george herbert walker bush sent them monthly news letters kind of -- not monthly. he offered them secure phones, and interestingly, all but one turned them down. i think a lot of them who used to be presidents kind of want to get away a little. they've had enough of that secure world stuff, i gave that up for something better or different. so i don't think there's a, um, a real downside the telling any of those guys if that happen. i think what's interesting is when they tell -- even after the strike on osama bin laden the first two calls were first to george walker bush and then to bill clinton because i think he knew these two men had both in their own way tried to get him and were impeded for different reasons, unable to make it happen or pull it off. and i think obama was saying or tipping his hat to the fact that this had been a shared mission over threepresidencies, and it took all three to get it done. that's a more important kind of loop. thank you. >> so we are about out of time. just on behalf of everyone here, the reagan library and the foundation, mike

i also know that unemployment is higher than it was under george herbert walker bush. i can't say for sure, but i think the next highest unemployment rate that a president's been reelected at was 7.2% under ronald reagan. i think it was under 6.5% for george herbert walker bush. i don't know what the interest rate was, but i think it's fair to say that the economy was in better shape in '92 by any objective measure than it is in 2012. so president obama's in big trouble. >> hi. i'm johanna hoff. i just want to take the opportunity to thank you because you use your gifted brain and your considerable verbal skills and your writing skills and your energy and fly all over. i'm just very grateful that you're able to do that. >> my great pleasure, thank you. >> my question is, what can little people, individual little people do the best right now to support mitt romney? i was a santorum supporter, and i'm so grateful to have seen it play out because it seemed like when everybody was played out, now it seems like we're all standing really strong and firm behind mitt romney. it

in 1988 when george herbert walker bush was trail to go michael dukakis, according to james baker, who that man right there, clint eastwood, was considered for vice president of the united states by george herbert walker bush. >> gretchen: i'm going to say that another secret pick might be tim tebow. going to go out on a limb. >> steve: now you're guessing? >> gretchen: yeah, i'm guessing. nobody knows. >> brian: if it was tuesday, because every nfl player is off on tuesday, i think you would have a shot. >> gretchen: really? >> brian: but it's thursday -- >> gretchen: there is nothing wrong with going out on a limb. tropical storm isaac is dumping more and more rain on louisiana as it moves slowly on a path towards arkansas. let's head to jonathan serrie live in new orleans this morning. hi, jonathan. >> good morning again. the rain continues to cause flooding problems as the slow moving storm system continues to unleash huge amounts of rain, even though the winds are dying down. communities such as slidell on the other side of lake pontchartrain from new orleans is reporting some flo

and then you reflect on that "newsweek" cover that called george herbert walker bush wimpy several years ago. how do george hushert walker bush and mitt romney compare in terms of wimpy factor? >> well, you know, the obvious difference that george h. w. bush served in a war and not only served in a war but was shot down -- he was an aviator shot down over the pacific as i put it in my piece before he could even legally drink a beer. he was just 20 years old. you know, that's pretty good. i call that bravery. additionally, george h. w. bush, this is one of the things brought out in the "newsweek" article from 1987, actually in a way then, they were kind of using it against him. but i don't think it is quite right to use it against him. he's a product of this very old code where you behave sedately. you don't act with a lot of verber ra. you know, you play it calm. and you wait your turn and you don't demand too much attention. and so on and so on. now mitt romney, i'm not saying this is a kind of manliness or or -- but i guess i would say that romney just does not have those values at all

it's almost exactly on a parallel track as chuck todd was pointing out this morning, on george herbert walker bushll clinton, which is not good for an incumbent president. >> i would say a couple things. i think that chuck is actually more right when he indicates that this election is more like the 2004 contest than the 1992 race. there are ways in which it's pretty clear looking at that poll, there are ways in which folks have the perception that mitt romney because of his private sector experience and because he's not been in washington, d.c., they have a sense he can move the lever in ways that the current administration has not. but when they get a sense of what exactly his experience was in the private economy, when he was outsourcing jobs in bain capital, when they begin to appreciate that in massachusetts, he was 47th out of 50th in job growth, and when they understand that he's not laid out any real plans for growing jobs in this economy, th certainly has not been addressing the bread and butter issues that working families care about right now, those numbers decline for him which is exact

