Bush-wacked!
"One reason I like to highlight reading is,reading is the beginnings of the ability to be a
good student. And if you can't read, it's going
to be hard to realize dreams; it's going to be
hard to go to college. So when your teachers
say, read-you ought to listen to
her."-Nalle Elementary School,
Washington, D.C., Feb 9, 2001.
"It's good to see so many friends here in the
Rose Garden. This is our first event in this
beautiful spot, and it's appropriate we talk about
policy that will affect people's lives in a
positive way in such a beautiful, beautiful part
of our national-really, our national park
system, my guess is you would want to call
it."-Washington, D.C., Feb. 8, 2001.
"We're concerned about AIDS inside our White
House-make no mistake about
it."-Washington, D.C., Feb. 7, 2001
"I appreciate that question because I, in the state
of Texas, had heard a lot of discussion about a
faith-based initiative eroding the important
bridge between church and state."-Question
and answer session with the press, Jan. 29, 2001
(Thanks to Tim Santry.)
"I confirmed to the prime minister that we
appreciate our friendship."-After meeting with
Prime Minister Jean Chrétien of Canada, Feb. 5,
2001
"There's no such thing as legacies. At least,
there is a legacy, but I'll never see it."-To
Catholic leaders at the White House, Jan. 31,
2001
"I am mindful not only of preserving executive
powers for myself, but for predecessors as
well."-Washington, D.C., Jan. 29, 2001
"My pro-life position is I believe there's life. It's
not necessarily based in religion. I think there's
a life there, therefore the notion of life, liberty
and pursuit of happiness."-Quoted in the San
Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 23, 2001
"Then I went for a run with the other dog and
just walked. And I started thinking about a lot of
things. I was able to-I can't remember what it
was. Oh, the inaugural speech, started thinking
through that."-Pre-inaugural interview with
U.S. News & World Report, Jan. 22, 2001 issue
"Redefining the role of the United States from
enablers to keep the peace to enablers to keep
the peace from peacekeepers is going to be an
assignment."-Interview with the New York
Times, Jan. 14, 2001 (Thanks to Rachael
Contorer.)
"The California crunch really is the result of not
enough power-generating plants and then not
enough power to power the power of generating
plants."-Interview with the New York Times,
Jan. 14, 2001
"I'm hopeful. I know there is a lot of ambition in
Washington, obviously. But I hope the ambitious
realize that they are more likely to succeed with
success as opposed to failure."-Interview with
the Associated Press, Jan. 18, 2001 (Thanks to
M. Bateman.)
"If he's-the inference is that somehow he thinks
slavery is a-is a noble institution I would-I
would strongly reject that assumption-that John
Ashcroft is a open-minded, inclusive
person."-NBC Nightly News With Tom
Brokaw, Jan. 14, 2001
"She's just trying to make sure Anthony gets a
good meal-Antonio."-On Laura Bush inviting
Justice Antonin Scalia to dinner at the White
House. NBC Nightly News With Tom Brokaw,
Jan. 14, 2001
"I want it to be said that the Bush administration
was a results-oriented administration, because I
believe the results of focusing our attention and
energy on teaching children to read and having
an education system that's responsive to the
child and to the parents, as opposed to mired in
a system that refuses to change, will make
America what we want it to be-a literate
country and a hopefuller country."-Washington,
D.C., Jan. 11, 2001
"I would have to ask the questioner. I haven't
had a chance to ask the questioners the question
they've been questioning. On the other hand, I
firmly believe she'll be a fine secretary of labor.
And I've got confidence in Linda Chavez. She is
a-she'll bring an interesting perspective to the
Labor Department."-Austin, Texas, Jan. 8,
2001
"I do remain confident in Linda. She'll make a
fine labor secretary. From what I've read in the
press accounts, she's perfectly
qualified."-Austin, Texas, Jan. 8, 2001
"I mean, these good folks are revolutionizing
how businesses conduct their business. And,
like them, I am very optimistic about our
position in the world and about its influence on
the United States. We're concerned about the
short-term economic news, but long-term I'm
optimistic. And so, I hope investors, you
know-secondly, I hope investors hold
investments for periods of time-that I've
always found the best investments are those that
you salt away based on economics."-Austin,
Texas, Jan. 4, 2001
"The person who runs FEMA is someone who
must have the trust of the president. Because the
person who runs FEMA is the first voice, often
times, of someone whose life has been turned
upside down hears from."-Austin, Texas, Jan.
