
we're by far the most generous nation in the world when it comes to that, and I'm proud to report that. This isn't a contest
of who's the most generous. I'm just telling you as an aside. We're generous. We shouldn't be bragging about it. But we are.
We're very generous." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., July 16, 2003
"It's very interesting when you think about it, the slaves who left
here to go to America, because of their steadfast and their religion and their belief in freedom, helped change America."
-George W. Bush, Dakar, Senegal, July 8, 2003
"My answer is bring them on."-On Iraqi insurgents attacking U.S. forces,
George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., July 3, 2003
"You've also got to measure in order to begin to effect change that's
just more - when there's more than talk, there's just actual - a paradigm shift." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., July
1, 2003
"I urge the leaders in Europe and around the world to take swift, decisive
action against terror groups such as Hamas, to cut off their funding, and to support - cut funding and support, as the United
States has done." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., June 25, 2003
"Iran would be dangerous if they have a nuclear weapon." -George W.
Bush, Washington, D.C., June 18, 2003
"Now, there are some who would like to rewrite history-revisionist historians
is what I like to call them." -George W. Bush, Elizabeth, N.J., June 16, 2003
"I am determined to keep the process on the road to peace." -George
W. Bush, Washington, D.C., June 10, 2003
"The true strength of America happens when a neighbor loves a neighbor
just like they'd like to be loved themselves." -George W. Bush, Elizabeth, N.J., June 16, 2003
"We are making steadfast progress." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C.,
June 9, 2003
"I'm the master of low expectations." -George W. Bush, aboard Air Force
One, June 4, 2003
"I'm also not very analytical. You know I don't spend a lot of time
thinking about myself, about why I do things." -George W. Bush, aboard Air Force One, June 4, 2003
"I recently met with the finance minister of the Palestinian Authority,
was very impressed by his grasp of finances." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 29, 2003
"Oftentimes, we live in a processed world - you know, people focus on
the process and not results." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 29, 2003
"I've got very good relations with President Mubarak and Crown Prince
Abdallah and the King of Jordan, Gulf Coast countries." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 29, 2003
"All up and down the different aspects of our society, we had meaningful
discussions. Not only in the Cabinet Room, but prior to this and after this day, our secretaries, respective secretaries,
will continue to interact to create the conditions necessary for prosperity to reign." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C.,
May 19, 2003
"First, let me make it very clear, poor people aren't necessarily killers.
Just because you happen to be not rich doesn't mean you're willing to kill." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 19, 2003
"We've had a great weekend here in the Land of the Enchanted." -George
W. Bush, Albuquerque, N.M., May 12, 2003 (New Mexico's state nickname is "Land of Enchantment")
"I think war is a dangerous place." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C.,
May 7, 2003
"We ended the rule of one of history's worst tyrants, and in so doing,
we not only freed the American people, we made our own people more secure." -George W. Bush, Crawford, Texas, May 3, 2003
"We've got hundreds of sites to exploit, looking for the chemical and
biological weapons that we know Saddam Hussein had prior to our entrance into Iraq." -George W. Bush, Santa Clara, Calif.,
May 2, 2003
"I don't bring God into my life to - to, you know, kind of be a political
person." -George W. Bush, interview with Tom Brokaw aboard Air Force One, April 24, 2003
"You're free. And freedom is beautiful. And, you know, it'll take time
to restore chaos and order - order out of chaos. But we will." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 13, 2003
"Perhaps one way will be, if we use military force, in the post-Saddam
Iraq the U.N. will definitely need to have a role. And that way it can begin to get its legs, legs of responsibility back."
-George W. Bush, the Azores, Portugal, March 16, 2003
"Now, we talked to Joan Hanover. She and her husband, George, were visiting
with us. They are near retirement - retiring - in the process of retiring, meaning they're very smart, active, capable people
who are retirement age and are retiring." -George W. Bush, Alexandria, Va., Feb. 12, 2003
"[The Space Shuttle] Columbia carried in its payroll classroom experiments
from some of our students in America." -George W. Bush, Bethesda, Md., Feb. 3, 2003
"And, most importantly, Alma Powell, secretary of Colin Powell, is with
us." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Jan. 30, 2003
"The war on terror involves Saddam Hussein because of the nature of
Saddam Hussein, the history of Saddam Hussein, and his willingness to terrorize himself." -George W. Bush, Grand Rapids, Mich.,
Jan. 29, 2003
"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought
significant quantities of uranium from Africa." -George W. Bush, State of the Union Address, Jan. 28, 2003, making a claim
that administration officials knew at the time to be false
"When Iraq is liberated, you will be treated, tried and persecuted as
a war criminal." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Jan. 22, 2003
"One year ago today, the time for excuse-making has come to an end."
