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"But all in all, it's been a fabulous year for Laura and
me." —George W. Bush, summing
up his first year in office, Washington, D.C., Dec. 20, 2001
"I couldn't imagine somebody like Osama bin Laden understanding the joy
of Hanukkah." —George W. Bush, at a
White House Menorah lighting ceremony, Washington, D.C., Dec. 10, 2001 (Listen
to audio clip)
"The
United States and Russia are in the midst of transformationed relationship that
will yield peace and progress." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C.,
Nov, 13, 2001
"We need to counter the shockwave of the evildoer by having individual
rate cuts accelerated and by thinking about tax rebates." —George
W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Oct. 4, 2001
"I am here to make an announcement that this Thursday, ticket counters
and airplanes will fly out of Ronald Reagan Airport." —George
W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Oct. 3, 2001 (Listen
to audio clip)
"We are fully committed to working with both sides to bring the level of
terror down to an acceptable level for both." —George
W. Bush, after a meeting with congressional leaders, Washington, D.C., Oct. 2,
2001
"The folks who conducted to act on our country on September 11th made a
big mistake. They underestimated America. They underestimated our resolve, our
determination, our love for freedom. They misunderestimated the fact that we
love a neighbor in need. They misunderestimated the compassion of our country. I
think they misunderestimated the will and determination of the
Commander-in-Chief, too." —George W.
Bush, Washington, D.C., Sept. 26, 2001
"Border relations between Canada and
Mexico have never been better." —George W.
Bush, in a press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien.
Sept. 24, 2001
"When I take action, I'm not going to fire
a $2 million missile at a $10 empty tent and hit a camel in the butt. It's going
to be decisive." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C. Sept. 19, 2001
"When I was a kid I remember that they used to
put out there in the Old West a wanted poster. It said, Wanted: Dead or
Alive." —George
W. Bush, Washington, D.C. Sept. 18, 2001
"I'm
confident we can work with Congress to come up with an economic stimulus package
that will send a clear signal to the risk takers and capital formators of our
country." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Sept. 17, 2001
"Brie
and cheese." —George W. Bush, to reporters, on what he imagines reporters
eat, Crawford, Texas, Aug. 23, 2001
"Arbolist
… Look up the word. I don't know, maybe I made it up. Anyway, it's an
arbo-tree-ist, somebody who knows about trees." —George
W. Bush, as quoted in USA Today, Aug. 21, 2001
"The suicide bombings have increased. There's too many of
them." —George W. Bush, Albuquerque, N.M., Aug. 15, 2001
"One of the interesting initiatives
we've taken in Washington, D.C., is we've got these vampire-busting devices. A
vampire is a — a cell deal you can plug in the wall to charge your cell
phone." —George W. Bush, Denver, Aug. 14, 2001
"There's a lot of people in the
Middle East who are desirous to get into the Mitchell process. And — but first
things first. The — these terrorist acts and, you know, the responses have got
to end in order for us to get the framework — the groundwork — not
framework, the groundwork to discuss a framework for peace, to lay the—all
right." —George W. Bush, referring to former Sen. George Mitchell's
report on Middle East peace, Crawford, Texas, Aug. 13, 2001
"My administration has been calling
upon all the leaders in the — in the Middle East to do everything they can to
stop the violence, to tell the different parties involved that peace will never
happen." —George W. Bush, Crawford, Texas, Aug, 13, 2001
"A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question
about it." —George W. Bush, July 27, 2001
"You saw the president yesterday. I thought he was very forward-leaning,
as they say in diplomatic nuanced circles." —Goerge W. Bush, referring to
his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, July 23, 2001
"I know what I believe. I will
continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe — I believe what I
believe is right." —George W. Bush, in Rome, July 22, 2001
"It is white." —George W. Bush, asked by a child
in Britain what the White House was like, July 19, 2001
"It's my honor to speak to you as the
leader of your country. And the great thing about America is you don't have to
listen unless you want to." —George W. Bush, speaking to recently sworn
in immigrants on Ellis Island, July 10, 2001
"Well, it's an unimaginable honor to
be the president during the Fourth of July of this country. It means what
these words say, for starters. The great inalienable rights of our
country. We're blessed with such values in America. And I — it's — I'm
a proud man to be the nation based upon such wonderful values." —George
W. Bush, visiting the Jefferson Memorial, Washington, D.C., July 2, 2001
"I
can't tell you what it's like to be in Europe, for example, to be talking about
the greatness of America. But the true greatness of America are the
people." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., July 2, 2001
"You
know, sometimes when you study history, you get stuck in the past." —George
W. Bush,
on what he told Russian president Vladimir Putin, as quoted in the Wall
Street Journal, June 25, 2001
"It's
negative to think about blowing each other up. That's not a positive thought.
