george h.w. bush grew up with a sense of loyalty and duty, part of his legacy as the example he set in life and the movement in which volunteers become, quote, points of light, by helping people in ways in which government doesn't. but with a fear between the super powers, managing the peaceful end of the cold war may be his most notable achievement. now president george h.w. bush, the man and his mission. >> i don't think you will ever find a more thoughtful or considerate person than george bush. >> president bush -- he's probably the most complete person i have ever met. >> if you look at his history... he was a member of congress. >> he is smart. he's humble. >> he was chairman of his party. he was ambassador to the u.n. >> he is funny. he is spontaneous. >> he was second representative to china before we had an embassy. then he came back and he was director of central intelligence. >> i remember when we first started to campaign for president in 1979, george had this speech that he would give abo

now president george h. w. bush the man and his mission. >> i don't think you will ever find a more thoughtful or consider rat person than george bush. >> president bush, he's probably the most complete person i have ever met. >> if you look at his history, he was a member of congress, he is smart, he's humble. >> he was chairman of his party. he was ambassador to the u.n. >> he is funny, he is spontaneous. >> he was second to china before we had an embassy and he was director of central intelligence. >> i remember when we first started the campaign for president in 1979 george had this speech that he would give about the obligation and the promises and the rewards of public service. he would go out and say my father inculcated into me a sense of public service. i said george, don't say inculcated. people don't understand what that means. the average voter isn't going to get it. >> as vice president for 8 years anz as president of the united states george bush's mission was to make sure everyone got it. >> my friend

located on the campus of texas a & m university. >> following kind of the life of george bush. we have all of the records, and close to 100,000 artifacts. opening day was fantastic. november, 1997. we've had all of the living presidents here and first ladies. and president bush gave a great speech that day. >> i don't know if lou gear yig said it first. but i do know that he said it best. today, i feel like the luckiest person in the world. >> he served his country in a number of ways it wasn't until his acceptance speech in the 1988 g.o.p. convention he became to define himself. >> 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, i will complete it that night he called americans to step up to help their neighbors in the way government can't. the phrase points of light entered the public discourse. more than 20 years later thousands of people gathered in new orleans for the national conference on volunteering and service and neil bush continued his father's mission. >> he

it wasn't george w. bush who said he is only one guy and i don't care if we find him or not, basically. so give the man credit for something. >> you broaden this out to the tea party. we had a call in the last segment, linda, who is very critical of you and of me and of this network, basically saying you came on after gabby giffords was shot, blamed it on the tea party movement. >> no i didn't. i don't know where she got that from. no. but in the book i do talk about the fact that part of the problem with the violent rhetoric that we see today is violent rhetoric can lead to violent actions. and we have seen that in many cases. certainly the political atmosphere in tucson was very, very poisonous. and i think whoever -- the guy that killed the nine people there and shot gabby giffords was caught up in that. but i never pointed to the tea party. but words have consequences. that's important to know. >> because of that, let me go back to your book. several democratic members of congress were verbally abused by

their glee that was done to george bush.of arizona put her finger in the president's face and we're going to uphold the laws, federal laws in this state. i love the fact she did that. >> sean: he went after her. media story and narrative. good bless you and that is why we're here at fox. and great, great, great american panel is next. what's withou? trouble with a car insurance claim. [ dennis ] switch to allstate. their claim service is so good, noit's guaranteed. [ foreman ] so i can trust 'em. unlike rdy. dolr for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate. dolr for dollar, nobody kiss those lines goodbye! discover juvÉderm® xc, the smooth gel filler your doctors uses to instantly smooth out those parentheses lines around your nose and mouth for up to a year! temporary side effects include redness, pain, firmness, swelling, bumps or risk of infection. lose those lines! the way you look with juvÉderm® xc, might just change the way you look at everything. ask your doctor and visit juvederm.com. >> sean: tonight on our great,