-George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Jan. 8, 2003
"The goals for this country are peace in the world. And the goals for
this country are a compassionate American for every single citizen. That compassion is found in the hearts and souls of the
American citizens." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Dec. 19, 2002
"I think the American people - I hope the American - I don't think,
let me - I hope the American people trust me." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Dec. 18, 2002
"There's only one person who hugs the mothers and the widows, the wives
and the kids upon the death of their loved one. Others hug but having committed the troops, I've got an additional responsibility
to hug and that's me and I know what it's like." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2002.
"In other words, I don't think people ought to be compelled to make
the decision which they think is best for their family." -George W. Bush, on smallpox vaccinations, Washington, D.C., Dec.
11, 2002
"You believe in the Almighty, and I believe in the Almighty. That's
why we'll be great partners." -George W. Bush, to Turkish Prime Minister Recap Tayyip Erdogan, Washington, D.C. Dec. 10, 2002
"Sometimes, Washington is one of these towns where the person - people
who think they've got the sharp elbow is the most effective person." -George W. Bush, New Orleans, Dec. 3, 2002
"The law I sign today directs new funds and new focus to the task of
collecting vital intelligence on terrorist threats and on weapons of mass production." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C.,
Nov. 27, 2002
"Haven't we already given money to rich people? Why are we going to
do it again?" -George W. Bush, to economic advisers discussing a second round of tax cuts, as quoted by Paul O'Neil, Washington,
D.C., Nov. 26, 2002
"I'm the commander - see, I don't need to explain - I do not need to
explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being president." -George W. Bush, as quoted in Bob Woodward's
"Bush at War"
"I know something about being a government. And you've got a good one."
-George W. Bush, campaigning for Gov. Mike Huckabee, Bentonville, Ark., Nov. 4, 2002
"These people don't have tanks. They don't have ships. They hide in
caves. They send suiciders out." -George W. Bush, speaking about terrorists, Portsmouth, N.H., Nov. 1, 2002
"I need to be able to move the right people to the right place at the
right time to protect you, and I'm not going to accept a lousy bill out of the United Nations Senate." -George W. Bush, South
Bend, Ind., Oct. 31, 2002
"John Thune has got a common-sense vision for good forest policy. I look forward to working
with him in the United Nations Senate to preserve these national heritages." -George W. Bush, Aberdeen, S.D., Oct. 31, 2002
"Any
time we've got any kind of inkling that somebody is thinking about doing something to an American and something to our homeland,
you've just got to know we're moving on it, to protect the United Nations Constitution, and at the same time, we're protecting
you." -George W. Bush, Aberdeen, S.D., Oct. 31, 2002
"I was proud the other day when both Republicans and Democrats stood
with me in the Rose Garden to announce their support for a clear statement of purpose: you disarm, or we will." -George W.
Bush, speaking about Saddam Hussein, Manchester, N.H., Oct. 5, 2002
"Let me tell you my thoughts about tax relief. When your economy is
kind of ooching along, it's important to let people have more of their own money." -George W. Bush, Boston, Oct. 4, 2002
"We need an energy bill that encourages consumption." -George W. Bush,
Trenton, N.J., Sept. 23, 2002
"People say, how can I help on this war against terror? How can I fight
evil? You can do so by mentoring a child; by going into a shut-in's house and say I love you." -George W. Bush, Washington,
D.C., Sept. 19, 2002
"You see, the Senate wants to take away some of the powers of the administrative
branch." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Sept. 19, 2002
"There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, probably
in Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on - shame on you. Fool me - you can't get fooled again." -George W. Bush, Nashville,
Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002
"See, we love - we love freedom. That's what they didn't understand.
They hate things; we love things. They act out of hatred; we don't seek revenge, we seek justice out of love." -George W.
Bush, Oklahoma City, Aug. 29, 2002
"There's no cave deep enough for America, or dark enough to hide." -George
W. Bush, Oklahoma City, Aug. 29, 2002
"President Musharraf, he's still tight with us on the war against terror,
and that's what I appreciate. He's a - he understands that we've got to keep Al Qaeda on the run, and that by keeping him
on the run, it's more likely we will bring him to justice." -George W. Bush, Ruch, Ore., Aug. 22, 2002
"I'm a patient man. And when I say I'm a patient man, I mean I'm a patient
man. Nothing he [Saddam Hussein] has done has convinced me - I'm confident the Secretary of Defense - that he is the kind
of fellow that is willing to forgo weapons of mass destruction, is willing to be a peaceful neighbor, that is - will honor
the people - the Iraqi people of all stripes, will - values human life. He hasn't convinced me, nor has he convinced my administration."
