tonight, president george h.w. bush and barbara. hear his comments about president obama and her candid message for a prominent

republican. a moving, revealing hour with a few special guests, too. >> i poured vodka in the fishbowl and killed my little sister, darla's, goldfish. >> larry: next on "larry king live." >> larry: what a great pleasure to welcome to "larry king live" for the umpteenth time the bushes. we are at the astonia hotel, in houston, texas. president george h.w. bush, the 41st president of the united states, and barbara, the former first lady who didn't wear her suspenders. >> oh, darn it. >> larry: you should have, right? it would have been in keeping. first of all, let's start with you. how are you feeling? >> very well. >> larry: what was wrong? >> i don't know. but may i give you some advice? never ask anyone over 70 how they feel.

they'll tell you. >> larry: but you were taken to the hospital. was it an emergency? >> mm-hmm. but i feel great. that's it. >> larry: you're not going to tell me what was the matter? >> yeah, tell him. >> you mean when i had -- >> the -- >> oh, no, i'm not going to tell him that. when i had the perforated ulcer? >> yeah. >> larry: that's what it was? it wasn't the heart? >> no, i had the heart. i did have that. i have a pig valve. don't say oink or sooey, sooey, as some people i know say. >> larry: they gave you the pig, not the mechanical. >> which is better. you don't have to take coumadin. >> larry: how are you feeling? >> fine. i have a leg -- you probably noticed when i limped in here. called parkinsonitis. like parkinson's, in the lower extremities. no one wants to join your team anymore. you can't play sports anymore. we're very happy here. we're living a quiet life, larry.

>> larry: doesn't it bother you have being so active, mr. president? you jumped out of airplanes. >> he can still do that. >> one more my 90th birthday, june 12, 2014. other than that -- that's no -- they don't let you solo anymore. >> larry: i was going to do one with you and my doctor wouldn't let me. >> i know it. >> maybe i'll go with him and we can go together. >> larry: you're not kidding, though. you will jump on your 90th? >> it's all set. with the golden knights. and they've committed to it. >> larry: are you happy out of office? do you still miss it? >> i don't. i miss some aspects. but it's been so long since we were there. much closer is when george w., our son, was there. we still feel active about that. i mean, memories are much clearer. but i don't miss it. i don't miss going to work every day in the white house.

i miss the presidency, of course, and i loved being president. i loved working with people and helping solve problems. but that was great but that's gone, that's history. >> larry: i saw you both at the world series. was that fun? >> was it ever. >> so exciting. >> the thrill for me was going out on the field, world series game. i'm a baseball fan. so is barb. with george because he worked to bring the texas rangers to life and did a lot for them. he had a wonderful ovation. and he said, do you want to throw the ball? i said, heavens no. so he -- he didn't go to the rubber this time as he did in yankee stadium on that big day. that was a big day. it was wonderful, very emotional for us. >> larry: speaking of george w., he has a message for both of you. >> uh-oh. >> larry: and if you look to your screen, we will show you. >> that's scary.

>> hey, mom and dad. how are you? and, larry, thank you very much for interviewing two people i love. i thought what i'd do is read from the book i wrote called "decision points." "as i got older, i came to see that my parents' love was unconditional. i know because i tested it. i had two car wrecks when i was 14, the legal driving age back then. and my parents still loved me. i borrowed dad's car, carelessly charged in reverse and tore the door off. i poured vodka in the fishbowl and killed my little sister, doro's, goldfish. at times i was surly, demanding and brash. despite it all, my parents still loved me. eventually, their patient love affected me. when you know you have unconditional love, there is no point in rebellion and no need to fear failure. i was free to follow my instincts, enjoy my life and love my parents as much as they loved me." >> that's pretty nice. >> that's so sweet. did you write that for him?