4, 2001
"She is a member of a labor union at one
point."-Announcing his nomination of Linda
Chavez as secretary of labor. Austin, Texas, Jan.
2, 2001
"Natural gas is hemispheric. I like to call it
hemispheric in nature because it is a product that
we can find in our neighborhoods."-Austin,
Texas, Dec. 20, 2000
"I also have picked a secretary for Housing and
Human Development. Mel Martinez from the
state of Florida."-Austin, Texas, Dec. 20, 2000
"Let me put it to you this way, I am not a
revengeful person."- Interview with Time
magazine in the Dec. 25, 2000, issue.
"I am mindful of the difference between the
executive branch and the legislative branch. I
assured all four of these leaders that I know the
difference, and that difference is they pass the
laws and I execute them."-Washington, D.C.,
Dec. 18, 2000
"The great thing about America is everybody
should vote."-Austin, Texas, Dec. 8, 2000
"Dick Cheney and I do not want this nation to be
in a recession. We want anybody who can find
work to be able to find work."-60 Minutes II,
Dec. 5, 2000
"I knew it might put him in an awkward position
that we had a discussion before finality has
finally happened in this presidential race."
-Describing a phone call to Sen. John Breaux.
Crawford, Texas, Dec. 2, 2000
"As far as the legal hassling and wrangling and
posturing in Florida, I would suggest you talk to
our team in Florida led by Jim
Baker."-Crawford, Texas, Nov. 30, 2000
"The legislature's job is to write law. It's the
executive branch's job to interpret
law."-Austin, Texas, Nov. 22, 2000
"They misunderestimated me."-Bentonville,
Ark., Nov. 6, 2000
"Think about that. Two hundred and eighty-five
new or expanded programs, $2 trillion more in
new spending, and not one new bureaucrat to
file out the forms or answer the
phones?"-Minneapolis, Nov. 1, 2000
"They want the federal government controlling
Social Security like it's some kind of federal
program."-St. Charles, Mo., Nov. 2, 2000
"They said, 'You know, this issue doesn't seem
to resignate with the people.' And I said, you
know something? Whether it resignates or not
doesn't matter to me, because I stand for doing
what's the right thing, and what the right thing is
hearing the voices of people who
work."-Portland, Ore., Oct. 31, 2000
"Anyway, after we go out and work our hearts
out, after you go out and help us turn out the
vote, after we've convinced the good Americans
to vote, and while they're at it, pull that old
George W. lever, if I'm the one, when I put my
hand on the Bible, when I put my hand on the
Bible, that day when they swear us in, when I
put my hand on the Bible, I will swear to
not-to uphold the laws of the land."-Toledo,
Ohio, Oct. 27, 2000
"It's your money. You paid for it."-LaCrosse,
Wis., Oct. 18, 2000
"That's a chapter, the last chapter of the 20th,
20th, the 21st century that most of us would
rather forget. The last chapter of the 20th century.
This is the first chapter of the 21st century.
"-On the Lewinsky scandal, Arlington Heights,
Ill., Oct. 24, 2000
"It's important for us to explain to our nation that
life is important. It's not only life of babies, but
it's life of children living in, you know, the dark
dungeons of the Internet."-Arlington Heights,
Ill., Oct. 24, 2000
"I don't want nations feeling like that they can
bully ourselves and our allies. I want to have a
ballistic defense system so that we can make the
world more peaceful, and at the same time I
want to reduce our own nuclear capacities to the
level commiserate with keeping the
peace."-Des Moines, Iowa, Oct. 23, 2000
"Families is where our nation finds hope, where
wings take dream."-LaCrosse, Wis., Oct. 18,
2000
"If I'm the president, we're going to have
emergency-room care, we're going to have gag
orders."
"Drug therapies are replacing a lot of medicines
as we used to know it."
"It's one thing about insurance, that's a
Washington term."
"I think we ought to raise the age at which
juveniles can have a gun."
"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."
"Quotas are bad for America. It's not the way
America is all about."
"If affirmative action means what I just
described, what I'm for, then I'm for it."-St.
Louis, Mo., October 18, 2000
"Our priorities is our faith."-Greensboro,
N.C., Oct. 10, 2000
"I mean, there needs to be a wholesale effort
against racial profiling, which is illiterate
children."-Second presidential debate, Oct.