their glee that was done to george bush.of arizona put her finger in the president's face and we're going to uphold the laws, federal laws in this state. i love the fact she did that. >> sean: he went after her. media story and narrative. good bless you and that is why we're here at fox. and great, great, great american panel is next. [ ma annncer ] wouldn't it be cool if you took the top down on a crossover? if there were buttons for this? wouldn't it be cool if your car could handle the kids. ♪ ...and the nurbgring? or wh if you built a car in tennessee that could change the world? yeah, that would be cool. nissan. innovation for today. innovation for tomorrow. innovation for all. ♪ with scottrader streaming quotes, any way you want. fully customize it for your trading process -- from thought to trade, on every screen. and all in real time. which makes it just like having your own trading floor, right at your fingertips. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. try our easy-to-use scottrader streami

george bush was not conservative enough for them. the real answer was to reach out for this kind of free market utopia. that is with the tea party movement was about. here is the strange thing. that strategy worked for them. fantastic, sweeping victory. what has happened is they have learned a lesson. i do not think it is a good lesson. they have learned always moving to the extremes is the way to win. and they seem to be able to criticize one another from a perspective of conservative authenticity. you look at romney and santorum fighting against the other. they accuse each other of being a fake conservative. that is the form of criticism that is permissible in the party now. tavis: go back to the midterm elections of 2010 where the president by his on a mission took a shellacking. it said to the tea party may have won the battle but i am not convinced in the long run they will win the war because i do not think this is sustainable, you would say what? >> their plan, their strategy is not healthy for the country. i do not know -- if

-- george w. bush, excuse me. so i sort of made the decision, and the reform party nomination was there for the asking, and it turned out to be a mess and a big battle with the pro people. it just all ended very badly for us. >> let's go back to george mason university. bob lichter. >> i have a student question. pat, you worked in a very high level of communications adviser to two different presidents, and then you ran for president yourself. and in conjunction with the question my student is about to ask, i question whether your running for president made you think differently about how to communicate with the elector according to your experiences. but i also would like to you answer chris' question. >> my question is obviously president nixon was a great debater and president reagan obviously labeled the great communicator. i was wondering what can be learned from both of those presidents for president obama or anyone else moving forward. >> well, i think president obama is an effective communicator, and i think

anybody with any brain knows it happened in october 2008 when george w. bushas in the white house and if you recall, they suspended the campaign and george w. bush called a meeting at the white house and brought john mccain and barack obama, candidates in, to say, what can we do about this? so whatever else you say about barack obama, he did not cause the financial meltdown. he wasn't in office at all. he's still trying to dig us out of it. just a sample of where they don't care about the facts anymore. they just throw this out there and you saw the people and they love it and stand up, they don't even think. i find it amusing. back to your question. look, i was really worried about president obama's re-election because the economy not coming back as fast, unemployment up, 10%. president obama i didn't think really had the right -- he wasn't forceful enough, spending too much time dealing with these republicans, he wasn't putting his message out there, he lost the fight over the debt ceiling, i thought, had to give up and extend the bush tax cuts for the wealt

george bush understood this. he got 45% of the vote. are going to get killed and they deserve it. >> eric: president obama has a plan to solve the energy crisis. because gas is getting expensive. listen to obama. >> not feed the wind, solar, battery industry, china or germany because some politicians refuse to make the same commitment in america. we are making new invest in the the development of gasoline and diesel and jet fuel made from a plant like substance. algae. you got a bunch of algae out here. all right? >> bob: you are on, eric. >> eric: i know. we spend $700 billion a year. we use 20 million-barrels of oil per day. he is going to solve it with algae? >> kimberly: i have algae i can sell. >> bob: you are the gas man. if we're so worried about gas, why do american refineries ship gas overseas? >> eric: they don't ship gas. >> bob: they ship a lot. >> eric: import and export gas. >> bob: we do export gas. >> greg: i'm bored already. >> bob: you get bored on everything. >> eric: you talk about how he said give me another term an