>> larry: how did you feel about the book, his book? >> good. i think he done a good job selling the darn thing. he's been out there all over the place. but i liked it. and it's from the heart, and it's how he feels and why he made tough decisions and how he made them. it was good. >> larry: how did you feel about it? >> i loved the book. i thought it was very frank. and he's not trying to write a biography or -- he's trying to tell how it is in the white house. lots of people didn't know that you couldn't just go when there's a hurricane and just take troops in. you have to be invited. and i remember george went through that with hurricane andrew. and it made me so mad that he got -- both my child and my husband got criticized for not taking troops in. you can't go unless the governor calls you. >> larry: did he let you preread the book? >> no. but he did ask permission to tell a story or two. >> larry: about the sad story. why did you let him do that story? >> well, because he said he wanted to.

>> about which -- >> he wanted to point out -- >> larry: you lost a child? >> he wanted to point out -- well, barely a child. but he wanted to point out how close we were. and i must say, he was the cutest guy you ever saw. just 14. no socks on. drove me to the hospital like a grownup man and paced the hall and some woman said, don't worry, your wife will be fine. >> larry: you lost the baby -- you lost a child? >> that part was tough on him, and it was tough on the other children, which i never realized before. not in george's book, but doro wrote a story once and said robin's death affected my life. i thought i ought to be blonde, curly haired, i ought to be all those things. >> larry: you wrote that wonderful book about your letters. the loss of your child. surely, you're the number one letter writer in america.

>> used to be. >> larry: you don't write them out anymore? >> no. you know what's ruined it? e-mail. it really has. you don't write the letters. just get on that -- hit the reply button or the send button and it's fast and quick. >> larry: not you? >> no, it's not. >> larry: we'll be back with the bushes in houston. don't go away. >> larry, i couldn't read that letter. >> larry: i'll read parts of it. this is a letter to his mother after wanting to have another daughter. their daughter robin had died of leukemia 1953 at age 3. the letter was found among his mother's things. "we need a legitimate christmas angel, one who doesn't have cuffs beneath her dress." you have to be a father to know this. "we need someone who is afraid of frogs. we need someone to cry when i get mad, not argue. we need a little one who can kiss without leaving egg or jam

or gum. we need a girl. we had one once. she'd fight and cry and play and make her way just like the rest, but there was about her a certain softness. but she is still with us. we need her and yet we have her. we can't touch her and yet we can feel her. we hope she'll stay in our house for a long, long time. love pop." etfs? exchange traded funds? don't just give me ten or twenty to choose from. come on. td ameritrade introduces commission-free etfs with a difference-- more choice. over a hundred etfs.... ...chosen by the unbiased experts at morningstar associates. let me pick what works for me. for me. for me. the etf market center at td ameritrade. before investing, carefully consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. contact td ameritrade for a prospectus containing this and other information. read it carefully before investing.

still a texas driver? >> yeah, want to see them? >> larry: yeah. sex is male. eyes are brown. birthday, 6/12/24 and this expires 6/12/93. >> i'm legal. where's your car? let's go for a drive. >> larry: we're back with the bushes in houston. so thankful that you did this. i know you don't do a lot of interviews anymore. so, i can't tell you how much the staff and i appreciate it. >> we're larry king fans. i don't know what the air is going to be like without you on it. it's going to be very different.

>> larry: thank you. in talking about his relationship with you, the -- your son, george, knocks down the notion that he was competitive with you. he writes, "over the years there's been a lot of speculation about my relationship with dad. i suppose that's natural for the first father and son presidents in 172 years. the simple truth is i adore him. throughout my life, i respected him and admired him." what did you make of the stories that you had a clash? >> they burned me up. >> larry: g.w. made a deal -- did you ever see that movie? >> no. >> i may have. probably hated it. >> i don't think i ever will. we thought it was crazy. we know who we are. we know how we get along. there's no rivalry, no kind of trying to live up to something or bring the boy up. i mean, it's crazy. we're a close, loving family, larry. and these speculative stories just drove me crazy. >> larry: how about you?