11, 2000 (Thanks to Leonard Williams.)
"It's going to require numerous IRA
agents."-On Gore's tax plan, 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."-In response to a question about
whether he wished he could take back any of his
answers in the first debate. Reynoldsburg, Ohio,
Oct. 4, 2000 (Thanks to Peter Feld.)
"I would have my secretary of treasury be in
touch with the financial centers, not only here
but at home."-Boston, Oct. 3, 2000 (Thanks to
M. Bateman.)
"I know the human being and fish can coexist
peacefully."-Saginaw, Mich., Sept. 29, 2000
"I will have a foreign-handed foreign
policy."-Redwood, Calif., Sept. 27, 2000
"One of the common denominators I have found
is that expectations rise above that which is
expected."-Los Angeles, Sept. 27, 2000
"It is clear our nation is reliant upon big foreign
oil. More and more of our imports come from
overseas."-Beaverton, Ore., Sep. 25, 2000
"Well, that's going to be up to the pundits and the
people to make up their mind. I'll tell you what
is a president for him, for example, talking about
my record in the state of Texas. I mean, he's
willing to say anything in order to convince
people that I haven't had a good record in
Texas."-MSNBC, Sept. 20, 2000 (Thanks to
Gregory H. Monberg.)
"I am a person who recognizes the fallacy of
humans."-Oprah, Sept. 19, 2000
"A tax cut is really one of the anecdotes to
coming out of an economic illness."-The Edge
With Paula Zahn, Sept. 18, 2000
"The woman who knew that I had dyslexia-I
never interviewed her."-Orange, Calif., Sept.
15, 2000
"The best way to relieve families from time is to
let them keep some of their own
money."-Westminster, Calif., Sept. 13, 2000
"They have miscalculated me as a
leader."-Ibid.
"I don't think we need to be subliminable about
the differences between our views on
prescription drugs."-Orlando, Fla., Sept. 12,
2000
"This is what I'm good at. I like meeting people,
my fellow citizens, I like interfacing with
them."-Outside Pittsburgh, Sept. 8, 2000
"That's Washington. That's the place where you
find people getting ready to jump out of the
foxholes before the first shot is
fired."-Westland, Mich., Sept. 8, 2000
"Listen, Al Gore is a very tough opponent. He is
the incumbent. He
represents the incumbency. And a challenger is
somebody who generally
comes from the pack and wins, if you're going to
win. And that's where
I'm coming from."-Detroit, Sept. 7, 2000
(Thanks to Michael Butler, Houston, Texas.)
"We'll let our friends be the peacekeepers and
the great country called America will be the
pacemakers."-Houston, Texas, Sept. 6, 2000
"We don't believe in planners and deciders
making the decisions on behalf of
Americans."-Scranton, Pa., Sept. 6, 2000
"I regret that a private comment I made to the
vice presidential candidate made it through the
public airways."-Allentown, Pa., Sept. 5,
2000.
"The point is, this is a way to help inoculate me
about what has come and is coming."--on his
anti-Gore ad, in an interview with the New York
Times, Sept. 2, 2000
"As governor of Texas, I have set high standards
for our public schools, and I have met those
standards."--CNN online chat, Aug. 30, 2000
"Well, I think if you say you're going to do
something and don't do it, that's
trustworthiness."--Ibid.
"I don't know whether I'm going to win or not. I
think I am. I do know I'm ready for the job. And,
if not, that's just the way it goes."-Des Moines,
Iowa, Aug. 21, 2000
''This campaign not only hears the voices of the
entrepreneurs and the farmers and the
entrepreneurs, we hear the voices of those
struggling to get ahead."-Ibid.
"We cannot let terrorists and rogue nations hold
this nation hostile or hold our allies
hostile.''-Ibid.
"I have a different vision of leadership. A
leadership is someone who brings people
together."-Bartlett, Tenn., Aug. 18, 2000
(Thanks to Tarja Black.)
"I think he needs to stand up and say if he
thought the president were wrong on policy and
issues, he ought to say where."-Interview with
the Associated Press, Aug. 11, 2000 (Thanks to
Ryan Rhodes.)
"I want you to know that farmers are not going to
be secondary thoughts to a Bush administration.
They will be in the forethought of our
thinking."-Salinas, Calif., Aug. 10, 2000
(Thanks to Kris Sester.)