-George W. Bush, Crawford, Texas, Aug. 21, 2002
"I'm thrilled to be here in the bread basket of America because it gives
me a chance to remind our fellow citizens that we have an advantage here in America - we can feed ourselves." -George W. Bush,
Stockton, Calif., Aug. 23, 2002
"The federal government and the state government must not fear programs
who change lives, but must welcome those faith-based programs for the embetterment of mankind." -George W. Bush, Stockton,
Calif., Aug. 23, 2002
"I promise you I will listen to what has been said here, even though
I wasn't here." -George W. Bush, speaking at the President's Economic Forum in Waco, Texas, Aug. 13, 2002
"Tommy (Thompson) is a good listener, and he's a pretty good actor,
too." -George W. Bush, apparently confusing his Health and Human Services secretary with Sen. Fred Thompson, Waco, Texas,
Aug. 13, 2002
"There may be some tough times here in America. But this country has
gone through tough times before, and we're going to do it again." -George W. Bush, Waco, Texas, Aug. 13, 2002
"The trial lawyers are very politically powerful. … But here in
Texas we took them on and got some good medical - medical malpractice." -George W. Bush, Waco, Texas, Aug. 13, 2002
"I firmly believe the death tax is good for people from all walks of
life all throughout our society." -George W. Bush, Waco, Texas, Aug. 13, 2002
"I love the idea of a school in which people come to get educated and
stay in the state in which they're educated." -George W. Bush, Milwaukee, Wis., Aug. 14, 2002
"There may be some tough times here in America. But this country was
gone through tough times before, and we're going to do it again." -George W. Bush, Waco, Texas, Aug. 13, 2002
"The problem with the French is that they don't have a word for entrepreneur."
-George W. Bush, discussing the decline of the French economy with British Prime Minister Tony Blair
"There was no malfeance involved. This was an honest disagreement about
accounting procedures. ... There was no malfeance, no attempt to hide anything." -George W. Bush, White House press conference,
Washington, D.C., July 8, 2002
"I also understand how tender the free enterprise system can be." -George
W. Bush, White House press conference, Washington, D.C., July 8, 2002
"Over 75 percent of white Americans own their home, and less than 50
percent of Hispanos and African Americans don't own their home. And that's a gap, that's a homeownership gap. And we've got
to do something about it." -George W. Bush, Cleveland, Ohio, July 1, 2002
"I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really
talking about peace." -George W. Bush, June 18, 2002
"I'd rather have them sacrificing on behalf of our nation than, you
know, endless hours of testimony on congressional hill." -George W. Bush, Fort Meade, Maryland, June 4, 2002
"We hold dear what our Declaration of Independence says, that all have
got uninalienable rights, endowed by a Creator." -George W. Bush, to community and religious leaders in Moscow, May 24, 2002
"We're working with Chancellor Schröder on what's called 10-plus-10-over-10:
$10 billion from the U.S.,$10 billion from other members of the G7 over a 10-year period, to help Russia securitize the dismantling
- the dismantled nuclear warheads." -George W. Bush, Berlin, Germany, May 23, 2002
"And one of the things we've got to make sure that we do is anything."
-George W. Bush, discussing the Middle East after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Washington, D.C., May
7, 2002
"After all, a week ago, there were - Yasser Arafat was boarded up in
his building in Ramallah, a building full of, evidently, German peace protestors and all kinds of people. They're now out.
He's now free to show leadership, to lead the world." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 2, 2002
"The public education system in America is one of the most important
foundations of our democracy. After all, it is where children from all over America learn to be responsible citizens, and
learn to have the skills necessary to take advantage of our fantastic opportunistic society." -George W. Bush, May 1, 2002
"Do you have blacks, too?" -George W. Bush, to Brazilian President Fernando
Cardoso, Nov. 8, 2001, as reported in an April 28, 2002, Estado Sao Pauloan column by Fernando Pedreira, a close friend of
President Cardoso
"This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating." -George W. Bush,
as quoted by the New York Daily News April 23, 2002
"It would be a mistake for the United States Senate to allow any kind
of human cloning to come out of that chamber." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 10, 2002
"And so, in my State of the - my State of the Union - or state - my
speech to the nation, whatever you want to call it, speech to the nation - I asked Americans to give 4,000 years - 4,000 hours
over the next - the rest of your life - of service to America. That's what I asked - 4,000 hours." -George W. Bush, Bridgeport,
Conn., April 9, 2002
"My mom often used to say, "The trouble with W" - although she didn't
put that to words." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Apr. 3, 2002
"Sometimes when I sleep at night I think of (Dr. Seuss's) 'Hop on Pop.'"
-George W. Bush, in a speech about childhood education, Washington, D.C., April 2, 2002
"We've tripled the amount of money - I believe it's from $50 million
up to $195 million available." -George W. Bush, Lima, Peru, March 23, 2002
"Laura and I will thank them from the bottom of my heart." -George W. Bush, Alexandria, Virginia, March 20, 2002
"We've got pockets of persistent poverty in our society, which I refuse
to declare defeat - I mean, I refuse to allow them to continue on. And so one of the things that we're trying to do is to
encourage a faith-based initiative to spread its wings all across America, to be able to capture this great compassionate
spirit." -George W. Bush, O'Fallon, Mo., Mar. 18, 2002
"I understand that the unrest in the Middle East creates unrest throughout
the region." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., March 13, 2002
"There's nothing more deep than recognizing Israel's right to exist.