That's a Cold War thought. That's a thought when people were enemies with each
other." —George W. Bush, as quoted in the Wall Street Journal,
June 25, 2001
"I'm sure
you can imagine it's an unimaginable honor to live here." —George
W. Bush,
addressing agricultural leaders at the White House, June 18, 2001
"I want to thank you for coming to
the White House to give me an opportunity to urge you to work with these five
senators and three congressmen, to work hard to get this trade promotion
authority moving. The power that be, well most of the power that be, sits right
here."—George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., June 18, 2001
"I
looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and
trustworthy….I was able to get a sense of his soul." —George W. Bush,
after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, June 16, 2001
"We spent a lot of time talking
about Africa, as we should. Africa is a nation that suffers
from incredible disease." —George
W. Bush, at a news conference in Europe, June 14, 2001 (Listen
to audio clip)
"It's amazing I won. I was running against peace,
prosperity, and incumbency." —George
W. Bush, June 14, 2001, speaking to Swedish Prime Minister Goran Perrson,
unaware that a live television camera was still rolling.
"I haven't had a chance to talk, but
I'm confident we'll get a bill that I can live with if we don't." —George
W. Bush, referring to the McCain-Kennedy patients' bill of rights, June 13, 2001
"Can't living with the bill means it
won't become law." —George W.
Bush, referring to the McCain-Kennedy patients' bill of rights, June 13, 2001
"Russia
is no longer our enemy and therefore we shouldn't be locked into a Cold War
mentality that says we keep the peace by blowing each other up. In my attitude,
that's old, that's tired, that's stale." —George W. Bush,
Des Moines, Iowa, June 8, 2001
"Anyway, I'm so thankful, and so
gracious — I'm gracious that my brother Jeb is concerned about the hemisphere
as well." —George W. Bush, June 4,
2001
"It's important for young men and
women who look at the Nebraska champs
to understand that quality of life is
more than just blocking shots." —George W. Bush, in remarks
to the University
of Nebraska women's
volleyball team, the 2001 national champions, May 31,
2001
"So on behalf of a well-oiled unit
of people who came together to serve something greater than themselves,
congratulations." —George W. Bush, in remarks to the University of
Nebraska women's volleyball team, the 2001 national champions, May 31, 2001
"If
a person doesn't have the capacity that we all want that person to have, I
suspect hope is in the far distant future, if at all." —George W. Bush,
May 22, 2001
"For every fatal shooting, there were roughly
three non-fatal shootings. And, folks, this is unacceptable in America. It's
just unacceptable. And we're going to do something about it." —George W.
Bush, Philadelphia, Penn., May 14, 2001
"There's no
question that the minute I got elected, the storm clouds on the horizon were
getting nearly directly overhead." —George W. Bush,
May 11, 2001
"But I also made
it clear to (Vladimir
Putin)
that it's important to think beyond the old days of when we had the concept that
if we blew each other up, the world would be safe." —George W.
Bush, May 1, 2001
"I
hope we get to the bottom of the answer. It's what I'm interested to know."
