A day in the life of President Bush (2/19/05): photos

WhiteHouse.gov; various news sources ^ | 2/19/05

[Wolfstar]

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: On Wednesday, the President hosted the bipartisan Congressional leadership at the White House. It was an opportunity to talk about a range of issues, including the President's upcoming trip to Europe. The President and First Lady, who are spending a quiet day in the White House today, will leave Washington Sunday enroute to their first stop in Brussels, Belgium. The President will hold summit talks with leaders of NATO and the European Union, and will meet with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Russian President Vladimir Putin among a number of other leaders. (The President's itinerary does not appear to include time for a meeting with the socialist Spanish PM, however.)

PHONE CALLS WITH FOREIGN LEADERS: Monday, the President spoke with Crown Prince Abdallah...to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the meeting between President Roosevelt and King Abdallah Aziz, that opened the modern period of U.S.-Saudi relations...The President commended the Crown Prince on the successful start last week of municipal elections in Saudi Arabia. He also complimented the Crown Prince on last week's successful counter-terrorism conference in Saudi Arabia. Finally, the two leaders discussed the murder...of former Prime Minister Hariri in Beirut.

THE WEEK AHEAD:

Sunday evening: President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush will arrive in Brussels.

Monday morning: President Bush will meet with King Albert II and Queen Paola of Belgium, Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, and NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.

Monday afternoon: The President will deliver a speech on United States and European cooperation at the Concert Noble in Brussels.

Monday evening: The President will have a "working dinner" with French President Jacques Chirac.

Tuesday morning: The President will meet separately with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko, and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at NATO headquarters in Brussels. The meeting between GWB and Tony Blair will be at breakfast.

Tuesday afternoon: The President will hold a joint press conference with European leaders, including European Council President and Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, and European Union Security Policy Representative Javier Solana. The President will visit the EU headquarters.

Tuesday evening: The President will participate in a working dinner with the European Union representatives.

Wednesday morning: The presidential party will travel to Mainz, Germany, where GWB will meet with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. The two leaders will greet American and German soldiers who have served in Afghanistan.

Wednesday afternoon: The President will participate in a roundtable with German citizens and visit the Gutenberg Museum.

Wednesday evening: The President and First Lady will travel to Wiesbaden, Germany, to meet with members of the U.S. Army’s 1st Armored Division. They will then travel to Bratislava, Slovak Republic. "We are honored that the President and Mrs. Bush have chosen Wiesbaden to visit soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and family members of the U.S. European Command," Maj. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, 1st AD commander, stated in a news release. [This is the same unit the President visited in Iraq during his surprise Thanksgiving trip.] "I’m sure many Iron soldiers still remember with great pride the visit the commander-in-chief made to Baghdad to spend Thanksgiving with us during our deployment," Dempsey stated. Details on what the 1st AD is doing to prepare for the president’s visit have not been released -- but this time, the visit isn't a surprise, so the base is closing schools and facilities, and is giving all non-essential personnel the day off. German schools in the Mainz and Wiesbaden areas also will be closed for the day, according to a statement issued by the Rheinland-Palatinate state chancellor’s office. [Let's hope the weather's good, because we here on the Dose will be eager for some great photos. I'm sure I speak for most "Dosers" in saying that are hearts are with our troops, not with a bunch of European stuffed-shirt politicians.]

Thursday morning: GWB will meet with Slovak Republic President Ivan Gasparovic and Prime Minister Mikulás Dzurinda, and deliver a speech to Slovak citizens.

Thursday afternoon: GWB will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Thursday evening: The presidential party will depart for Washington, D.C. [We on the Dose will welcome them home with open arms and hearts grateful for their safe return.]

IN MARCH:

March 7: The President and Mrs. Bush will host the King and Queen of Norway for a lunch at the White House. The visit of their Majesties King Harald and Queen Sonja will mark 100 years of U.S.-Norwegian diplomatic relations.

QUOTES OF THE DAY: During his news conference last Thursday, there were several examples of the President subtly giving the rhetorical version of "the finger" to the media. The following exchange gives us an insight into how the nation's first MBA chief executive manages his people:

Q: Will you back him [Negroponte] if he goes up against Don Rumsfeld, [if] Rumsfeld wants a certain amount of money for his intelligence budget and Negroponte says, I don't think so?

THE PRESIDENT: I don't think it necessarily works -- I know that's how the press sometimes likes to play discussions inside the White House -- X versus Y, and butting of heads and sharp elbows. Generally, it works a little more civilly than that. People make their case, there's a discussion, but ultimately John will make the decisions on the budget.

"Backing" means it's kind of zero-sum; that's not the way our team works. It's not a zero-sum attitude in the White House, it is -- people have strong opinions, by the way, around here...I would hope you'd want your President to have people around who have...strong opinions; people who are willing to stand up for what they believe; people who say, here's what I think is right and it may not be what so-and-so thinks is right. Then the question is, do I have the capacity to pick the right answer, to be able to make a decision. I think people have seen that I'm capable of making decisions. And one reason why I feel comfortable making them is because I get good advice. And John is going to be a great advisor.