That's the most deep thought of all. ... I can't think of anything more deep than that right." -George W. Bush, Washington,
D.C., March 13, 2002
"They didn't think we were a nation that could conceivably sacrifice
for something greater than our self; that we were soft, that we were so self-absorbed and so materialistic that we wouldn't
defend anything we believed in. My, were they wrong. They just were reading the wrong magazine or watching the wrong Springer
show." -George W. Bush. Washington, D.C., March 12, 2002
"My trip to Asia begins here in Japan for an important reason. It begins
here because for a century and a half now, America and Japan have formed one of the great and enduring alliances of modern
times. From that alliance has come an era of peace in the Pacific." -George W. Bush, who apparently forgot about a little
something called World War II, Tokyo, Feb. 18, 2002
"Ann and I will carry out this equivocal message to the world: Markets
must be open." -George W. Bush, at the swearing-in ceremony for Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman, March 2, 2001
"You know, I was campaigning in Chicago and somebody asked me, is there
ever any time where the budget might have to go into deficit? I said only if we were at war or had a national emergency or
were in recession. Little did I realize we'd get the trifecta." -President George W. Bush, Charlotte, North Carolina, Feb.
27, 2002
"He [Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi] said I want to make
it very clear to you exactly what I intend to do and he talked about non-performing loans, the devaluation issue and regulatory
reform and he placed equal emphasis on all three." -George W. Bush, who had meant to say "the deflation issue" rather than
"the devaluation issue," and accidentally sent the Japanese Yen tumbling, Tokyo, Feb. 18, 2002
"I've been to war. I've raised twins. If I had a choice, I'd rather
go to war." -George W. Bush, Charleston, West Virginia, Jan. 27, 2002
"Not over my dead body will they raise your taxes." -George W. Bush,
Ontario, California, Jan. 5, 2002
"I want to thank you for taking time out of your day to come and witness
my hanging." -George W. Bush, at the dedication of his portrait, Austin, Texas, Jan. 4, 2002
"But all in all, it's been a fabulous year for Laura and me." -George
W. Bush, summing up his first year in office, Washington, D.C., Dec. 20, 2001
"I couldn't imagine somebody like Osama bin Laden understanding the
joy of Hanukkah." -George W. Bush, at a White House Menorah lighting ceremony, Washington, D.C., Dec. 10, 2001
"The United States and Russia are in the midst of transformationed relationship
that will yield peace and progress." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Nov, 13, 2001
"We need to counter the shockwave of the evildoer by having individual
rate cuts accelerated and by thinking about tax rebates." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Oct. 4, 2001
"I am here to make an announcement that this Thursday, ticket counters
and airplanes will fly out of Ronald Reagan Airport." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Oct. 3, 2001
"We are fully committed to working with both sides to bring the level
of terror down to an acceptable level for both." -George W. Bush, after a meeting with congressional leaders, Washington,
D.C., Oct. 2, 2001
"The folks who conducted to act on our country on September 11th made
a big mistake. They underestimated America. They underestimated our resolve, our determination, our love for freedom. They
misunderestimated the fact that we love a neighbor in need. They misunderestimated the compassion of our country. I think
they misunderestimated the will and determination of the Commander-in-Chief, too." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Sept.
26, 2001
"Border relations between Canada and Mexico have never been better."
-George W. Bush, in a press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien. Sept. 24, 2001
"When I take action, I'm not going to fire a $2 million missile at a
$10 empty tent and hit a camel in the butt. It's going to be decisive." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C. Sept. 19, 2001
"When I was a kid I remember that they used to put out there in the
Old West a wanted poster. It said, Wanted: Dead or Alive." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C. Sept. 18, 2001
"I'm confident we can work with Congress to come up with an economic
stimulus package that will send a clear signal to the risk takers and capital formators of our country." -George W. Bush,
Washington, D.C., Sept. 17, 2001
"Brie and cheese." -George W. Bush, to reporters, on what he imagines
reporters eat, Crawford, Texas, Aug. 23, 2001
"Arbolist … Look up the word. I don't know, maybe I made it up.
Anyway, it's an arbo-tree-ist, somebody who knows about trees." -George W. Bush, as quoted in USA Today, Aug. 21, 2001
"The suicide bombings have increased. There's too many of them." -George
W. Bush, Albuquerque, N.M., Aug. 15, 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."
-George W. Bush, Denver, Aug. 14, 2001
"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." -George W. Bush, referring to former Sen. George Mitchell's report on Middle East peace, Crawford,
Texas, Aug. 13, 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." -George W. Bush, Crawford, Texas, Aug, 13, 2001
"A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question
about it." -George W. Bush, July 27, 2001
"You saw the president yesterday. I thought he was very forward-leaning,
as they say in diplomatic nuanced circles." -Goerge W. Bush, referring to his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin,
July 23, 2001
"I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe
and what I believe - I believe what I believe is right." -George W. Bush, in Rome, July 22, 2001
"It is white." -George W. Bush, asked by a child in Britain what the
White House was like, July 19, 2001
"It's my honor to speak to you as the leader of your country. And the
great thing about America is you don't have to listen unless you want to." -George W. Bush, speaking to recently sworn in
immigrants on Ellis Island, July 10, 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." -George W.
