Interview with Former President George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush (Excerpts)

Hugh Sidey: You've finished one term of parenting a President and a First Lady. What are the rules? How do you do it?

BUSH: We talk a lot, Barbara and I, to Laura and George. I talk mainly to the President. They know that we’re not going to make any statements about what we talk about. He’s very interested in how his brothers and sister are doing. Plus, we can talk on issues, but it’s not real in-depth. It’s not his saying to me, “What do I do now?”

MRS. BUSH: He knows we’re the only two people in America who are awake at 6 in the morning. He calls from the Oval Office to talk to George, and we put him on speakerphone. The rules are, No repeating what he tells you, No. 1, and not giving unsolicited¹ advice and not passing on things that people ask you to give the President or Laura: gifts or advice or ideas or wanting jobs.

Hugh Sidey: What is it like to have a son in the White House?

BUSH: It’s pride of a father in a son, and it transcends² or avoids the issues. You know, the idea that George wanted to redeem³ me after my loss, all this crazy stuff like that; it has nothing to do with that.

Hugh Sidey: Here’s the most important man in the world, your son.

MRS. BUSH: It’s an extraordinary feeling every now and then. You think, they’re talking about--

BUSH: Our kid.

Hugh Sidey: What’s bad about having a President for a son?

MRS. BUSH: Criticism of your children is just the worst.

BUSH: Sometimes I’ve got ideas on things, and I don’t feel free to discuss them because I think it might in some way be used against him. If I ever varied publicly on any policy, then the press would immediately go off:” He’s sending some signal, disapproval, through this column to his son.” So I don’t do it. If there’s some difference, I can talk to him about it. The thing that was perhaps the most hurtful to me was the theme that the President doesn’t know what he’s doing, that he’s dumb, that he’s some know-nothing cowboy from Texas. And when I sat with him, as I did out at Camp David, at Crawford, and heard him with the intelligence people, talking about the world and asking the appropriate questions -- what’s the development in this country or that -- I was surprised at how broad the vision and grasp are. But he gets no credit for that.

Hugh Sidey: What has surprised you about George W.?

MRS. BUSH: I think his steadfastness⁴ has. I think that’s a surprise -- not a surprise, but it’s something to be very proud of. Let me put it that way.

Hugh Sidey: What has surprised you about Laura?

BUSH: What surprised me was that years ago, she didn’t want to give a speech, didn’t want to be involved, and now she’s captured the imagination and the hearts of the country. She really has.

MRS. BUSH: Laura does not surprise me. When she came into our family, our huge family, noisy and loud, she was a reader and a gentle Southern girl, and she took to us like nothing you ever knew. Immediately she was generous and part of the family.

Hugh Sidey: How did you deal with the rest of the family while you were parenting a President through four years?

MRS. BUSH: He’s just one other member, and we all try to leave him space, because you need space when you’re President.

Hugh Sidey: What would you like to see in the second term?

BUSH: Peace. Clear, positive solutions to Iraq and the Middle East. What I’d like to see is the President’s view of a Palestinian state come true.

Hugh Sidey: What about the divide in the country?

BUSH: As long as you have a major thing like Iraq, which divides, it’ll be there. But I think if my dream comes true, if the President’s dream comes true, these divisions will be far less. And, of course, you’ve got these domestic issues like revenues and Social Security reform. These are huge problems that the President is trying to face up to, and in a way that’s very different from that of any of his predecessors. Social Security, if that’s a success, that will be enormous in terms of history.

Hugh Sidey: Last question. The Bush effect or the whole Bush--

BUSH: Dynasty?

Hugh Sidey: The Bush influence. It permeates⁵ so much of our national and international life.

MRS. BUSH: I hope it’s a good influence.

BUSH: I don’t really think much about that. It’s mind boggling⁶ in a sense to think that we’re a family that has had, continues to have, an interest in shaping national affairs. But it’s not something we spend a lot of time on. I think it’s there. But we don’t dwell on it. We have a certain standing, not just here but abroad, because of that. But having said all that, again I just keep repeating, I don’t try to do anything to enhance that.

Hugh Sidey: You must feel that what has transpired⁷ suggests this country reflects your values.

MRS. BUSH: Yes. I think very definitely.