george w. bush, son of president george herbert walker bush. governor bush selected richard cheney as his running mate and that election would ultimately be decided by a supreme court ruling. here is his speech from early august 2000. mr. chairman. mr. chairman. thank you all. >> [applause] >> thank you! >> mr. chairman, mr. chairman, delegates and my fellow citizens, i proudly accept your nomination. [applause] thank you. thank you for this honor. thank you for this honor. together, we will renew america's purpose. >> [applause] >> our founders defined that purpose here in philadelphia. ben franklin was here. thomas jefferson. and of course, george washington. or as his friends called him, george w.! >> [applause]

but it take me back to the 1988 convention of george herbert walker bush was nonated. they talked about a gesture. you're going to see a kinder gentler mitt romney tonight. people in the hall do not have a sense of who he is. that's her job. >> the points for the delegates when you talk to them have been we're not warm and fuzzy, we just get the job done. they're not trying to oversell the kind her and gentler warm and fuzzy. >> ifill: we don't have to like you to elect you. >> as romney said in the interview you may not love me but i'll help the bottom line. >> ifill: it's the subject of a lot of conversation here and that is how much does mitt romney ne to warm himself up, need to make himself more likeable to american voters. and is it enough or is it enough just to say hey i'm the guy who can get the job done, i'm the guy who can go and create jobs we were just talk big in that last segment. >> 20 on 4 john kerry won all three degates against george w. bush and he won re-election. peter hart, the democrat pollster contradicted by republicans either. made the analys

but it take me back to the 1988 convention of george herbert walker bush was nominated. they talked about a gesture. you're going to see a kinder gentler mitt romney tonight. people in the hall do not have a sense of who he is. that's her job. >> the points for the delegates when you talk to them have been we're not warm and fuzzy, we just get the job done. they're not trying to oversell the kind her and gentler warm and fuzzy. >> ifill: we don't have to like you to elect you. >> as romney said in the interview you may not love me but i'll help the bottom line. >> ifill: it's the subject of a lot of conversation here and that is how much does mitt romney need to warm himself up, need to make himself more likeable to american voters. and is it enough or is it enough just to say hey i'm the guy who can get the job done, i'm the guy who can go and create jobs we were just talk big in that last segment. >> 20 on 4 john kerry won all three degates against george w. bush and he won re-election. peter hart, the democrat pollster contradicted by republicans either. made the anal

when george herbert walker bush, he promised the american people that he wasn't going to raise the taxeshrew him out of the office four years later. he lied to the american people. >> senator, you signed the pledge. yet during the 2011 supercommittee negotiations you put revenue, taxes on the table, are you violating the pledge? >> let's be very clear, we're staring in the face the biggest tax increase in america's history. it will be devastating to our prospect and prevent us from solving the other problems that we have. how do we avoid this? if anyone can show me with certainty to completely avoid this tax increase, that's what i'm for. i'm not convinced. i was willing to put a bit of revenue on the table to avoid a big tax increase. absolutely we can solve this problem without raising taxes and that's the optimal way of doing it. >> look, jake, the fundamental choice, the romney/ryan ticket makes is to provide another round of big tax breaks to the very wealthy at the expense of everybody else. it's based on the trickle-down theory. if you give mitt romney another tax cut, it will lis

you were a supporter and became chief of staff to george herbert walker bush.is speech he gave was a game changer in that election. your thoughts about that speech in 1988. >> the president delivered a great speech. it takes two things. somebody has to put together a great speech, and the candidate has to deliver a great speech. it was a great speech because it had a lot of substance in it. what mitt romney has to do here, and let me get a temporal context. i am a believer that campaigns are like basketball games. it is the last two minutes that has most of the action, and most of the impact. in political campaigns, presidential campaigns, it is the last two months. in america, that part of the campaign does not get started until the kids go back to school. that is the timing that we are looking at here. what mitt romney is one to try to do is to launch us into this last two-month . with a clear definition of what he wants to do. it will be an uplifting speech. if i were try to help in crafting it, i would urge it be positive and uplifting and talk about how we

. >> the recent president who held the most solo news conference in a single term was george herbert walker bush with 72. the chief executive who had the most impromptu q&a session his successor bill clinton with 500 across his two terms. >> bret: all right, james. thank you. today, president obama signed in law the sequest tration transparency -- sequestration transparency act. almost one in three doctors is refusing to accept new patients covered by medicaid. "wall street journal" reports a new study blames the plan's low reimbursement. one of the main features is providing insurance coverage for millions of more people by signing them up for medicaid. republicans as deadly bacteria? we'll tell you who is making that connection. senate candidate says never mind. after pressing an opponent over tax returns. the grapevine is next. max. this is the plan that revolves around you. introducing share everything. unlimited talk. unlimited text. and a single pool of sharable data that powers up to 10 devices. the first pl of it's kind. share everything. only from verizon. add a smartphone for just $40