"And if he continues that, I'm going to tell the
nation what I think about him as a human being
and a person."-President George H.W. Bush,
on the Today show, Aug. 1, 2000
"You might want to comment on that,
Honorable."--To New Jersey's secretary of
state, the Hon. DeForest Soaries Jr., as quoted
by Dana Milbank in the Washington Post, July
15, 2000
"This case has had full analyzation and has been
looked at a lot. I understand the emotionality of
death penalty cases."--Seattle
Post-Intelligencer, June 23, 2000 (Thanks to
Johnny Green.)
"States should have the right to enact reasonable
laws and restrictions particularly to end the
inhumane practice of ending a life that
otherwise could live."-Cleveland, June 29,
2000 (Thanks to Douglas Basford.)
"Unfairly but truthfully, our party has been
tagged as being against things. Anti-immigrant,
for example. And we're not a party of
anti-immigrants. Quite the opposite. We're a
party that welcomes people."-Cleveland, July
1, 2000 (Thanks to M. Bateman.)
"The fundamental question is, 'Will I be a
successful president when it comes to foreign
policy?' I will be, but until I'm the president, it's
going to be hard for me to verify that I think I'll
be more effective."-In Wayne, Mich., as
quoted by Katharine Q. Seelye in the New York
Times, June 28, 2000
"The only things that I can tell you is that every
case I have reviewed I have been comfortable
with the innocence or guilt of the person that
I've looked at. I do not believe we've put a
guilty ... I mean innocent person to death in the
state of Texas." All Things Considered, NPR,
June 16, 2000 (Thanks to Andy Nouraee.)
"I'm gonna talk about the ideal world, Chris.
I've read-I understand reality. If you're asking
me as the president, would I understand reality,
I do."-On abortion, Hardball, MSNBC; May
31, 2000
"There's not going to be enough people in the
system to take advantage of people like
me."-On the coming Social Security crisis;
Wilton, Conn.; June 9, 2000 (Thanks to Andy
Mais.)
"I think anybody who doesn't think I'm smart
enough to handle the job is
underestimating."-U.S. News & World Report,
April 3, 2000 (Thanks to Alfred Stanley,
Austin, Texas.)
Bush: "First of all, Cinco de Mayo is not the
independence day. That's dieciséis de
Septiembre, and ..."
Matthews: "What's that in English?"
Bush: "Fifteenth of September." (Dieciséis de
Septiembre = Sept. 16)
-Hardball, MSNBC, May 31, 2000 (Thanks to
numerous readers.)
"Actually, I-this may sound a little West
Texan to you, but I like it. When I'm talking
about-when I'm talking about myself, and
when he's talking about myself, all of us are
talking about me."-Ibid.
"This is a world that is much more uncertain
than the past. In the past we were certain, we
were certain it was us versus the Russians in
the past. We were certain, and therefore we had
huge nuclear arsenals aimed at each other to
keep the peace. That's what we were certain of.
... You see, even though it's an uncertain world,
we're certain of some things. We're certain that
even though the 'evil empire' may have passed,
evil still remains. We're certain there are
people that can't stand what America stands for.
... We're certain there are madmen in this
world, and there's terror, and there's missiles
and I'm certain of this, too: I'm certain to
maintain the peace, we better have a military of
high morale, and I'm certain that under this
administration, morale in the military is
dangerously low."-Albuquerque, N.M., the
Washington Post, May 31, 2000
"He has certainly earned a reputation as a
fantastic mayor, because the results speak for
themselves. I mean, New York's a safer place
for him to be."-On Rudy Giuliani, The Edge
With Paula Zahn, May 18, 2000 (Thanks to
Peter Goldman.)
"The fact that he relies on facts-says things
that are not factual-are going to undermine his
campaign."-New York Times, March 4, 2000
(Thanks to Garry Trudeau.)
"I think we agree, the past is over."-On his
meeting with John McCain, Dallas Morning
News, May 10, 2000
"It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in
it."--Reuters, May 5, 2000 (Thanks to Allison
Fansler.)
GOV. BUSH: Because the picture on the
newspaper. It just seems so un-American to me,
the picture of the guy storming the house with a
scared little boy there. I talked to my little
brother, Jeb-I haven't told this to many people.
But he's the governor of-I shouldn't call him
my little brother--my brother, Jeb, the great
governor of Texas.