>> well, they are nutty. there was people saying we wanted jeb to be president, not george. that's -- who writes things? two books were written about me by somebody who never spoke to me ever. you just overlook those. they're not true. >> larry: you got angrier than your husband, didn't you? >> always. >> she still does. >> larry: you're feistier than him? >> true. >> well, you're not so modest. >> i'm quiet, kind of laid back. >> larry: he doesn't get as angry as you would at something printed that's wrong, right? >> right. but i -- i mean, i'm older now and more mature. >> you're older. >> larry: good line. >> thank you. she -- barbara doesn't -- she's even and she doesn't get all fired up about these things anymore. >> larry: but when they -- for example, it was always printed that you disagree with your son

in a lot of political areas. was that -- you don't have to reveal them but was that true? >> not true. >> larry: you didn't agree with him all the time? >> i'm sure there were times we differed. i'm sure they're times barbara bush differed and she probably went and told him. >> i told him. he didn't ask me. >> he was running, doing his thing. he was elected twice president of the united states. he didn't need his father -- i noticed in one of these interviews he did, you should have talked to your dad. the truth is, he had his people around him. his people that he knows. a wide array of people. they have the facts and know what's going on. i'm an old guy on the sideline, a loving father. and i don't have an opinion on all these issues now. and he knew that, i'm sure. >> larry: did you ever want him to call you? >> nope. >> he called all the time about other things. he still calls a lot. >> i didn't want him to call, "dad, what could i do now?" >> didn't want that? >> no. >> but george knew, having been

president, you have all these people, cia, foreign intelligence, all the intelligence comes to the president. doesn't come to his father. and once you're out, you're out. >> larry: how do you look at yourself? i mean, we have only three -- well, we have four families in america that are comparable in some way. >> name one. >> larry: the adams, the roosevelts, the kennedys, the bushes. they can be called dynasties. uncles were president. senators, cia, congress. >> that's a compliment. >> larry: do you ever look in the mirror and say, geesh -- >> part of a dynasty, no? you don't, larry. we don't operate that way. people say, why don't you write a book? it will be good for your legacy? i've banned the "l" word in our

office. we don't use that word. and let the historians figure out what we got right and what i got wrong. and so -- >> larry: you don't ever say to yourself, look at this country, still young. it has had four families that continue on. >> no. but i'm not against the "l" word, because i think we have passed on to our grandchildren or -- and children. neil heads the points of light foundation as a volunteer. >> larry: going to talk about something coming in march about that. >> that's right. most of our grandchildren, who are of an age, are doing wonderful things. i think that's a legacy. they've seen their mothers and fathers and their grandparents. i think that's a legacy. >> larry: were your children always equal to you, even though two became governors of state, one became a president? >> yeah, we felt the same about all of them. we feel the same about neil and marvin and jeb. jeb was governor. but the other two were not. doro, our daughter, they're all the same in terms of love and in terms of closeness.

it's a good question. people say you must feel closer to one or closer to another and we don't. i can speak for barb and me. >> larry: it's the same as george? >> absolutely. and george counts on it as being -- young george counts on him as being a great friend. every one of them worked for him. >> larry: he's a friend as well as a father? >> that's right. >> larry: we'll be right back. don't go away.

we're back with the bushes, who have always been so gracious to me personally and to our staff at the white house, at their home in kennebunkport, here in houston as well. we've had a closeness that is hard to describe over these years. spent so much time together. it's great knowing them and talking to them and seeing them especially to me here tonight. you also disclose, barbara -- george discloses something very personal about you, which he says you gave him special permission to write about. he wrote that when you once had a miscarriage, you showed him the fetus in the jar.

>> no, really the truth is -- >> larry: we touched on it before. >> i didn't put it in the jar. >> larry: what? >> it's not in the library. paula put it in the jar. i was shocked when she gave it to him. your memory is dim a little bit. >> larry: were you shocked that he put it in the book? >> no. he asked permission and i gave him permission. it's his book. and i think he was trying to say that he and i have a very special relationship. we tease all the time, and that's not very nice for me, but you've got to tease a little bit. and he teases me unmercifully. but we're very close. >> larry: you had differing opinions though on pro-life, did you not? >> i don't remember. >> yes, they did. >> shh, george.