and there's george herbert walker bush and henry kissinger with me and habib and xiaoping. i was part of the you can skeegy anniversary. this is a piece of the plane from the pentagon that i picked up there that morning and brought with me into the office. once they heard i had it in the office, iturned out it was the property of american airlines and we had to get their permission. >> greta: the day of the crash, you were in the building. did you feel it shake? >> eoh, sure, you could. we had seen two planes go into the world trade center. so when it hit the pentagon, it was clear that we had been attacked. the only question, what was it? was it a truck bomb? was it an airplane? went out and down and went to see what it was. picked this up and brought it back. these are pictures of the presidents. when they get together, they agree to sign so many copies for each other. and president ford sent me these. >> greta: look, there is richard nixon, he didn't sign it. >> he did. he used ink that faded. >> greta: his is faded. >> same thing here. isn't that a nice composition? tha

george herbert walker bush. e] my friends, this campaign is about philosophy, and it is about character, and george bush wins hands down on both counts and it is time all of us came home and stood beside him. chose albert gore. and just how moderate is prince albert? well, according to the taxpayers union, al gore beat out teddy kennedy, two straight years, for the title of biggest spender in the senate. and teddy kennedy isn't moderate about anything. and i am not kidding. how many other 60 year-old do you know that still go to florida for spring break? [applause] out that that great big costume party in new york, mr. gore made ahenceforth, he said, the "central organizing principle" of all governments must be -- the environment. wrong, albert. the central organizing principle of this republic is freedom. [applause] and from the ancient forests of oregon, to the inland empire of california, america's great middle class has got to start standing up to the environmental extremists who put insects, rats and birds a

george herbert walker bush didn't seem to have one until the convention that he delivered a speech thate delivered so eloquently and poignantly. are they working on that? >> there are analogs he has to do it. on this election i think bill clinton's selection of al gore. al gore's selection of lieberman. i think those showed personality at the top of the ticket. in terms of the debates, i think bush 2000 is the analog the romney campaign should look at. he showed a lot of personality in those debates, made people more comfortable with him. the private romney is definitely more engaging and personable than he's been able to show. it's those three moments, if he can perform in those three moments in the economy and personality. >> you grabbed me there naming lieberman for the highest offices in the country. i don't know what effected the electorate college and all but it did show guts. i remember saying at the time this is ricky trying something new. you think there's still a chance that litd will name someone sort of revolutionary or really cutting edge? >> i think it is how he presents i

mike dukakis was 15 points ahead of george herbert walker bush going into the 1988 convention. this myth that we have to be leading -- we're doing -- >> laura: i'm just trying to get this. you prefer that the romney campaign, when obama has 43% approval today in gallup, you prefer that the romney campaign be behind in most of these polls? >> no. >> laura: you're right, rasmussen has something different. >> not behind. but i don't want to accept the fact that just because they're where they are today, that everybody is entitled to be carping about this campaign. >> laura: you think andrea's response to the cancer ad citing romney care was smart? i can't believe you said that. >> the right answer to that question is that obama and his team are lying. it is dishonest. >> laura: thank you. >> it is unethical. but i've said this for the last week. >> laura: did you. but the campaign spokesman did not. and again, it's not all on her. she's just one person. but i think it is evidence of some sense that this strategy in police or the rapid response team in place is not really up to the

george herbert walker bush didn't seem to have one until the convention that he delivered a speech. they working on that? >> there are analogs e had has to do it. on this election i think bill clinton's selection of al gore. al gore's selection of lieberman. i think those showed personality. in terms of the debates, i think bush 2000 is the analog the romney campaign should look at. he showed a lot of personality in those debates, made people comfortable with him. the private romney is definitely more engaging and personable than he's been able to show. if he can perform in those three moments. >> you grabbed me there naming lieberman for the highest offices in the country. i don't know what effected the electorate college and all but it did show guts. i remember saying at the time this is ricky trying something new. you think there's still a chance to romney will name someone sort of revolutionary or cutting edge? >> i don't. i i think it's how he presents it. if you pick in the right way. but it's how the event goes. how you talk about why you made the choice. if romney does that

is the exact age of tag ryan, the oldest son, and they look right together in a way that george herbert walker bush and dan quayle never fit. you have to give them the fact this rollout working very well. you know, the drama and the theatrics of it all. >> no question. people are saying well, sarah palin got a lot of energy in the early days but if you go back and look, even then, you can see there's an awkwardness between john mccain and sarah palin. this was in some ways a forced marriage. this feels more like clinton/gore, though the age difference is not the same, but it's kind of a doubling down on the side of reformer, bringing new ideas, willing to tell hard truth. in some ways, i think you can make the argument mitt romney may have found a little bit of who he actually is in picking paul ryan. i'm with chuck on this. chuck and i talked about this a million times. i always said he's never going to pick paul ryan. why do you purposely put a medicare and budget proposal that you didn't write on the ballot. i think mitt romney was the leading voice that said we're doing this because i think thi