Bush, visiting the Jefferson Memorial, Washington, D.C., July 2, 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." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C.,
July 2, 2001
"You know, sometimes when you study history, you get stuck in the past."
-George W. Bush, on what he told Russian president Vladimir Putin, as quoted in the Wall Street Journal, June 25, 2001
"It's negative to think about blowing each other up. That's not a positive
thought. That's a Cold War thought. That's a thought when people were enemies with each other." -George W. Bush, as quoted
in the Wall Street Journal, June 25, 2001
"I'm sure you can imagine it's an unimaginable honor to live here."
-George W. Bush, addressing agricultural leaders at the White House, June 18, 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."-George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., June 18, 2001
"I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward
and trustworthy….I was able to get a sense of his soul." -George W. Bush, after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin,
June 16, 2001
"We spent a lot of time talking about Africa, as we should. Africa is
a nation that suffers from incredible disease." -George W. Bush, at a news conference in Europe, June 14, 2001
"It's amazing I won. I was running against peace, prosperity, and incumbency."
-George W. Bush, June 14, 2001, speaking to Swedish Prime Minister Goran Perrson, unaware that a live television camera was
still rolling.
"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." -George W. Bush, referring to the McCain-Kennedy patients' bill of rights, June 13, 2001
"Can't living with the bill means it won't become law." -George W. Bush, referring to the McCain-Kennedy patients'
bill of rights, 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." -George W. Bush, 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." -George W. Bush, 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." -George W. Bush, in remarks to the University of Nebraska
women's volleyball team, the 2001 national champions, May 31, 2001
"So on behalf of a well-oiled unit of people who came together to serve
something greater than themselves, congratulations." -George W. Bush, in remarks to the University of Nebraska women's volleyball
team, the 2001 national champions, May 31, 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." -George W. Bush, May 22, 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." -George W.
Bush, Philadelphia, Penn., May 14, 2001
"There's no question that the minute I got elected, the storm clouds
on the horizon were getting nearly directly overhead." -George W. Bush, 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." -George W. Bush,
May 1, 2001
"I hope we get to the bottom of the answer. It's what I'm interested
to know." -George W. Bush, as quoted by AP, April 26, 2000
"First, we would not accept a treaty that would not have been ratified, nor a treaty that I thought made sense
for the country." -George W. Bush, on the Kyoto accord, April 24, 2001
"He married, like me, above his head." -George W. Bush, on U.S. ambassador
to Canada Paul Cellucci, Quebec City, April 22, 2001
"It's very important for folks to understand that when there's more
trade, there's more commerce." -George W. Bush, at the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City, April 21, 2001
"Neither in French nor in English nor in Mexican." -George W. Bush,
declining to take reporters' questions during a photo op with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, 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." -George W. Bush, New Britain, Conn., April 18, 2001
"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." -George W. Bush, on "parental
empowerment in education," April 12, 2001
"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." -George
W. Bush, April 11, 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." -George W. Bush, 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." -George W. Bush, White House press conference, March 29, 2001
"We want to develop defenses that are capable of defending ourselves
and defenses capable of defending others." -George W. Bush, White House press conference, Washington, D.C. March 29, 20001
"I've coined new words, like, misunderstanding and Hispanically." -George W. Bush, March 29, 2001
"We'll be a great country where the fabrics are made up of groups and
loving centers." -George W. Bush, Kalamazoo, Michigan, March 27, 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." -George
W. Bush, speaking to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, March 19, 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." -George W.