>> you were never that fired up about it when i was president. >> i wasn't president, nor was i president when george was president. but that's one issue. i'm not a one-issue person. i mean, i'm -- i don't believe in that and i don't think my georges do either. i think they try to think of what keeps america safe and what is -- you respect other people's feelings, religions, beliefs. and i do that, too. >> larry: but you have your own opinions? >> of course i do. but i wasn't in office. i wasn't courageous enough to run. and i'm still not courageous enough to run. >> larry: took courage to run, didn't it? >> i wouldn't say courage but determination. and, you know, go right down, give it -- give it your all. i count it all-out effort. i don't think it was a courageous thing to do. >> larry: you face winning and losing? >> that's right. >> terrible. >> losing is tough. >> larry: there's nothing worse. and you get a day -- there's a day in november where a politician gets measured. >> that's right. and losing is not -- losing

hurts. in my case, i just felt i had let a lot of people down rather than what am i going to do? i mean -- >> larry: you mean the people that work for you? >> oh, yeah. campaign people and chairman and -- >> people gave you money. >> the donors. i mean, everybody. you just felt, well, i've let this crowd down. >> tell him what doro said after we lost. he came out, got in the car. and dor to o burst into tears. we said what's the matter? she said i'm the only one in my class with a daddy without a job. >> i lost -- one of my losses in the senate race. >> larry: you have a great family, though. you appreciate them a lot. >> yep. >> larry: george, he writes in the book, "when i ran for governor i told people i had my daddy's eyes and my mother's mouth." great line. true? >> probably. i wish he'd said i had my -- no,

he shouldn't have said that. maybe he should say i had my father's brain and left me out. maybe. yes. >> larry: we have another message from you and this is from your son, neil. watch. >> i remember coming home from school oftentimes and mom would tell us what she was doing during the day, you know, working in an incurable disease ward at a hospital or participating in a literacy program at a school. or dad coming home on weekends from the congress when he was serving as a young congressman and working with inner city youth, baseball programs and that kind of thing. they devoted their lives to serving others. it's not remarkable that when they got the highest bully pulpit available in the world, the presidency, that they used it to push community service and volunteer activism in the nation. and the points of light movement is being pushed aggressively

forward. over 60 million americans serve today. i'm proud of you, mom. i'm proud of you, dad, for setting such a great example for others to serve. >> larry: i think he almost lost it. >> like a true bush, he cries. >> larry: the bushes cry. >> we're a very emotional family. very. >> larry: what's special about neil? we'll talk in the next segment about points of light. >> well, he's the kindest boy -- boy? man. he's the most generous, thoughtful person in our whole family, i think. and he's just kind. he just -- he's good to people. he's always doing things for others. when he was little, who's going to -- who's going to go out and get the -- take the trays out? mr. perfect, mr. perfect. look at neil, out he'd go. always helping. always doing something for somebody else. >> if they voted kennebunkport on who's the favorite, it's

always uncle neil because he takes them in george's boat every night over to get ice cream. granted, they may need sleep, the little ones. but neil is -- i'll be through my work at 5:00. they're at his door at 5:00. >> larry: it came through on that tape. we'll talk about points of light and other things when we come back. we're so sure priceline has the biggest hotel deals we're offering the big deal guarantee. book a hotel with name your own price and if you can find a lower published price anywhere else we'll match it and pay you $25. book now and save up to 60% on hotels. only at priceline.

i will keep america moving forward, always forward, for a better america, for an endless enduring dream and a thousand points of light. this is my mission, and i will complete it. >> larry: we are back with the bushes. neil mentioned the points of light movement. there is, i understand, a big event coming at the kennedy center in washington in march to honor you for your work in that area. what's going on? what's planned? >> well, we don't go back to washington anymore. so it's a return to washington, i'd say. aha. but a lot of friends are going to participate. and this points of light movement, and it is a movement, means something to me, the volunteerism, private sector helping each other instead of making government do everything. and it's really, i think, just a nice way of getting us back there and honoring us.