i've, i've met george bush.s not adolf hitler, but when you see obama with a bone in his nose and dressed in a loincloth, yyu're saying, this guy is a primitive. >> right. >> he's an animal. he's not a developed person. he's not a civilized person, and that, i think, is worse. >> and they'd be never saying the same thing if he were an anglo president. has, has he been a good president for the black community mr. bond? >> yes, but he's not een a everything black people want. and there are many black people that say, gee, i wish he'd done more. but he's a president whom i think about 94% of black people would eagerly vote for again. >> you do believe that. >> oh yeah, and i will too.3 >> yeah. tell me about what he has community wished he had done. >> well, maybe it's what he did do that i wish he hadn't done. >> well, either way. >> when he called.. [laughter] .when he said that the policeman in boston, who in ú&mbridge -- >> this is skip, skip gates. >> this is skip gates. yeah. when he said that was stupid and

i mean, i took one look at george bush, and george bush, jr., literally took one look at laura and he knew he was in love with her. >> love at first sight. >> it was. and george bush certainly, i could not breathe when i was in the room with him. >> so that is what you ought to guys felt when you found out that the terrorists were trying attack the white house? >> well, which time? >> terrible, terrible. >> you mean on september 11th? that was one of the questions i had seen before, what were the best days and what were the worst days in the white house and of course september 11th was the worst day that, and really when i thought about taall the days at the white house, the bad days were days when something bad happened in our country. not when something bad happened to us personally. but when something bad happened to people in our country. and certainly that was one of those days that punish know we will never forget. but also, when i was think background your question, richard, on the best and the worst also on knows days when bad things happen, we see the best of our people. afte

george bush was in the white house. so santorum's challenge will be to make the argument and convince voters that he was fighting george bush on a number of these things, not voting with him. with two key things that will come up, and he's dealt with them to some extent are the no child left behind which sanitorium now says was a mistake or a bad vote, one he regrets. i haven't heard him specifically on a medicare prescription drugs which was $400 billion new entitlement program tacked on without any offsetting tax increases or spending cuts. those are two big symbols of where conservatives think that the bush administration went wrong on domestic issues. those are the sorts of things are where santorum will have to explain himself. >> we're talking with stephen dine nan of "the washington times." the cpac conference getting under way tomorrow. stephen dinan, who is the republican front-runner? >> i guess it's still romney. this race has always been -- has been one story line, mitt romney and then everything but romney.

running against barack obama and his failed policy. >> if more people went on food stamps under george bushama. that is factually incorrect. >> he says more people under president obama. that's why they called him that. when i raised that president bush actually brought more new food stamp recipients than obama. the excuse isn't i just ran something inaccurate. it's that we're not running against him. let me show you who gets food stamps in america. 36% of them are white. 22% african-american. but let's go to the numbers between bush and president obama. under george bush, there were an additional 14.7 million new food stamp recipients. under president obama, there's 500,000 less. 14.2. so clearly not only are they trying to make this inference, like blacks are synonymous with food stamps when it's not true and this president is synonymous. it's not even true. george bush brought far more people on as nigh food stamp recipients than -- >> but reverend, you are tied to facts. what are facts when you are a republican. this is a party that has also said taxes have gone up under president obama

i mean, i took one look at george bush, and george bush jr. literally took one look at laura, and he knew that he was in love with her. i mean, it was -- >> love at first sight. >> it was, and george bush, certainly, i couldn't breathe when i was in the room with him. i was 16. >> that's what you have to look for. i want to know how you guys felt when you found out the terrorists were trying to attack the white house. >> well -- >> terrible, terrible. >> you mean on september 11? well, that was really one of your questions i'd seen before, what were the best days and what were the worst days in the white house, and, of course, september 11th was the worst day that -- really, when i thought about all the days at the white house, the bad days were the days when something bad happened in our country. not when something bad happened to us personally, but when something bad happened to people in our country. and certainly, that was one of those days that, you know, we'll never forget. but also when i was thinking about your question, richard, on th

