KNOW, HEFE, HE CALLED HIM HEFE, BOSS OR CHIEF, I WANT TO HAVE
OYSTERS.
OYSTERS. AND PRESIDENT BUSH SAID, MAYBE
NEXT WEEK.
NEXT WEEK. HE WAS ALWAYS LOOKING AHEAD.
>> PETER BAKER, YOUR STORY WAS
THE STORY THAT CRACKED MY HEART
OPEN AND BROUGHT OUT THE FIRST
TEARS WHEN I READ IT SATURDAY
NIGHT AFTER I PUT MY SON TO BED.
TAKE ME THROUGH WHAT YOU
REPORTED ABOUT THE PRESIDENT’S
FINAL MOMENTS.
FINAL MOMENTS. >> WELL, AS JON SAID, HE HAD HIS
GOOD DAYS AND BAD DAYS.
AND ON FRIDAY, HE HAD HAD A
NUMBER OF BAD DAYS.
HE’D BEEN IN BED FOR SEVERAL
DAYS.
DAYS. HADN’T BEEN EATING VERY MUCH.
HIS FRIEND JIM BAKER, HIS FORMER
SECRETARY OF STATE, COMES BY TO
SEE HIM.
SEE HIM. COMES BY THE HOUSE.
AND HE PERKED UP.
HIS EYES OPENED WIDE.
AND HE RECOGNIZED HIS FRIEND.
ENGAGED HIM.
ENGAGED HIM. HE SAID, WHERE ARE WE GOING,
BAKE?
BAKE? AND BAKER SAID, WE’RE GOING TO
HEAVEN.
HEAVEN. AND BUSH SAID, THAT’S WHERE I
WANT TO GO.
AND SO IT WAS A MOMENT OF
CLARITY, A MOMENT WHERE HE
SEEMED TO REVIVE HIMSELF.
HE HAD BREAKFAST.
HADN’T EATEN SEVERAL DAYS.
THREE SOFT BOILED EGGS, YOGURT,
FRUIT DRINKS.
FRUIT DRINKS. PEOPLE THOUGHT HE WAS RALLYING
AGAIN.
AGAIN. HE WAS SUFFERING FROM THIS FORM
OF PARKINSON’S FOR SEVERAL YEARS
AND TIME AFTER TIME SEEMED TO
COME BACK FROM THE BRINK OF
PASSING AWAY TO RALLY AND SHOW
HIS STRENGTH.
HIS STRENGTH. HIS FUNDAMENTAL STRENGTH AND
DESIRE TO KEEP GOING.
THEY THOUGHT THAT WAS WHAT WAS
GOING TO HAPPEN ON FRIDAY.
SECRETARY BAKER MADE ANOTHER
STOP AT THE HOUSE BEFORE DINNER.
THEN HE WAS ON THE WAY BACK FROM
DINNER WITH HIS WIFE AND A
COUPLE FRIENDS WHEN THE PHONE
CALL CAME, YOU BETTER COME BACK
TO THE HOUSE.
HE COMES BACK AND HE’S FOUND
THAT HIS FRIEND, PRESIDENT BUSH,
HAS SUDDENLY BEGUN TO DECLINE
PRETTY QUICKLY.
PRETTY QUICKLY. THEY COULDN’T GET TO ALL THE
KIDS.
KIDS. NEIL BUSH LIVES IN HOUSTON.
HE WAS THERE.
HIS WIFE WAS THERE.
ANOTHER GRANDDAUGHTER WAS THERE.
BUT IT PUT THE OTHER KIDS ON THE
SPEAKER PHONE.
SPEAKER PHONE. OF COURSE, THE LAST OF THEM WAS
YOUR OLD BOSS, PRESIDENT BUSH
43.
43. AND HE WAS AT HOME IN DALLAS.
AND HE TOLD HIS FATHER, YOU WERE
A WONDERFUL DAD.
I LOVE YOU.
AND HIS FATHER TOLD HIM, I LOVE
YOU, TOO.
YOU, TOO. ACCORDING TO SECRETARY BAKER,
THOSE WERE HIS LAST WORDS BEFORE
PASS AWAY ABOUT A HALF HOUR
LATER.
LATER. >> YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO LOOK FAR
TO SEE SORT OF THE WAY GEORGE W.
BUSH’S PRESIDENCY WAS SHAPED.
NOT NECESSARILY BY THE POLICY
POSITIONS OF HIS FATHER BUT BY
THE EXPERIENCE OF HAVING WATCHED
HIS FATHER IN THAT PRESSURE
COOKER, UNDER THE LIGHTS.
AND GEORGE W. BUSH SAID IN AN
INTERVIEW LAST NIGHT SOMETHING
THAT I HAD OFTEN HEARD THE
INVERSE.
INVERSE. I HEARD THE 41st PRESIDENT, AND
I KNEW THIS FIRSTHAND, WAS VERY
UPSET TO SEE THE 43rd PRESIDENT
BEAT UP IN THE PRESS BY YOU AND
YOUR COLLEAGUES.
YOUR COLLEAGUES. I NEVER HEARD 43 TALK ABOUT HOW
EXCRUCIATING TO WATCH THE PRESS
COVERAGE OF HIS FATHER.
WERE YOU SURPRISED IN HINDSLIGHT
HAVING KOFDCOVERED THE 43rd
PRESIDENT TO HEAR THAT?
>> YOU KNOW HIM BETTER THAN I
DO.
DO. THESE ARE REAL PEOPLE.
IT’S A REAL FATHER AND A REAL
SON.
SON. DIDN’T MEAN THEY DIDN’T HAVE
DIFFERENCES.
DIFFERENCES. DEPARTMENT MEAN THEY DIDN’T
APPROACH POLITICS IN A DIFFERENT
WAY AT TIMES.
DIDN’T MEAN THAT THEY DIDN’T
HAVE SOME TENSION THERE AS
THEY -- AS A YOUNG MAN GROWS UP
AND TRIES TO LIVE IN THE SHADOW
OF THIS YOUNG MAN AND PROVE
HIMSELF.
HIMSELF. TOOK UNTIL 40 UNTIL GEORGE BUSH
STOPS DRINKING AND GETS HIS ACT
TOGETHER IN HIS LIFE.
FOR ALL OF THE INCREDIBLE
CIRCUMSTANCES THAT THEY HAD, NO
OTHER TWO PEOPLE EVER HAD, EVEN
JOHN ADAMS AND JOHN QUINCY
ADAMS, THEY DIDN’T LIVE THROUGH
THE SECOND PRESIDENCY THE WAY
THESE TWO DID.
FOR ALL OF THAT, A DEEP AND
FUNDAMENTAL LOVE.
FUNDAMENTAL LOVE. HE WROTE A BIOGRAPHY OF HIS
FATHER.
FATHER. IT WAS A HALLMARK CARD.
A LOVE NOTE TO HIS FATHER.