PRESIDENCY TO TELL HIM HE LOVED HIM AND THAT WAS ALWAYS WHAT WAS
RELAID TO THOSE OF US WHO GOT TO
HEAR ABOUT THE CALLS.
>> WE’RE JOINED BY JOHN,
BIOGRAPHER OF GEORGE H.W. BUSH.
SOMEONE THAT KNOWS HIS STORY
BETTER THAN PROBABLY ANYBODY
ELSE OUT THERE.
JOHN, I WANT TO GO BACK TO 1980
WITH YOU, A MAJOR MOMENT IN
GEORGE H.W. BUSH’S POLITICAL
CAREER.
CAREER. HE RUNS FOR PRESIDENT THAT YEAR
AND DOES BETTER THAN EXPECTED IN
THE REPUBLICAN PRIMARIES RUNNING
OVER RONALD REAGAN AND UPSETS
HIM IN THE IOWA CAUCUSES THAT
YEAR BUT FALLS SHORT AND THEN AT
THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL
CONVENTION, FORMS THIS, WHAT AT
THE MOMENT, HISTORY MAKES THIS
LOOK INEVITABLE BUT AT THE
MOMENT AN UNLIKELY ALLIANCE,
TEAMING UP WITH RONALD REAGAN.
>> PRESIDENT BUSH USED TO
DESCRIBE IT AS OUT OF A BLUE
CLEAR SKY THE CALL CAME.
THE CALL FOR BUSH TO BECOME VICE
PRESIDENT WITHOUT WHICH HE WOULD
NOT HAVE BEEN PRESIDENT NOR
GEORGE W. BUSH TOLD ME HE WOULD
BE PRESIDENT.
BE PRESIDENT. ONE OF THE MOST PIVOTAL MOMENTS
IN MODERN AMERICAN POLITICS CAME
ON THE WEDNESDAY NIGHT OF THE
JULY CONVENTION IN DETROIT WHEN
AN ATTEMPT TO PUT TOGETHER WHAT
WAS CALLED THE DREAM TICKET
BETWEEN THEN GOVERNOR REGAN AND
FORMER PRESIDENT FORD FELL APART
AND IT WAS NOT UNTIL I THINK IT
WAS ABOUT 11:37 P.M. ON THAT
NIGHT WHEN REGAN PICKED UP THE
PHONE AND CALLED BUSH JIM BAKER
ANSWERED THE CALL AND THE BUSH
HOTEL SUITE.
HOTEL SUITE. BUSH HAD GIVEN UP.
IT WAS ALL OVER HE THOUGHT.
HE ADDRESSED THE CONVENTION
EARLIER THAT EVENING.
HE CHANGED INTO A RED POLO SHIRT
AND DRINKING GETTING READY TO
FIGURE OUT HOW TO MOVE ON WITH
LIFE WHEN REGAN CALLED ASKING
TWO QUESTIONS.
TWO QUESTIONS. COULD HE SUPPORT THE PLATFORM
COMPLETELY AND ASKED
SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THE PRO-LIFE
PART OF THE PLATFORM.
BUSH SAID ABSOLUTELY.
THE NEXT MORNING, THE TWO HAD
COFFEE, GEORGE H.W. BUSH AND
MRS. BUSH WITH RONALD AND NANCY
REGAN AND AS YOU SAID, STEVE, IT
WAS A VERY FORTIGHT CAMPAIGN.
BARBARA BUSH WALKED UP TO RONALD
REAGAN AND SAID GOVERNOR,
WHATEVER RESERVATIONS YOU MAY
HAVE, I JUST PROMISE YOU THIS,
WE’RE GOING TO WORK OUR TAILS
OFF FOR YOU.
AND AT THAT MOMENT, RONALD
REAGAN WAS SOLD ON THE BUSHES,
AND THE TWO BECAME AS CLOSE OF
FRIENDS AS RONALD REAGAN WOULD
HAVE IN OFFICIAL LIFE.
BUSH’S VICE PRESIDENCY IS REALLY
AN INTERESTING PERIOD.
HIS ROLE DURING THE ATTEMPTED
ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT REGAN
IN LATE MARCH OF 1981 WAS A CASE
OF STATESMEN BEING AT THE END OF
HAMLET.
HAMLET. THERE IS THIS CHAOTIC AFTERNOON.
BUSH WAS IN TEXAS AND FLEW BACK
AND WALKS INTO "THE SITUATION
ROOM" AND SUDDENLY EVERYBODY
FEELS LIKE ORDER HAS BEEN
RESTORED.THE SITUATION
RESTORED.THE SITUATION ROOM" AND SUDDENLY EVERYBODY
FEELS LIKE ORDER HAS BEEN
RESTORED. AND SUDDENLY EVERYBODY
FEELS LIKE ORDER HAS BEEN
RESTORED.
RESTORED. HE WENT FROM THE HOUSE TO THE
U.N. TO CHINA BACK TO THE C.I.A.
AND HAD REALLY RUN FOR PRESIDENT
FROM A BASE AS HE USED TO PUT IT
AS FRIENDS AND CHRISTMAS CARD
LIST.
LIST. HE HAD NO NATURAL POLITICAL
BASE.
BASE. HE NEVER WON A STATEWIDE RACE IN
TEXAS UNTIL THE 1988 PRIMARIES.
IT WAS AN UNCONVENTIONAL
POLITICAL LIFE.
POLITICAL LIFE. THAT’S SOMETHING WORTH
REMEMBERING.
REMEMBERING. HE ROSE TO THE TOP ON A KIND OF
QUIET PERSISTENT CHARISMA.
IT’S NOT A WORD YOU HEAR MUCH
ASSOCIATED WITH GEORGE H.W.
BUSH.
BUSH. YOU HEAR IT WITH KENNEDY, REGAN,
CLINTON, OBAMA.
CLINTON, OBAMA. BUT GEORGE H.W. BUSH IF YOU MET
HIM, YOU WERE BASICALLY HIS FOR
LIFE, AND HE WAS ONE OF THE