i'm warren finch, director of the george bush presidential library and museum. it's been a wonderful day. i would like to welcome you to tonight's program featuring two of america's greatest first ladies as we conclude today's conference, america's first ladies, an enduring legacy. first ladies barbara bush and laura bush, we are so grateful that you are participating in our program tonight. and president bush, we're thankful that you're here also. [ applause ] in addition to our audience here in the auditorium, we're being joined by an audience over the internet. this program is being live streamed. so howdy to you all. i would like to thank our conference chair anita mcbride. we couldn't have done this without you. this all began when the presidential library directors attended a conference this past spring at american university which was chaired by anita. after experiencing that wonderful conference, my fellow directors here in texas decided that we should do it here in texas at the texas presidential libraries. and so we began here today, and we will contin

when george w. bush was in the white house. and if you recall, they suspended the campaign, and george w. bush called a meeting at the white house and called john mccain and barack obama, candidates, in to say, what can we do about this? whatever you say about barack obama, he did not cause the financial meltdown. he wasn't in office at all. he's still trying to dig us out of it. just a sample of where they don't care about the facts anymore. they just throw this crap out there. and you saw these people there, they love it, they stand up, they don't even think. i find it very amusing. back to your question about, look. i was really worried about president obama's re-election. because the economy not moving, coming back as fast, unemployment up 10%. president obama, i didn't think -- he wasn't forceful enough. he was spending too much time again dealing with these republicans. he wasn't putting his message out there. he lost the fight over the debt ceiling, i thought. had to give up and extend the tax cuts for the wealthiest peop

guest: i never said anything like -- george and bush?uest: i never said anything like that about george bush. i may have criticized his policies. i knew that he loved this country and i knew he was trying to do what he thought was best for this country. i just think he went in the wrong direction. i talked about this last night. in their early days of this country, if there had been talk shows in those days, george washington would have been reviled. politics was not privy in the days of the founding fathers. probably the ugliest election we ever had was an aging hundred between -- with john adams. after linkedin's assassination, -- after lincoln's assassination, politics to a new direction. i do not think that is healthy for our democracy. host: we have a tweet. i love this guy, he is driving the conservatives crazy. guest: [laughter] host: we have with us bill press, radio talk-show host and columnist. and of the author of "obama hate machine." caller: new democrats -- you democrats, i do not know why you call yourself progressive. gue

he donated to anthony wiener's campaign, and he has been on record saying george bush was the worst president ever. conservatives are looking at this and laughing and that is the voting block that romney. >> trump since 2009 has given more to democrats than runs. than republicans. >> don't rich people give money to everybody to smooth things over. he gave it to wiener so wiener would leave him alone and stop sending him pictures. >> that doesn't work for a guy who says he will run for president. i listened to a tape of him calling president bush the worst president ever.

>> the left blames george bush for a lot of things that he's not to blame for. i actually blame bush for this. follow along here. every president generally has an ha heir apparent when they leave office, george bush had dick cheney who did not want to run, and typically what the base does, they have a referendum on the president's legacy by choosing their heir apparent or someone else. because he left the void there, we went all the way back to 2000 and started over again, a lot of us having some of the same fights we've had and we're now at the situation where all of the candidates including romney to a degree are a bit of a victim of this void that was left by not having an heir. i think the republican party has yet to reset itself from the bush years to be able to move forward. >> ralph, on this intensity issue, has the obama administration helped the republican party in general, and more specifically, is this recent issue about the contraception mandate going to provide some of the intensity for republicans and conservatives? >> well, i think that whoever en

a great many republicans voted for him because they thought that george bush was turncoat. i think mr. bush's support for a tax increase in 1990 was an enormous act of courage. that no republican has been willing to show since and probably never will. i mean, would you want to be a republican running in a republican primary where grover norquist comes in and says, this guy must be defeated because he violated the pledge? or he refused to sign the pledge? members of the tea party don't know anything else. that guy's history. we saw during the 2010 campaign these tea party people are capable and perfectly willing to defeat incumbent republicans even at the cost of having that seat go to the democrats. you saw guys like robert bennett in utah who is no liberal by any means. >> the epitome of the conservative stalwart. >> he wasn't conservative enough. so they tossed him out. republicans lost seats in places like colorado and delaware where the tea party people were so insi insistent that these rhino republicans, that stands for republican in name only -- there is nothing worse