JIM LEHRER: Florida.
GOV. BUSH: Florida. The state of the
Florida.-The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer,
April 27, 2000
"I hope we get to the bottom of the answer. It's
what I'm interested to know."-On what
happened in negotiations between the Justice
Department and Elián González's Miami
relatives, as quoted by the Associated Press,
April 26, 2000 (Thanks to Saul Selzer.)
"Laura and I really don't realize how bright our
children is sometimes until we get an objective
analysis."-CNBC, April 15, 2000
"You subscribe politics to it. I subscribe
freedom to it."-Responding to a question about
whether he and Al Gore were making the Elián
González case a political issue. In Palm Beach,
Fla., as quoted by the Associated Press, April
6, 2000 (Thanks to Helen Kennedy.)
"I was raised in the West. The west of Texas.
It's pretty close to California. In more ways than
Washington, D.C., is close to California."-In
Los Angeles as quoted by the Los Angeles
Times, April 8, 2000
"Reading is the basics for all
learning."-Announcing his "Reading First"
initiative in Reston, Va., March 28, 2000
(Thanks to Carl LaRocca.)
"We want our teachers to be trained so they can
meet the obligations, their obligations as
teachers. We want them to know how to teach
the science of reading. In order to make sure
there's not this kind of federal-federal
cufflink."-At Fritsche Middle School,
Milwaukee, March 30, 2000
"Other Republican candidates may retort to
personal attacks and negative
ads."-Fund-raising letter from George W.
Bush, quoted in the Washington Post, March
24, 2000
"I've got a reason for running. I talk about a
larger goal, which is to call upon the best of
America. It's part of the renewal. It's reform and
renewal. Part of the renewal is a set of high
standards and to remind people that the
greatness of America really does depend on
neighbors helping neighbors and children
finding mentors. I worry. I'm very worried
about, you know, the kid who just wonders
whether America is meant for him. I really
worry about that. And uh, so, I'm running for a
reason. I'm answering this question here and the
answer is, you cannot lead America to a
positive tomorrow with revenge on one's mind.
Revenge is so incredibly negative. And so to
answer your question, I'm going to win because
people sense my heart, know my sense of
optimism and know where I want to lead the
country. And I tease people by saying, 'A
leader, you can't say, follow me the world is
going to be worse.' I'm an optimistic person. I'm
an inherently content person. I've got a great
sense of where I want to lead and I'm
comfortable with why I'm running. And, you
know, the call on that speech was, beware. This
is going to be a tough campaign."-Interview
with the Washington Post, March 23, 2000
"People make suggestions on what to say all the
time. I'll give you an example; I don't read
what's handed to me. People say, 'Here, here's
your speech, or here's an idea for a speech.'
They're changed. Trust me."-Interview with
the New York Times, March 15, 2000
"It's evolutionary, going from governor to
president, and this is a significant step, to be
able to vote for yourself on the ballot, and I'll
be able to do so next fall, I hope."-In an
interview with the Associated Press, March 8,
2000 (Thanks to Joshua Micah Marshall.)
"It is not Reaganesque to support a tax plan that
is Clinton in nature.''-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."-Today, Feb.
23, 2000
"I understand small business growth. I was
one."-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."-To reporters in Florence, S.C., Feb.
17, 2000
"Really proud of it. A great campaign. And I'm
really pleased with the organization and the
thousands of South Carolinians that worked on
my behalf. And I'm very gracious and
humbled."-To Cokie Roberts, This Week, Feb.
20, 2000
"I don't want to win? If that were the case why
the heck am I on the bus 16 hours a day, shaking
thousands of hands, giving hundreds of
speeches, getting pillared in the press and
cartoons and still staying on message to
win?"-Newsweek, Feb. 28, 2000
"I thought how proud I am to be standing up
beside my dad. Never did it occur to me that he
would become the gist for cartoonists."-ibid.
"If you're sick and tired of the politics of
cynicism and polls and principles, come and
join this campaign."-Hilton Head, S.C., Feb.
16, 2000
"How do you know if you don't measure if you
have a system that simply suckles kids
through?"-Explaining the need for educational
accountability in Beaufort, S.C., Feb. 16, 2000
"We ought to make the pie higher."-South
Carolina Republican Debate, Feb. 15, 2000
"I do not agree with this notion that somehow if
I go to try to attract votes and to lead people
toward a better tomorrow somehow I get
subscribed to some-some doctrine gets
subscribed to me."-Meet The Press, Feb. 13,
2000
"I've changed my style somewhat, as you know.