and we're very excited about it. >> larry: you looking forward to this? >> very much. i really think it's going to be exciting. they're hopeful that they can get -- they have gotten a lot of people to offer. we're hoping it will be more music and dancing and not too much talking. we're hoping that people who come -- >> larry: it's not a speech night? >> not a speech night, that it will be -- it's a fund-raiser. so we're hopeful that people will -- >> for points of light. >> will be entertained and will be amused and they won't say, oh, not another night. i think it's going to be -- >> larry: sounds great. i'm going to come and if i can help you, let me know. >> we're onlookers. supposed to be sort of a surprise. >> larry: i emceed your 80th birthday. >> remember that. don't even go into it. >> remember how long it went on? poor larry, you had to be somewhere. >> larry: gorbachev in texas.

gorbachev, he wanted to speak. and every other head of state wanted to speak. >> they were good sports. not only did he speak long but had to be interpreted. >> we were proud he was here. >> larry: he said, i wanted to be here and i will speak. that was some night, though, the entertainment. right here at the ballpark. >> that's right. that's right. >> larry: boy, what a -- was points of light, by the way, your idea? >> absolutely. >> not sure it was my idea, but it was a statement i made in one of my inaugural addresses i think talking about the thousand points of light. and then it took on from there, but i guess it was my idea, our idea. >> remember what hugh said about george? you have one fault only. you never take credit. it was your idea. it was your speech. and you did say it. >> larry: so take credit. >> take credit. >> i'll take credit. >> your idea. >> larry: we'll be back with more of the bushes in houston. don't go away.

you know what the best selling bumper sticker is? annoy the media. re-elect bush. and you know why? >> for two years, you did not recognize that people were hurting out here and we were in a recession and i'm tired of your party and you preaching to us about family values. >> larry: don't make a speech. do you have a question? >> i'll put you down as doubtful, fellow. >> larry: we're back with the bushes. we have to touch a little politics here. there's so much being said about 2012 and everything. is jeb thinking about it? >> i don't think he is. in fact, i know he's not. but would he be a good president? absolutely. don't just take that from a father's prejudice view. he's a good man. he performed as governor. he's well spoken.

he is not an extremist. he's not a wild guy that attributes bad motives to those that disagree with him and he's good. and people that know him and hear him say the same thing. i think the bottom line is he just doesn't want to try. doesn't want to do it. >> larry: how do you feel about the tea party? >> well, i don't know what it really is, larry. i don't really -- i mean, some of the ideas make a lot of sense. but how if fits in, i noticed in the paper today, they were talking about how -- what the tea party would do to get the republicans in congress to do something. well, these people have all been elected, whether they're tea partiers or not. so i'm confused by it frankly. i don't know -- nobody has been to say we represent the tea party. i think it's all right. >> larry: what's your read about sarah palin? >> i sat next to her once, thought she was beautiful. and i think she's very happy in alaska. and i hope she'll stay there. >> larry: you have a way of putting things, barbara, that are very unique and are uniquely barbaraisms. you've had this all your life with her, right? >> he's put up with it. >> larry: if you want a direct opinion. she likes alaska, stay there.

do you have a personal favorite in 2012? >> i mentioned jeb. but he's not going to try. so, i don't. if you told me who would the nominee be, i couldn't tell you. we like mitt romney. we know him well and like him very much. >> larry: he's more in your -- in keeping with the bush political stance. >> don't want to kill him off. >> larry: middle of the road? >> he's a reasonable guy. conservative fellow, which is good. but, no, i think he'd be a good president, very good president. >> larry: do you have a favorite? >> i'll go with george. mitt romney. i like a lot of them. but i like people who feel that you can respect other people's ideas. i like that a lot. >> larry: respect is not popular in america. >> no. >> we don't know them all. this guy pawlenty out from the midwest. i don't know him. never met him. everybody says he's a wonderful person. >> we like the governor of louisiana.