Bush, in a media roundtable discussion, March 13, 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." -George W. Bush, speaking at Tyndall Air Force Base in 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." -George W. Bush, in an interview with the Washington Post, March 9, 2001
"Ann and I will carry out this equivocal message to the world: Markets
must be open." -George W. Bush, at the swearing-in ceremony for Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman, March 2, 2001
"My pan plays down an unprecedented amount of our national debt." -George W. Bush, in his
budget address to Congress, Feb. 27, 2001
"We both use Colgate toothpaste." -George W. Bush, on what he had in
common with Tony Blair, Camp David, Maryland, Feb. 23, 2001
"I have said that the sanction regime is like Swiss cheese - that meant
that they weren't very effective." -George W. Bush, during a White House press conference, Feb. 22, 2001
"You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy
test.'' -George W. Bush, Feb. 21, 2001
"My plan reduces the national debt, and fast. So fast, in fact, that
economists worry that we're going to run out of debt to retire." -George W. Bush, radio address, Feb. 24, 2001
"Home is important. It's important to have a home." -George W. Bush,
Crawford, Texas, Feb. 18, 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."-George W. Bush, Feb. 8, 2001
"We're concerned about AIDS inside our White House - make no mistake
about it." -George W. Bush, Feb. 7, 2001
"There's no such thing as legacies. At least, there is a legacy, but
I'll never see it." -George W. Bush, speaking 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." -George W. Bush,
speaking to reporters, Washington, D.C., Jan. 29, 2001
"I am mindful not only of preserving executive powers for myself, but
for predecessors as well." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Jan. 29, 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." -George W. Bush, in a pre-inaugural interview with U.S. News & World Report
"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 the pursuit of happiness." -George
W. Bush, as quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 23, 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." -George W. Bush, Jan. 18, 2001
"I want everybody to hear loud and clear that I'm going to be the president
of everybody." -George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Jan. 18, 2001
"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." -George W. Bush, Jan. 14, 2001
"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." -George W. Bush, Jan. 14, 2001
"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."-George W. Bush, Jan. 14, 2001
"She's just trying to make sure Anthony gets a good meal - Antonio."
-George W. Bush, on Laura Bush inviting Justice Antonin Scalia to dinner at the White House, Jan. 14, 2001
"I think it's very important for world leaders to understand that when
a new administration comes in, the new administration will be running the foreign policy." -George W. Bush, interview with
USA Today, Jan. 12, 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 more literate country and a hopefuller country." -George W. Bush, Jan. 11, 2001
"It'll be hard to articulate." -George W. Bush, anticipating how he'll
feel upon assuming the presidency, Jan. 2001
"It's about past seven in the evening here so we're actually in different
time lines." -George W. Bush, congratulating newly elected Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Washington, D.C.,
Jan. 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." -George W. Bush, commenting on Linda Chavez, Jan. 8, 2001
"I've always found the best investments are those that you salt away
based on economics." -George W. Bush, Austin, Texas, Jan. 4, 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." -George W. Bush, Austin, Texas, Jan. 4, 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." -George W. Bush, 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." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Dec. 20, 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." --George W.
Bush, Washington, D.C., Dec. 20, 2000
"I also have picked a secretary for Housing and Human Development. Mel
Martinez from the state of Florida." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Dec. 20, 2000
"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so
long as I'm the dictator." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Dec. 19, 2000
"See, without the tax relief package, there would have been a deficit,
but there wouldn't have been the commiserate --"not commiserate --"the kick to our economy that occurred as a result of the
tax relief. --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C. Dec. 15, 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." --George W. Bush, 60 minutes II, CBS, December 5, 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." --George W. Bush, describing a phone call to Sen. John Breaux.
Crawford, Texas, Dec. 2, 2000
"The great thing about America is everybody should vote." --George W.
Bush, Austin, Texas, Dec. 8, 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." --George W. Bush, Crawford, Texas, Nov. 30, 2000
"The legislature's job is to write law. It's the executive branch's
job to interpret law." --George W. Bush, Austin, Texas, Nov. 22, 2000
"They misunderestimated me." --George W. Bush, Bentonville, Ark., Nov.
6, 2000
"If you don't stand for anything, you don't stand for anything! If you
don't stand for something, you don't stand for anything!" --George W. Bush, Bellevue Community College, Nov. 2, 2000
"They want the federal government controlling Social Security like it's
some kind of federal program." --George W. Bush, Nov. 2, 2000
"Laura and I are proud to call John and Michelle Engler our friends.
I know you're proud to call him governor. What a good man the Englers are." --George W. Bush, Nov. 2000
"I'm not really the type to wander off and sit down and go through deep
wrestling with my soul." --George W. Bush, as quoted in Vanity Fair, October 2000
"Never again in the halls of Washington, D.C., do I want to have to
make explanations that I can't explain." --George W. Bush, Portland, Oregon, Oct. 31, 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." --George W. Bush, Portland, Ore., Oct.
31, 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. " --George W. Bush, on the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Arlington Heights, Ill., Oct. 24, 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." --George
W. Bush, Arlington Heights, Ill., Oct. 24, 2000
"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." --George W. Bush, Des Moines,
Iowa, Oct. 23, 2000
"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." --George W. Bush, Des Moines,
Iowa, Oct. 23, 2000
"Bill wrote a book at Yale. I read one." --George W. Bush, on William
F. Buckley, Al Smith Dinner, New York City, Oct. 19, 2000
"Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream." --George
W. Bush, LaCrosse, Wis., Oct. 18, 2000
"It's your money. You paid for it." --George W. Bush, LaCrosse, Wis.,
Oct. 18, 2000
"If affirmative action means what I just described, what I'm for, then
I'm for it." --George W. Bush, during the third presidential debate, St. Louis, Mo., October 18, 2000
"Quotas are bad for America. It's not the way America is all about."