. >> if i count it right, george herbert walker bush's letter is the longest letter in the book. >> itprobably is. >> he had it in his own book. what drew you to this one? it was when he was 74 years old. >> it's a letter about aging, and what drew me to the letter is how candid he is. i think it's a person i had not seen before in george bush. it's very long and that was one of the -- one of my decisions too is i wouldn't cut any of the letters. i wanted people to see exactly how they were written and intended, and sometimes the parent will repeat themselves or they'll hammer on a point too many times or they'll go on too long. and i think the george bush letter, he goes on and on and on. i don't think that he went back and edited much of that at all. and i like that. i think you see him. you see who he is. >> it's on page 273, i'll start it off and you can pick up a paragraph or two if you want. this letter is about aging. what would you like to include in this letter? >> let me just see here. i love that, that he's acknowledges that he's aging, he's acknowledging he can't do things

but it take me back to the 1988 convention of george herbert walker bush was nominated. they talked about a gesture. you're going to see a kinder gentler mitt romney tonight. people in the hall do not have a sense of who he is. that's her job. >> the points for the delegates when you talk to them have been we're not warm and fuzzy, we just get the job done. they're not trying to oversell the kind her and gentler warm and fuzzy. >> ifill: we don't have to like you to elect you. >> as romney said in the interview you may not love me but i'll help the bottom line. >> ifill: it's the subject of a lot of conversation here and that is how much does mitt romney need to warm himself up, need to make himself more likeable to american voters. and is it enough or is it enough just to say hey i'm the guy who can get the job done, i'm the guy who can go and create jobs we were just talk big in that last segment. >> 20 on 4 john kerry won all three degates against george w. bush and he won re-election. peter hart, the democrat pollster contradicted by republicans either. made the anal

. >> george herbert walker bush is not going to be at the convention and -- >> that says everything. >> that tells you what you needed to know about that. also, by the way, in the kickoff at the campaign, there will be one other on the short list of finalists, governor bob mcdonald will be there in norfolk. >> and one other thing, we're going to be parsing through this over and over again about the different ups and downs. one thing i want to bring up about portman in ohio, no matter how you poll a vp candidate, a potential vp candidate, there's nothing like the crush of national coverage and they become a household name in 27 hours. i mean, that's the way our world works now. you become so well known. so could you -- i don't think we can really -- i would just advise to throw out all of those other polls. i make the case that portman would have been a bigger help in ohio than maybe you could have tested before because you can't really -- >> exactly. >> you can't test the out like, what's it going to be like after he has the roll out, after he makes that initial speech? >> let me giv

surrogate for the romney campaign and of course, the former chief of staff to president george herbert walker bushbeing with us. >> nice to be with you again. >> always good to see you. like to give you a chance to respond to stephanie cutter. >> look, can you imagine how much gall it takes for the democrats, stephanie cutter and barack obama, who have made lifetime careers out of demagoguing the medicare issue, who cut that medicare ad on paul ryan, to now express concern that the republicans are pointing out that the only person that ever put into place a law that cut money out of medicare and hurt seniors is barack obama, with his $700 billion plus cut in medicare. it's unbelievable. the hypocrisy, the double language, if you will, and frankly, the dishonesty. this is the same stephanie cutter that acknowledged a few days ago that there was this $700 billion plus cut and she was saying it was quite an achievement. >> let me break down a couple of points here. i know we will then engage but let me ask the question. that $700 billion is the same amount of money approximately that's in the ryan bu

