Posted on 02/19/2005 5:26:31 PM PST by Mad Mammoth
As George W. Bush was first moving onto the national political stage, he often turned for advice to an old friend who secretly taped some of their private conversations, creating a rare record of the future president as a politician and a personality.
In the last several weeks, that friend, Doug Wead, an author and former aide to Mr. Bush's father, disclosed the tapes' existence to a reporter and played about a dozen of them.
Variously earnest, confident or prickly in those conversations, Mr. Bush weighs the political risks and benefits of his religious faith, discusses campaign strategy and comments on rivals. John McCain "will wear thin," he predicted. John Ashcroft, he confided, would be a "very good Supreme Court pick" or a "fabulous" vice president. And in exchanges about his handling of media questions about his past, Mr. Bush appears to have acknowledged trying marijuana.
Mr. Wead said he recorded the conversations because he viewed Mr. Bush as a historic figure, but he said he knew that the president might regard his actions as a betrayal. As the author of a new book about presidential childhoods, Mr. Wead could benefit from any publicity, but he said that was not a motive in disclosing the tapes.
The White House did not dispute the authenticity of the tapes or respond to their contents. Trent Duffy, a White House spokesman, said, "The governor was having casual conversations with someone he believed was his friend." Asked about drug use, Mr. Duffy said, "That has been asked and answered so many times there is nothing more to add."
The conversations Mr. Wead played offer insights into Mr. Bush's thinking from the time he was weighing a run for president in 1998 to shortly before he accepted the Republican nomination in 2000. Mr. Wead had been a liaison to evangelical Protestants for the president's father, and the intersection of religion and politics is a recurring theme in the talks.
Preparing to meet Christian leaders in September 1998, Mr. Bush told Mr. Wead: "As you said, there are some code words. There are some proper ways to say things, and some improper ways." He added, "I am going to say that I've accepted Christ into my life. And that's a true statement."
But Mr. Bush also repeatedly worried that prominent evangelical Christians would not like his refusal "to kick gays." At the same time, he was wary of unnerving secular voters by meeting publicly with evangelical leaders. When he thought his aides had agreed to such a meeting, Mr. Bush complained to Karl Rove, his political strategist, "What the hell is this about?"
Mr. Bush, who has acknowledged a drinking problem years ago, told Mr. Wead on the tapes that he could withstand scrutiny of his past. He said it involved nothing more than "just, you know, wild behavior." He worried, though, that allegations of cocaine use would surface in the campaign, and he blamed his opponents for stirring rumors. "If nobody shows up, there's no story," he told Mr. Wead, "and if somebody shows up, it is going to be made up." But when Mr. Wead said that Mr. Bush had in the past publicly denied using cocaine, Mr. Bush replied, "I haven't denied anything."
He refused to answer reporters' questions about his past behavior, he said, even though it might cost him the election. Defending his approach, Mr. Bush said: "I wouldn't answer the marijuana questions. You know why? Because I don't want some little kid doing what I tried."
He mocked Vice President Al Gore for acknowledging marijuana use. "Baby boomers have got to grow up and say, yeah, I may have done drugs, but instead of admitting it, say to kids, don't do them," he said.
Mr. Bush threatened that if his rival Steve Forbes attacked him too hard during the campaign and won, both Mr. Bush, then the Texas governor, and his brother, Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, would withhold their support. "He can forget Texas. And he can forget Florida. And I will sit on my hands," Mr. Bush said.
The private Mr. Bush sounds remarkably similar in many ways to the public President Bush. Many of the taped comments foreshadow aspects of his presidency, including his opposition to both antigay language and recognizing same-sex marriage, his skepticism about the United Nations, his sense of moral purpose and his focus on cultivating conservative Christian voters.
Mr. Wead said he withheld many tapes of conversations that were repetitive or of a purely personal nature. The dozen conversations he agreed to play ranged in length from five minutes to nearly half an hour. In them, the future president affectionately addresses Mr. Wead as "Weadie" or "Weadnik," asks if his children still believe in Santa Claus, and chides him for skipping a doctor's appointment. Mr. Bush also regularly gripes about the barbs of the press and his rivals. And he is cocky at times. "It's me versus the world," he told Mr. Wead. "The good news is, the world is on my side. Or more than half of it."
As for Forbes, he was over the top in his personal attacks on Dubya during the primary season. A lapse in temperament and judgement that I am sure he regrets.
That goes for Keyes, altho he would never admit he was ungracious and unfair.
of all the papers Wead could have come out to, why the Times ?
Whatever we say and do, we must live with it.
Wead former assembly of God Preacher
Amway Diamond Distributer
Former Bush family friend
These tapes are extremely flattering to the president, and it must have caused the Times a lot of anguish to have to publish anything so generous.
We had Doug Wead down here in AZ trying to run for Congress. He left a bad odor... Barry Goldwater gave Doug the middle finger by endorsing his liberal Democrat opponent, who won... Doug does what Doug does ONLY for Doug....
Right. No connection between the two - That's his story and he's sticking with it.
This will get Bush no credit for not wanting to attack gays; rather the gays will run with this as proof that Bush has "sold out" his Christian followers.
Isn't it illegal to tape someones conversations without their knowledge? With friends like this who needs enemies.
"The private Mr. Bush sounds remarkably similar in many ways to the public President Bush."
In other words: "This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man."
My pride and gratitude for Mr. Bush grows steadily.
+Isn't it illegal to tape someones conversations without their knowledge?
Sure doesn't sound as bad as some secret tapes related to another recent president.
>>>> Amway Diamond Distributer
That's interesting
More than anything else, it is this quality about President Bush that just baffles the media. In the fictional world they try to create, genuine character just doesn't make sense.
Am I the only one who didn't think the quotes were damning? Did I miss something?
Historical perspective is tough to evaluate contemporaneously with current events, but I confidently predict that history will record President George W. Bush as the 3rd greatest and most influential president after George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
You heard it first HERE.
;-/
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.