The following passage is from Vice President Dick Cheney's speech to the Annual Conservative PAC Conference at the Ronald Reagan Building, Washington, Thursday. [This passage gave me chills, because I didn't know that one of the NYFD men who helped raise one of the flags at Ground Zero was later killed in Iraq.]

Freedom's advance in the broader Middle East is bringing new hope to a troubled part of the world, and freedom's victory in that region will make America safer for generations to come. The effort has been difficult, and there is more hardship and hard work ahead. And our whole nation is grateful to every member of our military, and to the families who share in their sacrifice.

Our deepest debt is owed to the men and women who have fallen in service to America. (Applause.) We think of young volunteers like Jeff LeBrun, the son of Haitian immigrants, who used to ride the A train into Manhattan -- and passed under the World Trade Center every morning on the way to school. After experiencing the events of 9/11, both he and his brother, Stanley, decided they were going to join the military to defend the country. Jeff became an Army specialist, and was serving in Iraq when he was killed by terrorists last month. He was 21.

We think of soldiers like Sergeant Christian Engeldrum. He was a New York City firefighter, and was one of those who helped raise the flag over the ruins at Ground Zero. Last year his National Guard unit was deployed to Iraq. He was killed in action near Baghdad, age 39. At his funeral, the New York Fire Commissioner said that Christian Engeldrum "gave more than most men who live twice as long." [NOTE: At his death, Sgt. Engeldrum left two teenage sons and a wife pregnant with their third child.]

[CaliforniaRichGRL]

Thank you!

[CyberAnt]

I don't think it's to make "Bubba look good". It's to re-establish respect for the office of the presidency; regardless of the misfortunes of one president.

[JustaCowgirl]

Okay here we go. A couple of real puzzlers.

How many of the people in this picture can all of you identify? I can identify 3 of the 4 on the front row, none on the second row. Hint: I believe all except one are members of Congress, and the event they are watching is a TV broadcast of the invastion of Grenada.

Super puzzler: What speechmaker said this? Extra-special bonus question: What was the occasion?

When I visited this Chamber last year as a newcomer to Washington, critical of past policies which I believed had failed, I proposed a new spirit of partnership between this Congress and this administration and between Washington and our State and local governments. In forging this new partnership for America, we could achieve the oldest hopes of our Republic – prosperity for our nation, peace for the world, and the blessings of individual liberty for our children and, someday, for all of humanity.

[GretchenM]

I love those world clock sites. I'd forgotten about them (after losing my links in a home computer death) till maica mentioned how handy it would be.

[silent_jonny]

How many of the people in this picture can all of you identify?

Aw geez! Come on, Google, don't fail me now :)

[JustaCowgirl]

A Real American Hero
1978, Adventure, TV
Director: Lou Antonio With: Brian Dennehy, Forrest Tucker, Brian Kerwin, Ken Howard, Sheree North, Lane Bradbury
Sheriff Buford Pusser, in this sequel to the "Walking Tall" films, is still fighting crime in this made-for-TV offering--this time moonshining is his target. (a.k.a. "Hard Stick")

I guess Dennehy was in a made-for-tv sequel to Walking Tall. I saw it on a video, I think, and assumed it was a movie.

[silent_jonny]

I have to admit you were right then--I didn't know that Walking Tall was made into a TV series.

[GretchenM]

Bush Says He Harbors No Bitterness Toward Chirac "... but he is taking issue with a Chirac notion that a united Europe would serve as a counterbalance to the United States. In run-up to his trip to Europe, Bush underscored in media interviews with European journalists his second-term drive to foster improved trans-Atlantic relations and work on common problems like Iraqi... "

[GretchenM]

Does anyone else think Hamid Karzai is just an incredibly handsome and elegant man ?

YES! And in no way is he anything like what I usually am drawn to admire in good-looking men. There is something very charismatic, dignified, and noble about him.

[mystery-ak]

Bob Michaels, Tip O'Neal, Ronald Reagan, Howard Baker.....bonus....having a meeting...LOL

[snugs]

Sorry I do not have the photo

[SoCalPol]

just a few weeks ago Clinton was bashing W for "lying to the American people" so I don't think the zebra has changed his stripes

More true than you know.
Clinton is a psychopath. They are social preditors who charm, manipulate, are deceitful, need for excitement, poor behavior controls, etc. His pathology is something
you can't wish for a change. You can't make a cat out of a dog.

[CaliforniaRichGRL]

It's ok...maybe Ohio has it.

[snugs]

**There is something very charismatic, dignified, and noble about him.**

Thats it noble I think as well as his looks it is also the way he walks.

[JustaCowgirl]

Not a series, so far as I know. Just a made-for-tv movie. So we were both partly right.

[silent_jonny]

How did you know that!?

[JustaCowgirl]

Well put. If I could pick five famous people in the world to have dinner with and talk to, I think Hamid Karzai would be one of the five.

[silent_jonny]

The bonus question: Is it Reagan's SOTU speech from January 16, 1982?

[mystery-ak]

LOL....I had a little help with Howard Baker....hubby sitting right here..

[JustaCowgirl]

I knew the other three, did not know Bob Michaels. I'll have to take your word for it.

In 'having a meeting' are you talking about the quote? I guess you could call it that, but I'll have to sound the buzzer on that one. LOL.