Stories related to: George H. W. Bush

A withdrawal from Iraq next year would be a disaster that would likely trigger another 9/11, President Bush warns in an interview with Politico. "It would shake everybody's nerves. It would embolden the very same people we're trying to defeat" and "would eventually lead to another attack on the United States," he said. More »

Support for President Bush has sunk to its lowest level yet, according to a new Washington Post /ABC News poll. Bush's 31% approval rating marks a career low as 82% of Americans now think the country is heading in the wrong direction. Opinions were highly split along partisan lines. More »

A Navy officer accused of lying to investigators has been reprimanded and will take early retirement, the Navy Times reports. Rear Admiral John "Boomer" Stufflebeem was found to have made false statements about what was termed an "inappropriate relationship" while he was a military aide to former President Bush 18 years ago. The nature of the relationship was not disclosed. More »

Bill Clinton is costing taxpayers significantly more in publicly funded perks than the two other surviving former presidents, reports Politico. From 2001 through the end of this year, $8 million will be spent on Bill Clinton, compared with $5.5 million for George H. W. Bush and $4 million for Jimmy Carter during the same period. A big chunk goes to lifelong secret service protection, pension, staff and travel expenses. More »

The Angelina Jolie-Brad Pitt household might have trouble choosing a Democratic candidate: It turns out Barack Obama is a distant cousin of Pitt’s and Hillary Clinton is a relative of Jolie’s. The author of a new genealogical survey cautions voters not to be too swayed—but it seems fitting that John McCain’s sixth cousin is one Laura Bush. More »

The former legal counsel to Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush is siding with Barack Obama, calling the Democrat “a person of integrity, intelligence and good will.” Doug Kmiec disagrees with the candidate on gay marriage, abortion, states’ rights, and the place of religion in the public sphere, but he says Obama’s ability to engage opposing viewpoints won him over. More »

The Pentagon has rifled through 600,000 pages of Iraqi intelligence docs and found no sign of: a plot to kill George Bush, Sr. in 1993. a Saddam Hussein-al-Qaeda link. a connection between Baghdad and Abdul Rahman Yasin, an alleged Sept. 11 plotter. In fact, Hussein and his ministers are recorded on tape asking whether Washington or "Zionists" had planned World Trade Center attack. More »

More than two-thirds of Americans now think George W. Bush is doing a poor job, according to a new poll that pegged his approval rate at 31%—a new low. The director of the CNN poll noted that the hefty 40-point drop in Bush's approval ratings since the start of the Iraq war mirrors the plunge in Lyndon Johnson's popularity as the war in Vietnam dragged on. More »

Peggy Noonan takes the measure of John McCain in today's Wall Street Journal and wonders "what does he stand for, really?" A friend of the senator's speculates on his "complacency" now that he's secured the nomination, and Noonan goes off: "You have to want the presidency or the people won't give it to you. You have to fight for it." More »

President Bush's coy refusal to name the mystery donors helping to erect his $200 million presidential library is problematic, writes David Corn in Mother Jones' MoJo blog. Though the law doesn't require him to reveal names, his actions raise serious ethical questions. "What's problematic is the prospect of a sitting president obtaining foreign cash for a pet project and not disclosing it," argues Corn. More »

George H.W. Bush formally endorsed John McCain today, praising the Arizona senator as a "true conservative" in the latest attempt to rally Republicans behind their presumptive nominee, the Houston Chronicle reports. "I think that our effort to continue to unite the party will be enhanced dramatically by President Bush's words," said McCain. More »

George H. W. and Barbara Bush will endorse John McCain next week, making the announcement in Texas in an effort to enlist voters there to support the presumptive nominee against a formidable rival. Mike Huckabee is optimistic about his prospects in the state, where social conservatives has taken issue with both Bush presidents, CNN reports. More »

A lawyer for trainer Brian McNamee said today if pitcher Roger Clemens is ever charged with lying to Congress about steroid use, he would be pardoned by President Bush, the AP reports. "Even if he's prosecuted, he will never have to serve jail time or face a trial,” said lawyer Richard Emery, citing Clemens’ friendship with Bush's father and Dubya’s pardoning of Scooter Libby. More »

Looking for love on this Valentine's Day? Maybe you should join a presidential campaign, the Christian Science Monitor reports. With the trail drawing energized, like-minded activists, traditionally tame vote-first states are earning new slogans like “what happens in Iowa stays in Iowa.” Indeed, staffers are finding love in all the political places, even inspiring dating websites for politicos. More »

On taxes, social issues, and foreign policy, Mitt Romney is “perfectly attuned to mainstream Republicans.” But the supporters just aren’t coming, and the Weekly Standard’s Fred Barnes can’t figure out why. Romney appeals to the same voters who elected the president and his father; but “Republicans in general and conservatives in particular are resisting him in droves.” More »

In a sharp reversal from the days when he labeled North Korea part of the "axis of evil," President Bush has sent a letter to Kim Jong Il saying that if the dictator reveals the details of his nuclear program by the end of the year, the US might normalize relations with his country. The letter is the president's first ever to Kim Jong Il. More »

President Bush yesterday presented the Medal of Honor to the parents of a Navy SEAL from Long Island who lost his life in Afghanistan after calling for help to save his team. The debt owed to Lt. Michael Murphy "cannot diminish over time and can never be repaid," said Bush, his voice often choking with emotion. The award is the nation's highest military honor. More »

The CEO of embattled Blackwater USA has deep ties to the GOP and the religious right, beginning with a college internship in the first Bush White House. Erik Prince’s security firm's federal contracts have grown from under $1 million in 2001 to over $1 billion today, and he's made personal donations of $300,000 to Republicans and their causes, Salon reports. More »

Billy Graham has seen US leaders laid bare, from skinny-dipping with LBJ to long walks on the beach with GWB. A new book details the ailing 88-year-old preacher’s rendezvous with presidents past, including counseling Ford to pardon Nixon and advising Hillary Clinton to look past Monica Lewinsky. Graham’s refusal to be a party booster has lent him his independent spiritual voice, Bloomberg reports. More »

George H.W. Bush is closer to his son than the White House has let on, the New York Times reports, with the 41st president and the office's 43rd and current occupant speaking almost daily. Dad is often stung by criticisms of George W., an aide says: “It wears on his heart and his soul.” More »