>> haley barbour. >> and the governor of mississippi. i like louisiana and mississippi. >> bobby jindal. >> there's just a lot of people who are voices of reason. i think of jeb as a voice of reason. >> larry: what do you think of president obama? >> well, he's been very pleasant to me personally, very. and i remember when i went up to washington to do something. i forget what it was. he heard i was going, with jeb incidentally. the white house sent word over he'd like us to come by. we did that. he came here to my library at texas a&m for a points of light events. and he was very gracious. so, on a personal basis, i'm very strongly impressed. he's a decent, decent man. and he's taken a lot of heat lately, but that goes with the

territory. >> larry: do presidents, despite the politics, have sympathies for other presidents? >> i think i would. i mean, i think so. and, i mean, i don't like to see anybody beat up on and down. and people are -- some are down on him today, although his numbers aren't bad. and -- but i -- he's a good man. he's a decent man. and my trouble is if you like somebody, it's hard to be hypercritical. >> larry: what do you have make of michelle? >> i like her very much. she's been very nice to me. i feel a little bit like george w. there are plenty of people who can pick on the president. we've been there. i mean, dowdy and fat and whatever. but she's -- she's very attractive, she's into literacy, she's into children. that's good. i'm for that. but i'm not going to criticize

her, nor am i going to criticize the president, much to your shock. >> larry: i'm not sure -- well, yeah, i'm a little shocked. i didn't expect you to be. we'll be back with more of the open bushes after this.

we're back with the bushes in houston. by the way, if you want more information on points of light on the event in march, just go to pointsoflight.org. pointsoflight.org. a wonderful organization. by the way, george discloses in his book that he wrote you a letter the day he declared war in iraq saying that he knew what you went through and that you wrote him back saying he was doing the right thing. did that turn out to be the right thing? >> yes, it did. saddam hussein is no longer around. and that in itself makes it the right thing. now, do you worry about the lives lost? of course you do.

but i think he made a courageous decision, a proper decision. and we forget that congress and many people in the press wanted to bring down saddam hussein and george stepped up to the plate and did something about it. now, the weapons of mass destruction was a great disappointment to him, as he said, that they weren't found in big numbers or found at all. but that doesn't mean that the mission itself isn't worthwhile. >> larry: do you think history will be kinder to him? >> yes, definitely. history will be kind to him because he's a man of principle, did what he said he's going to do, kept our country safe in the first time we were really attacked on that 9/11. and that in itself -- >> larry: he says he doesn't think about history much. he says history will decide. do you think about history much? >> for him? yeah. >> larry: no, for you. >> larry, i'm too darned old. i think just about how to get home and go to bed. no, i don't think about history, and i don't keep up with events

like i used to. and so it's different now, very, very different. but history will be kind to george. >> larry: we have another message for you, and this is from your daughter, doro. let's watch. >> one thing you may know about my dad is that he jumps out of airplanes. one thing you may not know about my dad is that he's a wedding crasher. this, i guess you could call hobby, includes two of his very favorite things. one, his boat. and two, making other people happy. so, my dad will go down the kennebunk river in his boat and he will see a bride and groom along the shore having a wedding at one of the many hotels in kennebunkport and he'll wave at the bride and groom. and the next thing you know, he's pulling over at the nearest dock and the bride and groom and sometimes the entire wedding party are running down to jump on the boat with my dad and get their picture taken. and i love to think of how many brides and grooms have the 41st

president of the united states in their wedding album. >> that's great. >> larry: so, we learned something here. >> the last time i did that was with phil mickelson, great golfer and great friends of ours, amy and phil. he's a good guy. and so, i think we went into this wedding, and all the people came around, as doro said. i had the feeling they were saying who is this guy with phil. look at me. i might have been wrong, but i think so. he's a bigger than life, wonderful person. >> larry: by the way -- i know about the clinton. did you go to chelsea clinton's wedding? >> no. interesting thing. about two or three days before the wedding, we're in maine and we get a phone call from bill clinton. nothing to do with the wedding. just he's busy. he just called up, how are you doing? i have a very good personal relationship with him. >> larry: i know. >> but, no, we weren't invited, nor should we have been. >> we were thrilled. that's the way it should be. jenna's wedding had no politicians, none.

they had family and close friends. i think that's what bill did and hillary. and that's difficult because she's -- she has a job and they're much closer to politics than we are. >> larry: what do you think of his relationship with bill? >> i liked it. it took me a little while, i confess, but you can't dislike bill clinton. he's very likable. and he was so good to george. george told me over and over again he would -- he would let george have the bed. i mean -- >> when we traveled. >> i have a feeling that bill wishes he had a father like george, truthfully. >> we have a close, friendly, personal relationship, and he's been extraordinarily kind to me. >> george w. says the same thing. >> larry: he does? that's well said, though. might have been the father he never had. >> you know what bill said when i called him "my boy, bill," when i introduced him at something just being funny. he said, those bushes will do anything to get another president in the white house. >> larry: we'll be back.