I'm less-I pontificate less, although it may be
hard to tell it from this show. And I'm more
interacting with people."-ibid
"I think we need not only to eliminate the
tollbooth to the middle class, I think we should
knock down the tollbooth."-Nashua, N.H., as
quoted by Gail Collins in the New York Times,
Feb. 1, 2000
"The most important job is not to be governor,
or first lady in my case."-Pella, Iowa, as
quoted by the San Antonio Express-News, Jan.
30, 2000
"Will the highways on the Internet become more
few?"-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."-Speaking
during "Perseverance Month" at Fairgrounds
Elementary School in Nashua, N.H. As quoted
in the Los Angeles Times, Jan. 28, 2000
"I know how hard it is for you to put food on
your family."-Greater Nashua, N.H., Chamber
of Commerce, Jan. 27, 2000
"What I am against is quotas. I am against hard
quotas, quotas they basically delineate based
upon whatever. However they delineate, quotas,
I think vulcanize society. So I don't know how
that fits into what everybody else is saying,
their relative positions, but that's my
position.''-Quoted by Molly Ivins, the San
Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 21, 2000 (Thanks to
Toni L. Gould.)
"When I was coming up, it was a dangerous
world, and you knew exactly who they were,"
he said. "It was us vs. them, and it was clear
who them was. Today, we are not so sure who
the they are, but we know they're there."-Iowa
Western Community College, Jan 21, 2000
"The administration I'll bring is a group of men
and women who are focused on what's best for
America, honest men and women, decent men
and women, women who will see service to our
country as a great privilege and who will not
stain the house."-Des Moines Register debate,
Iowa, Jan. 15, 2000
"This is still a dangerous world. It's a world of
madmen and uncertainty and potential mential
losses."-At a South Carolina oyster roast, as
quoted in the Financial Times, Jan. 14, 2000
"We must all hear the universal call to like your
neighbor just like you like to be liked
yourself."-ibid.
"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children
learning?"-Florence, S.C., Jan. 11, 2000
"Gov. Bush will not stand for the subsidation of
failure."-ibid.
"There needs to be debates, like we're going
through. There needs to be town-hall meetings.
There needs to be travel. This is a huge
country."-Larry King Live, Dec. 16, 1999
"I read the newspaper."-In answer to a
question about his reading habits, New
Hampshire Republican Debate, Dec. 2, 1999
"I think it's important for those of us in a
position of responsibility to be firm in sharing
our experiences, to understand that the babies
out of wedlock is a very difficult chore for mom
and baby alike. ... I believe we ought to say
there is a different alternative than the culture
that is proposed by people like Miss Wolf in
society. ... And, you know, hopefully, condoms
will work, but it hasn't worked."-Meet the
Press, Nov. 21, 1999
"The students at Yale came from all different
backgrounds and all parts of the country. Within
months, I knew many of them."-From A
Charge To Keep, by George W. Bush,
published November 1999
"It is incredibly presumptive for somebody who
has not yet earned his party's nomination to start
speculating about vice presidents."-Keene,
N.H., Oct. 22, 1999, quoted in the New
Republic, Nov. 15, 1999
"The important question is, How many hands
have I shaked?"-Answering a question about
why he hasn't spent more time in New
Hampshire, in the New York Times, Oct. 23,
1999
"I don't remember debates. I don't think we
spent a lot of time debating it. Maybe we did,
but I don't remember."-On discussions of the
Vietnam War when he was an undergraduate at
Yale, Washington Post, July 27, 1999
"The only thing I know about Slovakia is what I
learned first-hand from your foreign minister,
who came to Texas."-To a Slovak journalist
as quoted by Knight Ridder News Service, June
22, 1999. Bush's meeting was with Janez
Drnovsek, the prime minister of Slovenia.
"If the East Timorians decide to revolt, I'm sure
I'll have a statement."-Quoted by Maureen
Dowd in the New York Times, June 16, 1999
"Keep good relations with the
Grecians."-Quoted in the Economist, June 12,
1999
"Kosovians can move back in."-CNN Inside
Politics, April 9, 1999
"It was just inebriating what Midland was all
about then."-From a 1994 interview, as quoted
in First Son, by Bill Minutaglio