--George W. Bush, third presidential debate, St. Louis, Missouri, Oct. 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." --George W. Bush, third presidential debate, St. Louis, Mo., October
18, 2000
"If I become president, we're going to have emergency-room care, we're
going to have gag orders." --George W. Bush, third presidential debate, St. Louis, Missouri, Oct. 18, 2000
"Drug therapies are replacing a lot of medicines as we used to know
it." --George W. Bush, third presidential debate, St. Louis, Missouri, Oct. 18, 2000
"I think we ought to raise the age at which juveniles can have a gun."
--George W. Bush, third presidential debate, St. Louis, Missouri, Oct. 18, 2000
"I mean, there needs to be a wholesale effort against racial profiling,
which is illiterate children." --George W. Bush, second presidential debate, Oct. 11, 2000
"Our priorities is our faith." --George W. Bush, Greensboro, N.C., Oct.
10, 2000
"I think if you know what you believe, it makes it a lot easier to answer
questions. I can't answer your question." --George W. Bush, 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
"There a huge trust. I see it all the time when people come up to me
and say, 'I don't want you to let me down again.'" --George W. Bush, Boston, Mass., Oct. 3, 2000
"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully." --George W.
Bush, Saginaw, Mich., Sept. 29, 2000
"One of the common denominators I have found is that expectations rise
above that which is expected." --George W. Bush, Los Angeles, Sept. 27, 2000
"I will have a foreign-handed foreign policy." --George W. Bush, Redwood,
Calif., Sept. 27, 2000
"It is clear our nation is reliant upon big foreign oil. More and more
of our imports come from overseas." --George W. Bush, Beaverton, Ore., Sep. 25, 2000
"I am a person who recognizes the fallacy of humans." --George W. Bush,
Oprah, Sept. 19, 2000
"A tax cut is really one of the anecdotes to coming out of an economic
illness." --George W. Bush, The Edge With Paula Zahn, Sept. 18, 2000
"America better beware of a candidate who is willing to stretch reality
in order to win points." --George W. Bush, aboard his campaign plane, Sept. 18, 2000
"The idea of putting subliminable messages into ads is ridiculous."
--George W. Bush, Sept. 2000
"The woman who knew that I had dyslexia --" I never interviewed her."
--George W. Bush, responding to a magazine article claiming he suffered from dyslexia, Orange, Calif., Sept. 15, 2000
"The best way to relieve families from time is to let them keep some
of their own money." --George W. Bush, Westminster, Calif., Sept. 13, 2000
"They have miscalculated me as a leader." --George W. Bush, Westminster,
Calif., Sept. 13, 2000
"I don't think we need to be subliminable about the differences between
our views on prescription drugs." --George W. Bush, Orlando, Fla., Sept. 12, 2000
"This is what I'm good at. I like meeting people, my fellow citizens,
I like interfacing with them." --George W. Bush, outside Pittsburgh, Sept. 8, 2000
"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." --George W. Bush, Detroit, Sept. 7, 2000
"We'll let our friends be the peacekeepers and the great country called
America will be the pacemakers." --George W. Bush, Houston, Texas, Sept. 6, 2000
"We don't believe in planners and deciders making the decisions on behalf
of Americans." --George W. Bush, Scranton, Pa., Sept. 6, 2000
"I regret that a private comment I made to the vice presidential candidate
made it through the public airways." --George W. Bush, on his "major league asshole" remark, Allentown, Pa., Sept. 5, 2000.
"Well, I think if you say you're going to do something and don't do
it, that's trustworthiness." --George W. Bush, in a CNN online chat, Aug. 30, 2000
"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." --George W. Bush, Des Moines, Iowa, Aug. 21, 2000
"We cannot let terrorists and rogue nations hold this nation hostile
or hold our allies hostile.'' --George W. Bush, Des Moines, Iowa, Aug. 21, 2000
"I have a different vision of leadership. A leadership is someone who
brings people together." --George W. Bush, Bartlett, Tenn., Aug. 18, 2000
"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." --George W. Bush, Salinas, Calif., Aug. 10, 2000
"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." --George W. Bush, Cleveland,
July 1, 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." --George W. Bush, NPR, June 16, 2000
"There's not going to be enough people in the system to take advantage
of people like me." --George W. Bush, on the coming Social Security crisis, Wilton, Conn., June 9, 2000
"Actually, I --" this may sound a little West Texas 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." --George W. Bush, Hardball, MSNBC, May 31, 2000
"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." --George W. Bush on abortion, MSNBC's "Hardball,"
May 31, 2000
"I think we agree, the past is over." --George W. Bush, 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." --George W.
Bush, Reuters, May 5, 2000
"The fact that he relies on facts --" says things that are not factual
--" are going to undermine his campaign." --George W. Bush on Al Gore, New York Times, March 4, 2000
"It just seems so un-American to me, the picture of the guy storming
the house with a scared little boy (Elian Gonzalez) 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."