>> larry: a letter to president-elect and mrs. reagan, written november 10, 1980. you are vice president-elect. >> this is just a quick thank you. thank you for making us feel so welcome. thanks for the joy of working with you. thanks for those little touches of grace and humor and affection that make life sing. please let us know that we both want to help in every way possible. i will never do anything to embarrass you politically. i have strong views on issues and people, but once you decide a matter, that's it for me, and you'll see no leaks in novak and bitching about life, st you'll see none out of me, and he didn't. >> larry: we're about to celebrate 1,900th birthday of ronald reagan. >> amazing. >> larry: next year. what are your memories of him? >> oh, you know, i ran against him, and he defeated me, and through that we got to know each other a little, and he asked me to be his vice president, and through that i got to see him up close and personal as a kind, honorable, decent man, and he

was a -- he was a wonderful fellow. i mean, he -- you know, reagan said, well, i'm against -- i'm against raising taxes. well, hed mes, but he's -- he's loved her husband very much. i wish you'd asked me about him, because i think he was -- >> larry: what did you think of him? >> i loved him. he was innately polite. >> his sense of humor was wonderful. >> more than that. he was just a very innately polite man. >> larry: he got up and opened the door for you. >> that's right. >> larry: yeah. let's now see a tape from one of

my favorite little bushes whom i first met when he was 14. i saw him here earlier tonight at the republican convention in philadelphia. this is grandson pierce. pierce, go. >> a few summers ago, we were arriving back at our little dock in kennebunkport, and my grandfather gave me the great honor of taking his boat back to the mooring. it was low tide. a which go wave swept in right as i had taken the helm of the boat, and the boat sadly found itself slammed up against the rocks. i was pretty devastated to have just crashed my grandfather's prized possession. later that night after kind of a day i spent moping and worrying, i went to my bedroom, and i found a note which i will always care with me in my heart. it was addressed to my man pierce, and it said, pierce, i remember days when i felt could i do nothing right, but then the sun would come up and a bright new day would embrace me.

do not worry about the boat. you are a good man who got a bad bounce, but all is well, believe me. i hate to see you worrying and down. you brighten my life, so forget today's little incident. you're the man, and i love you. danny does, too. it's been a great honor to have george and barbara bush as grandparents, and i will treasure all of the little lessons that i learned from them. >> too much. >> sweet boy. >> he's a sweet guy. sweet fellow. >> you know, they live across the street from us, not pierce, but his mother and father and family, and -- and we don't go over there, but they come to see us almost every day, and pierce is wonderful about that. >> larry: he's a great kid. we'll be back with our remaining moments. don't go away.

the skies over baghdad have been illuminated. >> our cause is just. our cause is moral. our cause is right. >> larry: a couple of other things. do you agree with the president's keeping up in afghanistan? >> yes, i do. >> larry: adding further troops?

>> i do. i'd like to see an end. i'd like to know, have a time certain for an ending, but you can't do that, and i -- i think he's done the right thing. >> larry: what are your memories -- >> got some flack on it incidentally, from his own left. >> larry: yeah. what are your thoughts back to the gulf war? >> pride. >> larry: i understand they are going to come and see you, the mayor of kuwait. >> a bunch of them are coming and, unfortunately, general schwarzkopf can't, he's not well. colin powell and vince scowcroft and bob gates and dick cheney, they will all be here, and it was a proud moment for our country, and we did the right thing. had a force to put down a dictator and we set a goal. the goal was to kick him out of kuwait and we did. and we left. we didn't have mission creep. we didn't expand the mission. >> larry: you don't want to think about a legacy. you do?