—George W. Bush, as quoted by AP, April 26, 2000
"First, we would
not accept a treaty that would not have been ratified, nor a treaty that I
thought made sense for the country." —George W. Bush, on
the Kyoto accord, April 24, 2001
"He
married, like me, above his head." —George W. Bush, on U.S. ambassador to
Canada Paul Cellucci, Quebec City, April 22, 2001
"It's very
important for folks to understand that when there's more trade, there's more
commerce." —George W. Bush, at the Summit of the Americas in
Quebec City, April 21, 2001
"Neither in French nor in English nor in
Mexican." —George
W. Bush, declining to take reporters' questions during a photo op with Canadian Prime
Minister Jean Chretien, April 21, 2001
"We
must have the attitude that every child in America – regardless of where
they're raised or how they're born — can learn." —George W. Bush,
New Britain, Conn., April 18, 2001
"It is time to set
aside the old partisan bickering and finger-pointing and name-calling that comes
from freeing parents to make different choices for their children." —George
W. Bush, on "parental empowerment in education," April 12, 2001
"I think we're
making progress. We understand where the power of this country lay. It lays in
the hearts and souls of Americans. It must lay in our pocketbooks. It lays in
the willingness for people to work hard. But as importantly, it lays in the fact
that we've got citizens from all walks of life, all political parties, that are
willing to say, I want to love my neighbor. I want to make somebody's life just
a little bit better." —George W. Bush, April 11, 2001
"This
administration is doing everything we can to end the stalemate in an efficient
way. We're making the right decisions to bring the solution to an end."
—George W. Bush, Washington, D.C. April 10, 2001
"It would be
helpful if we opened up ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge). I think it's a
mistake not to. And I would urge you all to travel up there and take a look at
it, and you can make the determination as to how beautiful that country
is." —George W. Bush, White House press conference, March 29, 2001
"We
want to develop defenses that are capable of defending ourselves and defenses
capable of defending others." —George W. Bush, White House
press conference, Washington, D.C. March 29, 20001
"I've coined new
words, like, misunderstanding and Hispanically." —George W. Bush,
speaking at the Radio
& Television Correspondents dinner, March 29, 2001
"We'll
be a great country where the fabrics are made up of groups and loving
centers." —George W. Bush, Kalamazoo, Michigan, March 27, 2001
"A lot of times in
the rhetoric, people forget the facts. And the facts are that thousands of small
businesses — Hispanically owned or otherwise — pay taxes at the highest
marginal rate." —George W. Bush, speaking to the Hispanic Chamber of
Commerce, March 19, 2001
"But the true
threats to stability and peace are these nations that are not very transparent,
that hide behind the—that don't let people in to take a look and see what
they're up to. They're very kind of authoritarian regimes. The true threat is
whether or not one of these people decide, peak of anger, try to hold us
hostage, ourselves; the Israelis, for example, to whom we'll defend, offer our
defenses; the South Koreans." —George W. Bush, in a media roundtable
discussion, March 13, 2001
"I do think we need for a troop to be
able to house his family. That's an important part of building morale in the
military." —George W. Bush, speaking at Tyndall Air Force Base in
Florida, March 12, 2001
"I suspect that had my dad not been
president, he'd be asking the same questions: How'd your meeting go with
so-and-so? … How did you feel when you stood up in front of the people for the
State of the Union Address—state of the budget address, whatever you call
it." —George W. Bush, in an interview with the Washington Post,
March 9, 2001
"Ann and I will
carry out this equivocal message to the world: Markets must be open."
—George W. Bush, at the swearing-in ceremony for Secretary of
Agriculture Ann Veneman, March 2, 2001
"My pan plays down
an unprecedented amount of our national debt." —George W.
Bush, in his budget address to Congress, Feb. 27, 2001
"We
both use Colgate toothpaste." —George W. Bush, on what he had in common
with Tony Blair, Camp David, Maryland, Feb. 23, 2001
"I have said that
the sanction regime is like Swiss cheese — that
meant that they weren't very effective." —George W.
Bush, during a White House press conference, Feb. 22, 2001
"You teach a child
to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test.'' —George W. Bush, Feb. 21, 2001
"My plan reduces the national debt, and
fast. So fast, in fact, that economists worry that we're going to run out of
debt to retire." —George W. Bush, radio address, Feb. 24, 2001
"Home
is important. It's important to have a home." —George
W. Bush, Crawford, Texas, Feb. 18, 2001
"It's good to see
so many friends here in the Rose Garden. This is our first event in this
beautiful spot, and it's appropriate we talk about policy that will affect
people's lives in a positive way in such a beautiful, beautiful part of our
national — really, our national park system, my guess is you would want to
call it."—George W. Bush, Feb. 8, 2001
"We're concerned
about AIDS inside our White House — make no mistake about it." —George W.
