by Nancy Gibbs
“The whole world changed”: Author interview with George H. W. Bush, October 7, 2011.
Even the son thought: Bob Woodward, Bush at War (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002), 328–29.
“There is scant evidence”: Brent Scowcroft, “Don’t Attack Saddam,” Wall Street Journal, August 15, 2002.
“If he thought I was handling Iraq wrong”: George W. Bush, Decision Points, 238.
“If he decides we must act”: Hugh Sidey, “What Makes Dad Clench His Jaw,” The Presidency, Time, September 16, 2002.
It’s not that the decision was unpopular: “Poll: Bush Gaining Support on Invading Iraq,” CNN.com, February 10, 2003, http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/02/10/sprj.irq.iraq.poll/index.html?iref=allsearch.
“The tension had taken hold”: Hugh Sidey, “Former President George H.W. Bush,” Time, March 9, 2003.
Exactly eleven years after the head of the Episcopal Church: Hugh Sidey, “He Had No Respect For Our Military Then,” Time, March 17, 2003.
“And so our roles got reversed”: George W. Bush interview with Mark K. Updegrove, Texas Monthly transcript, October 26, 2010.
“watching your son take a pounding”: Author interview with George H. W. Bush, October 7, 2011.
“We know what it’s like”: Hugh Sidey, “They’re Talking About . . . Our Kid,” Time, December 19, 2004.
“How’s the first Jewish president doing”: George W. Bush, Decision Points, 404.
“I could tell he was happy”: Ibid., 296.
“You know, the idea that George”: Hugh Sidey, “Savoring Victory, Family-Style,” 2004 Election, Time, November 15, 2004.
“It’s much simpler than that”: George W. Bush interview with Mark K. Updegrove.
“the thing that matters in my heart is my family”: Jim Krane, Associated Press, November 22, 2006.
“He was a fabulous father”: George W. Bush, “Remarks by President George W. Bush and President George H.W. Bush at Dedication of United States Embassy Beijing,” Reuters, August 7, 2008.
Chapter 25: “Tell 41 and 42 That 43 Is Hungry”
“how I hated him for that”: George Bush, “Former President George H.W. Bush Comments At Clinton Library Dedication,” November 18, 2004, transcript available online at washingtonpost.com.
“It was terrible”: George Bush, “Acceptance Speech” (National Constitution Center, Philadelphia, PA, October 5, 2006), transcript, http://constitutioncenter.org/libertymedal/recipient_2006_speecha.html.
“But it is surprising”: Ibid.
“He deserves far more credit”: Michael Duffy, “When Opposites Attract,” Time, December 19, 2005.
“You feel like you’re doing something bigger”: George Bush and Barbara Bush, interview by Larry King, Larry King Live, CNN, May 31, 2005, transcript, http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0505/31/lkl.01.html.
“‘That is the way our country ought to work’”: Michael Duffy, “Interview,” Time, December 19, 2005.
“And I appreciate that”: George Bush and Barbara Bush, interview.
“This is much more important”: Ibid. President Obama used this quote in a speech at the George Bush Presidential Library on October 16, 2009.
And it was in the now infamous Superdome: George Bush made his fateful promise not to raise taxes here as well.
“But if you do it in the right way”: Bill Clinton, “Acceptance Speech” (National Constitution Center, Philadelphia, PA, October 5, 2006), transcript, http://constitutioncenter.org/libertymedal/recipient_2006_speechb.html.
When the money stopped coming: Author interview with Bill Clinton, November 16, 2011.
“Just send your cash”: “Remarks by President Obama, Former President Bill Clinton, and Former President George W. Bush on the Recovery and Rebuilding Effort in Haiti,” January 16, 2010, available online at whitehouse.gov.
“Each considers the other a friend”: Author interview with George H. W. Bush, October 7, 2011.
“the right thing to do”: Author interview with Bill Clinton, November 16, 2011.
And with that, Clinton bowed his head: Point of Light Institute, All Together Now: A Celebration of Service, DVD Copyright © 2011 Point of Light Institute.
Obama and His Club: The Learning Curve
“there’s a certain loneliness to the job”: Emily Friedman, “Presidency Can Feel Isolated, Lonely,” ABC News, November 18, 2008.
Chapter 26: “We Want You to Succeed”
That might yield short-term successes: Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream (New York: Crown Publishers, 2006), 35.
“I sometimes felt as if I were watching”: Ibid., 36–37.
“refighting the same fights we had in the 1990s”: Barack Obama, “Remarks at the Iowa Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Des Moines,” November 10, 2007, available online at The American Presidency Project.
“the biggest fairy tale I’ve ever seen”: Bill Clinton, Charlie Rose, December 2007.
“We put the Clinton attacks front and center”: David Plouffe, The Audacity To Win, (New York: Penguin, 2010).
“He put us on a fundamentally different path”: James Ball, “Obama: Reagan Changed Direction; Bill Clinton Didn’t,” YouTube video, posted January 14, 2008, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFLuOBsNMZA.
“President Reagan was the engine of innovation”: Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson, The Battle For America 2008: The Story of an Extraordinary Election (New York: Viking Penguin, 2009), 160–61.
“I can’t tell whom I’m running against sometimes”: “Democrats Clinton, Obama Clash at S.C. Debate,” January 22, 2008, msnbc.com.
“That campaign generated so much heat”: Bill Clinton, “Convention Speech” (Denver, CO, August 27, 2008), transcript, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/27/us/politics/27text-clinton.html?pagewanted=all.
It’s not going to work: John Heileman and Mark Halperin, Game Change (New York: HarperCollins, 2010), 435.