--George W. Bush, interview with the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, April 27, 2000
"Laura and I really don't realize how bright our children is sometimes
until we get an objective analysis." --George W. Bush, 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." -George W. Bush, in Los Angeles as quoted by the Los Angeles
Times, April 8, 2000
"I think anybody who doesn't think I'm smart enough to handle the job
is underestimating." --George W. Bush, U.S. News & World Report, April 3, 2000
"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." --George W. Bush, at Fritsche Middle School, Milwaukee, March 30, 2000
"Reading is the basics for all learning." --George W. Bush, announcing
his "Reading First" initiative in Reston, Va., March 28, 2000
"I don't want to win? If that were the case, why the heck am I on the
bus sixteen 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?" --George W. Bush, 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." --George W. Bush, Newsweek, Feb. 28, 2000
"The Bob Jones policy on interracial dating, I mean I spoke out on interracial
dating. I spoke against that. I spoke out against interracial dating. I support the policy of interracial dating." --George
W. Bush, interview with CBS News, February 25, 2000
"It is not Reaganesque to support a tax plan that is Clinton in nature.''
--George W. Bush, Los Angeles, Feb. 23, 2000
"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." --George
W. Bush, Today, Feb. 23, 2000
"I understand small business growth. I was one." --George W. Bush, New
York Daily News, Feb. 19, 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." --George W. Bush, on Sen. John McCain, speaking
to reporters in Florence, S.C., Feb. 17, 2000
"If you're sick and tired of the politics of cynicism and polls and
principles, come and join this campaign." --George W. Bush, Hilton Head, S.C., Feb. 16, 2000
"We ought to make the pie higher." --George W. Bush, South Carolina
Republican Debate, Feb. 15, 2000
"Put the 'off' button on." --George W. Bush, February 14, 2000, giving
advice to parents troubled by the graphic fare on television
"I think we need not only to eliminate the tollbooth to the middle class,
I think we should knock down the tollbooth." --George W. Bush, Nashua, N.H., as quoted by Gail Collins in the New York
Times, Feb. 1, 2000
"The most important job is not to be governor, or first lady in my case."
--George W. Bush, Pella, Iowa, as quoted by the San Antonio Express-News, Jan. 30, 2000
"Will the highways on the Internet become more few?" --George W. Bush,
Concord, N.H., Jan. 29, 2000
"This is Preservation Month. I appreciate preservation.
It's what you do when you run for president. You gotta preserve." --George W. Bush, speaking during "Perseverance Month" at
Fairgrounds Elementary School in Nashua, New Hampshire, Jan. 28, 2000
"I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family." --George
W. Bush, Greater Nashua, N.H., Chamber of Commerce, Jan. 27, 2000
"When I was coming up, it was a dangerous world, and you knew exactly
who they were. It was us versus them, and it was clear who them was. Today we are not so sure who the they are, but we know
they're there." --George W. Bush, Iowa Western Community College, Jan 21, 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.'' --George W. Bush, as quoted by
the San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 21, 2000
"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." --George W. Bush, Des Moines Register debate, Iowa, Jan. 15, 2000
"This is still a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and uncertainty
and potential mential losses." --George W. Bush, speaking at a South Carolina oyster roast, Jan. 14, 2000
"We must all hear the universal call to like your neighbor just like
you like to be liked yourself." --George W. Bush, as quoted in the Financial Times, Jan. 14, 2000
"Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?" --George W. Bush, Florence, South Carolina, Jan.
11, 2000
"Governor Bush will not stand for the subsidation of failure." --George
W. Bush, Florence, South Carolina, Jan. 11, 2000
"If the terriers and bariffs are torn down, this economy will grow."
--George W. Bush, Jan. 2000
"One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic
pictures." --George W. Bush, Jan. 3, 2000
"What I'm suggesting to you is, if you can't name the foreign minister
of Mexico, therefore, you know, you're not capable of what you do. But the truth of the matter is you are, whether you can
or not." --George W. Bush, as quoted in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Nov. 6, 1999
"General. I can't name the general." --George W. Bush, after being asked
to name the President of Pakistan, Boston, Mass., Nov. 3, 1999
"The important question is, how many hands have I shaked?" --George
W. Bush, on why he hadn't spent more time in New Hampshire, New York Times, Oct. 23, 1999
"If the East Timorians decide to revolt, I'm sure I'll have a statement."
--George W. Bush, as quoted in the New York Times, June 16, 1999
"Keep good relations with the Greecians." --George W. Bush, as quoted
in The Economist, April 9, 1999
"Kosovians can move back in." --George W. Bush, CNN interview, April
9, 1999
"I became totally inebriated with hitting the big one." --George W.
Bush, on his oil drilling days, Texas Monthly, May 1994
"It was just inebriating what Midland was all about then." --George W. Bush, reflecting in 1994 about growing
up in Midland, Texas