. >> he is 88, george herbert walker bush resting in his home in maine.st convention he's missed since 1976. his mobility slowed down by a condition related to parkinson's. he's largely in a wheelchair on a day-to-day basis. his son and the former president sending a note here to folks they would not attend. their other son, however, is here, jeb bush filling a void for both of them. on that video clip when george w bush said mitt romney would make a great president this place erupted in a standing ovation. >> thank you. >> and let's check back in with our panel. charles, carl and brit. carl before i ask you about final thoughts that video is very touching. >> powerful. two great men. a unique moment in our nation's history. only twice have we had a father and son in service as president. john adams and john quincy adams and now, two great men with surrounded, who have two terrific partners. barbara bush and laura bush, two extraordinary first ladies of our country. >> let's talk about tomorrow. mitt romney's challenge. past two days for speeches and toda

. >> he reminds me, martha of george herbert walker bush, if i had to like even him to any single politicianuld be him. he has that certain modesty and reserve, the result of a certain kind of upbringing and it creates a challenge for him, because you talk to people who have known him or done business with him or had encounters with him sort of outside of public life over the years and you hear these amazing stories of personal generosity and consideration for other people, and you heard her say last night he doesn't like to talk about them and she got off this great line about how he considers it a privilege and not a political talking point. on the other hand knowledge of some of this would be useful. she sort of started that, opened that door. perhaps others will walk-through that and begin to tell us about some of the things that constitute mitt romney the man and his personal life, because the stories are really quite remarkable, and i think if people knew them, and felt they knew more about him they might warm up to him more than they have. martha: i think that sort of patri c.i.a. n q

when george herbert walker bush was president, a much different climate around racial politics than theren party. so, michael steele was undercut and this was my position. very successful as a chairman. he won the 2010 midterm elections. the biggest walloping of the democrats since the '40s and the guy gets run out on a rail, frankly. there weren't people that didn't like he wanted to change things. why is that important? let's put this in context. we were talking off camera about other issues of importance in this country. republicans can't even engage in this dialogue because they're afraid of being called racist. the reason they're afraid of being called racist they don't have anybody that looks like me, you can't trot out condoleezza rice and others when it is convenient for you at the convention every four years and not have them in the party. who is advising mitt romney who is a high-ranking atalking to hm about issues that matter to people of color in this country. you must have people who reflect the diversity of this culture and they don't have it. on incarceration issues, what a

george herbert walker bush lost in 1992 to bill clinton.then a third party by ross perot. this was a bush who had won the gulf war, seen the breakup of the soviet union and the berlin wall coming down. many thought should have been a shoe-in but the economy and that speech was doomsday for him. >> sarah palin was a huge hit at the last republican national convention. her lipstick on a pit bull comment stood out to a lot of people. >> palin's speech is an example of a danger becoming bigger than the candidate. you don't want paul ryan's speech to get more attention than mitt romney's. and she clearly did with that. it was wonderful line. she became a media darling. suddenly, she had paparazzi following her everywhere and she wasn't up for being the insect in the jar, being shaken all the time and started making a lot of mistakes on the campaign trail heading into that november. >> nobody really remembers john mccain's speech. >> nobody does. what did he say? nobody remembers. everybody remembers sarah palin. >> doug brinkley, thanks for bein

george w. bush, son of president george herbert walker bush. governor bush selected richard cheney as his running mate and that election would ultimately be decided by a supreme court ruling. here is his speech from early august 2000. mr. chairman. mr. chairman. thank you all. >> [applause] >> thank you! >> mr. chairman, mr. chairman, delegates and my fellow citizens, i proudly accept your nomination. [applause] thank you. thank you for this honor. thank you for this honor. together, we will renew america's purpose. >> [applause] >> our founders defined that purpose here in philadelphia. ben franklin was here. thomas jefferson. and of course, george washington. or as his friends called him, george w.! >> [applause] >> i am proud to have dick cheney by my side. >> [applause] >> he is the man of integrity, and sound judgment, who has proven that public service can be noble service. america will be proud to have a leader of such character to succeed al gore as vice president of the united states. i'm grateful for senator john mccain. i appreciate

if mitt romney can get up to 10%, which is where george herbert walker bush was and -- that would be good showing for and the republicans. and they should be able to appeal to all voters, not just white or black host: our first caller from massachusetts, good morning. caller: good morning. i have an interesting proposal for politics, a truth in politics, i call it. number one, no one quarter to -- one-quarter truths. it is bad enough that they give a half truth, but worse when they give a decimal point truth. for example, what happened in california. what happened? the government invested about one-third of the invested money. the republican investors for the most part invested two thirds of the money lost in that solar project. they only talk about little one- third of the truth that the government lost the money. they do not say that a number of equally stupid investors did the same thing, but lost even more money. host: are you saying that the government is covering up how much money is being lost and not talking about it? caller: the point is, the politicians must tell the whole