Bush, Feb. 7, 2001
"There's no such
thing as legacies. At least, there is a legacy, but I'll never see it."
—George W. Bush, speaking to Catholic leaders at the White House, Jan. 31,
2001
"I appreciate that
question because I, in the state of Texas, had heard a lot of discussion about a
faith-based initiative eroding the important bridge between church and
state." —George W. Bush, speaking to reporters, Washington, D.C., Jan. 29, 2001
"I am mindful not only of preserving executive powers
for myself, but for predecessors as well." —George W. Bush, Washington,
D.C., Jan. 29, 2001
"Then I went for a
run with the other dog and just walked. And I started thinking about a lot of
things. I was able to — I can't remember what it was. Oh, the inaugural
speech, started thinking through that." —George W. Bush, in a
pre-inaugural interview with U.S. News & World Report
"My
pro-life position is I believe there's life. It's not necessarily based in
religion. I think there's a life there, therefore the notion of life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness." —George W. Bush, as quoted in the San
Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 23, 2001
"I'm hopeful. I know there is a lot of
ambition in Washington, obviously. But I hope the ambitious realize that they
are more likely to succeed with success as opposed to failure." —George
W. Bush, Jan. 18, 2001
"I
want everybody to hear loud and clear that I'm going to be the president of
everybody." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Jan. 18, 2001
"Redefining the
role of the United States from enablers to keep the peace to enablers to keep
the peace from peacekeepers is going to be an assignment." —George
W. Bush, Jan. 14, 2001
"The California
crunch really is the result of not enough power-generating plants and then not
enough power to power the power of generating plants." —George W. Bush,
Jan. 14, 2001
"If he's
— the inference is that somehow he
thinks slavery is a — is a noble institution I would — I would strongly reject that
assumption — that John Ashcroft is
a open-minded, inclusive person."—George
W. Bush, Jan. 14, 2001
"She's just trying
to make sure Anthony gets a good meal — Antonio." —George W.
Bush, on Laura Bush inviting Justice
Antonin Scalia to dinner at the White House, Jan. 14, 2001
"I
think it's very important for world leaders to understand that when a new
administration comes in, the new administration will be running the foreign
policy." —George W. Bush, interview with USA Today, Jan. 12,
2001
"I want it to be said that the Bush
administration was a results-oriented administration, because I believe the
results of focusing our attention and energy on teaching children to read and
having an education system that's responsive to the child and to the parents, as
opposed to mired in a system that refuses to change, will make America what we
want it to be — a more literate country and a hopefuller country." —George
W. Bush, Jan. 11, 2001
"It'll be hard to articulate." —George
W. Bush, anticipating how he'll feel upon assuming the presidency, Jan.
2001
"It's
about past seven in the evening here so we're actually in different time
lines." —George W. Bush, congratulating newly elected Philippine
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Washington, D.C., Jan. 2001
"I do remain confident in Linda.
She'll make a fine labor secretary. From what I've read in the press accounts,
she's perfectly qualified." —George W. Bush, commenting on Linda Chavez,
Jan. 8, 2001
"I've
always found the best investments are those that you salt away based on
economics." —George W. Bush, Austin, Texas, Jan. 4, 2001
"I mean, these good folks are revolutionizing how businesses conduct
their business. And, like them, I am very optimistic about our position in the
world and about its influence on the United States. We're concerned about the
short-term economic news, but long-term I'm optimistic. And so, I hope
investors, you know—secondly, I hope investors hold investments for periods of
time — that I've always found the best investments are those that you salt
away based on economics." —George W. Bush, Austin, Texas, Jan. 4, 2001
"The person who runs FEMA is someone who must have the trust of the
president. Because the person who runs FEMA is the first voice, often times, of
someone whose life has been turned upside down hears from." —George W.
Bush, Austin, Texas, Jan. 4, 2001
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