“I’ll do whatever they want”: Azi Paybarah, “Bill Clinton Has No Problem with Vetting: ‘Talk to Them,’” New York Observer, November 19, 2008.
“educate President-elect Obama”: Author interview with Jimmy Carter, December 2, 2011.
“the office transcends the individual”: Kenneth T. Walsh, “Bush and Ex-Presidents Counsel President-Elect Obama,” January 8, 2009, USNews.com.
“I gave him a suggestion”: Bush, Decision Points, 105.
“It wasn’t well received”: Jonathan Alter, The Promise: President Obama, Year One (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010), 113.
“This is where he’s comfortable”: Eli Saslow, “Back in Texas, Bush Enjoys A Simpler Life,” Washington Post, April 11, 2009.
“He deserves my silence”: Mike Allen, “Bush Promises Not To Attack Obama,” Politico, March 18, 2009.
“I love my country a lot more”: Ibid.
After reading several books: Saslow, “Back in Texas, Bush Enjoys a Simpler Life.”
“I have enormous sympathy”: Sheryl Gay Stolberg, “The Political Revival of George Herbert Walker Bush,” On the White House, New York Times, August 1, 2008.
“I could quickly see”: Eamon Javers, “41 and 44 Together in Texas,” Politico, October 16, 2009.
“I cannot wait for President Obama”: “Open Letter From Bush 41 To Aggie Family,” October 14, 2009, KBTX.com.
“when offered a chance to serve”: Barack Obama, “Remarks by the President At Points of Light 20th anniversary,” October 16, 2009, available online at white house.gov.
“What if it was me”: Laura Ling and Lisa Ling, Somewhere Inside: One Sister’s Captivity in North Korea and the Other’s Fight to Bring Her Home (New York: William Morrow, 2010), 297.
“if the president doesn’t want me to”: Author interview with Bill Clinton, November 16, 2011.
Little about the visit was pleasant: Evan Ramstad and Jay Solomon, “North Korea Frees Americans,” Wall Street Journal, August 5, 2009.
“The riveting tableau of a former president”: Mark Landler and
Peter Baker, “Clinton Secures 2 Pardons; All 3 Leave North Korea,” New York Times, August 5, 2009.
“I’m fairly certain that he’d be fine”: Ling and Ling, Somewhere Inside, 285–303.
Instead, Clinton found him to be: Ibid.
Afterward, Obama invited Clinton: Mark Landler and Mark Mazzetti, “In North Korea, Clinton Helped Unveil a Mystery,” New York Times, August 19, 2009.
“He’s trying to do the right thing”: Bill Clinton, interview by Larry King, Larry King Live, CNN, September 21, 2009, transcript, http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0909/21/lkl.01.html.
“‘What do we need to do’”: Bill Clinton, interview by David Gregory, Meet the Press, NBC, September 19, 2010, transcript, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39235412/ns/meet_the_press-transcripts/t/meet-press-transcript-sept/.
A Gallup survey in mid-October: Frank Newport, “Bill Clinton’s Impact More Positive for Democrats Than Obama’s,” Gallup.com, October 19, 2010, http://www.gallup.com/poll/143798/Bill-Clinton-Impact-Positive-Democrats-Obama-aspx.
“Don’t be fooled”: Charles Babington, “Bill Clinton Races to Help Democratic Candidates, Treading Where Obama Won’t,” Associated Press, October 22, 2010.
“I am old enough to know”: Edward Luce, “Clinton’s Aim Is True as Democrats’ Top Gun,” Financial Times, October 12, 2010.
“He’s welcome anywhere in the country”: Jim Rutenberg and Kate Zernike, “Bill Clinton, In Demand, Stumps for Obama,” New York Times, September 21, 2010.
“And when you get in there”: Ibid.
At his postmortem press conference: Press Conference, November 3, 2010, transcript available online at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/11/03/press-conference-president.
“It’s like riding a bicycle”: Bill Clinton, Larry King Live, December 16, 2010.
“I am happy to be here”: Remarks by President Obama and former president Clinton, December 10, 2010, transcript, http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/12/10/remarks-president-obama-and-former-president-clinton.
“Obi Wan back in the briefing room”: Jon Stewart, The Daily Show with John Stewart, December 14, 2010.
“surely we can make some compromises”: Barack Obama, “Remarks by the President at University of Maryland Town Hall,” July 22, 2011, available online at white house.gov.
Conclusion
Margaret Truman recalled: Margaret Truman, Harry S. Truman (New York: William Morrow, 1973), 555.
“Since that time”: Ibid., 556.
“more time must pass”: Margaret Truman, “Harry Truman,” Life, December 1, 1972.
“You cannot walk in those old rooms”: Bob Greene, Fraternity: A Journey in Search of Five Presidents (New York: Crown Publishers, 2004), 34.
But then: Richard Reeves, President Nixon: Alone in the White House (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001), 24.
“At times,” his aide George Stephanopoulos recalled: George Stephanopoulos, All Too Human: A Political Education (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1999), 164.
“If He has a place for me”: Richard Reeves, President Kennedy: Profile of Power (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993), 174.
“In this temple”: William Safire, Before the Fall: An Inside View of the Pre-Watergate White House (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1975), 205.
“He clearly saw what needed to happen”: “Interview with George W. Bush,” Time, December 19, 2004.
“We kept the peace”: Stephen E. Ambrose, Eisenhower the President, vol. II (Norwalk, CT: Easton Press, 1987), 626.
“Fifty thousand American boys are dead”: Doris Kearns Goodwin, Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream (New York: Harper & Row, 1976), 310.
“aim for big change”: “Interview with George W. Bush,” Time.
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