bush, and he says we need to have another meeting. and here is what i think needs -- the argument i would like to make. and george h.w. bush says, that sounds good, why don't i make the argument. and scowcroft says, no. if you make the argument, everybody's just going to follow you whether they believe it or not because you're the president. let me make the argument. they'll argue with me if they want, but i will make it clearly, and then if you agree, you can then move policy in that direction. so they remeet, scowcroft makes this very articulate argument in favor of moving, of confronting the iraqis. excuse me. taking a clear stand. and they do so. first, they send a bunch of troops to saudi arabia, and later they double the troop commitment and finally, as we know, ordered a -- but in the meantime, they also negotiated a worldwide alliance against saddam which was very, very effective. and james baker, secretary of state, was instrumental in doing that. >> host: we are here at the university of maryland, and we are talking with i.m. destler, professor here. he is the co-author of this book, "in the shadow of the ova

george w. bush, 37. president clinton, 53. president george w. bush, 141. so far, president obama has made 26. but once we have -- reason they didn't exist before 1980 is that there was no need for intrasession appointments by the president because the nate acted within one, two, or three days when the executive branch nomination was over. if there is a session there is no lack of availability in the session. as a matter of accommodation i'm less troubled to using the recess appointment clause that has been pending before the senate for a good while than i am in using it with respect to a nomination that has not been pending before the senate. the legality, illegality, i don't think would change one way or the other. those would either stand or fall together. as a prudential matter making it a combination. the reason being if the nomination has been before the senate, the senate has had it within its power to engage within the function. in fact, it chose not to do so. the senate has never had a called up and debated what advice to give the president on the

bush can only have sandwiches. but i think... of course distance changes things. george w. bush explicitly counts on that. someone else that reads a lot of history. he says "i just read four books last year on george washington's presidency. i think people will be changing their view." michael taught me many this a long time ago. your rule is what, 25 years to be able to really appreciate what happened. >> rose: so have we changed our opinion of john kennedy 25 years later? >> it's gone through all sorts of oscillations. in the '60s he was a hero. you began to learn things about anymore the 1970s that brought him down. it's gone back and forth. hasn't settled yet but you're right. because george h.w. bush is having a good time with historians now but he went through almost 20 years of almost hell because... >> rose: because of ronald reagan in part. >> and he had done the diplomacy that ended the cold war. no one was interested because the cold war was over and we had an economic crisis. the point is we look differently at presidents, we look for different things 30 years later. truman, for instance, went

the reason that george bush signed so many bills we passed in the congress in 2009 and 2010 was because we worked with the administration and worked with the senate. the senate and house controlled by democrats, president bush in office. he signed more than twice as many bills that we passed. why? because we worked with him. we would urge you to do the same. is the gentleman planning to bring up the infrastructure bill soon and will it be considered in an open process and does he expect bipartisan cooperation on the infrastructure package so we don't have to go up gaps another deadline. as the gentleman knows, march 31 the highway bill authorization ends. we temporarily included it. let me ends where this before you answer. ray lahood was a leader in this congress. was a leader on your side of the aisle. together a long time. i don't know if you have seen his quote but it bears consideration by your side of the aisle of a republican from middle america, peoria, who your minority leader had as his chief of staff. here is what he said about the was structure bill that marked up. this is t

go with us when we leave. >> given the number of years you've been in here, including george herbert walker bush's time, how many different bedrooms have you slept in? >> we've slept in a lot of the bedrooms. we stayed both in the queen's room and the lincoln bedroom when george's dad was president and we would visit them, and then we've stayed in a couple of the rooms upstairs on the third floor, also, when we visited them. and now, of course, we've stayed in the, what has really been the traditional bedroom of the president and the first lady. the same room, of course, they stayed in when they lived here and that we stay in now, which is right here, right in this part of the west sitting hall, the door to it is right here. so as you can tell, because of the kitchen and dining room on one side and our bedroom and our little den, study on the other side, and then the wonderful place to sit in the middle, this is the part of the house we really live in. >> how often do you leave this open? >> we leave this open all day, because it's such a beautiful, sunny side. and this is such a magnificent windo