"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."?Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004 (Thanks to Alicia Butler.)
"And I am an optimistic person. I guess if you want to try to find something to be pessimistic about, you can find it, no matter how hard you look, you know?"?Washington, D.C., June 15, 2004 (Thanks to Robert Irwin.)
"I want to thank my friend, Sen. Bill Frist, for joining us today. ? He married a Texas girl, I want you to know. (Laughter.) Karyn is with us. A West Texas girl, just like me."?Nashville, Tenn., May 27, 2004
"I'm honored to shake the hand of a brave Iraqi citizen who had his hand cut off by Saddam Hussein."?Washington, D.C., May 25, 2004
"y the way, we rank 10th amongst the industrialized world in broadband technology and its availability. That's not good enough for America. Tenth is 10 spots too low as far as I'm concerned."?Minneapolis, Minn., April 26, 2004
"This is historic times."?New York, N.Y., April 20, 2004
"Obviously, I pray every day there's less casualty."?Fort Hood, Texas, April 11, 2004 (Thanks to Pat Gallagher.)
"Recession means that people's incomes, at the employer level, are going down, basically, relative to costs, people are getting laid off."?Washington, D.C., Feb. 19, 2004 (Thanks to Garry Trudeau.)
"The march to war affected the people's confidence. It's hard to make investment. See, if you're a small business owner or a large business owner and you're thinking about investing, you've got to be optimistic when you invest. Except when you're marching to war, it's not a very optimistic thought, is it? In other words, it's the opposite of optimistic when you're thinking you're going to war." ?Springfield, Mo., Feb. 9, 2004 (Thanks to Garry Trudeau.)
"See, one of the interesting things in the Oval Office?I love to bring people into the Oval Office?right around the corner from here?and say, this is where I office, but I want you to know the office is always bigger than the person."?Washington, D.C., Jan. 29, 2004 (Thanks to Michael Shively.)
"More Muslims have died at the hands of killers than?I say more Muslims?a lot of Muslims have died?I don't know the exact count?at Istanbul. Look at these different places around the world where there's been tremendous death and destruction because killers kill."?Washington, D.C., Jan. 29, 2004 (Thanks to Michael Shively.)
"In an economic recession, I'd rather that in order to get out of this recession, that the people be spending their money, not the government trying to figure out how to spend the people's money."?Tampa, Fla., Feb. 16, 2004
"In my judgment, when the United States says there will be serious consequences, and if there isn't serious consequences, it creates adverse consequences."
"There is no such thing necessarily in a dictatorial regime of iron-clad absolutely solid evidence. The evidence I had was the best possible evidence that he had a weapon."
"[T]he illiteracy level of our children are appalling."?Washington, D.C., Jan. 23, 2004 (Thanks to Lewell Gunter.)
"Just remember it's the birds that's supposed to suffer, not the hunter."?Advising quail hunter and New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici, Roswell, N.M., Jan. 22, 2004
"One of the most meaningful things that's happened to me since I've been the governor?the president?governor?president. Oops. Ex-governor. I went to Bethesda Naval Hospital to give a fellow a Purple Heart, and at the same moment I watched him?get a Purple Heart for action in Iraq?and at that same?right after I gave him the Purple Heart, he was sworn in as a citizen of the United States?a Mexican citizen, now a United States citizen."?Washington, D.C., Jan. 9, 2004
"I want to thank the astronauts who are with us, the courageous spacial entrepreneurs who set such a wonderful example for the young of our country."?Washington, D.C., Jan. 14, 2004
"And if you're interested in the quality of education and you're paying attention to what you hear at Laclede, why don't you volunteer? Why don't you mentor a child how to read?"?St. Louis, Mo., Jan. 5, 2004
"So thank you for reminding me about the importance of being a good mom and a great volunteer as well."?St. Louis, Jan. 5, 2004
"[T]he best way to find these terrorists who hide in holes is to get people coming forth to describe the location of the hole, is to give clues and data."
"[A]s you know, these are open forums, you're able to come and listen to what I have to say."?Washington, D.C., Oct. 28, 2003
"The ambassador and the general were briefing me on the?the vast majority of Iraqis want to live in a peaceful, free world. And we will find these people and we will bring them to justice."?Washington, D.C., Oct. 27, 2003 (Thanks to Robert Hack.)
"[W]hether they be Christian, Jew, or Muslim, or Hindu, people have heard the universal call to love a neighbor just like they'd like to be called themselves."?Washington, Oct. 8, 2003 (Thanks to George Dupper.)
"See, free nations are peaceful nations. Free nations don't attack each other. Free nations don't develop weapons of mass destruction."?Milwaukee, Wis., Oct. 3, 2003
"[W]e've had leaks out of the administrative branch, had leaks out of the legislative branch, and out of the executive branch and the legislative branch, and I've spoken out consistently against them, and I want to know who the leakers are."?Chicago, Sept. 30, 2003
"Washington is a town where there's all kinds of allegations. You've heard much of the allegations. And if people have got solid information, please come forward with it. And that would be people inside the information who are the so-called anonymous sources, or people outside the information?outside the administration."?Chicago, Sept. 30, 2003 (Thanks to Andy Bowers.)
"I glance at the headlines just to kind of get a flavor for what's moving. I rarely read the stories, and get briefed by people who are probably read the news themselves."?Washington, D.C., Sept. 21, 2003
"I'm so pleased to be able to say hello to Bill Scranton. He's one of the great Pennsylvania political families."?Drexel Hill, Penn., Sept. 15, 2003 (Thanks to Michael Shively.)
"We had a good Cabinet meeting, talked about a lot of issues. Secretary of State and Defense brought us up to date about our desires to spread freedom and peace around the world."?Washington, D.C., Aug. 1, 2003 (Thanks to Tanny Bear.)
"Security is the essential roadblock to achieving the road map to peace."?Washington, D.C., July 25, 2003
"Our country puts $1 billion a year up to help feed the hungry. And we're by far the most generous nation in the world when it comes to that, and I'm proud to report that. This isn't a contest of who's the most generous. I'm just telling you as an aside. We're generous. We shouldn't be bragging about it. But we are. We're very generous."?Washington, D.C., July 16, 2003
"My answer is bring them on."?On Iraqi militants attacking U.S. forces, Washington, D.C., July 3, 2003
"I urge the leaders in Europe and around the world to take swift, decisive action against terror groups such as Hamas, to cut off their funding, and to support?cut funding and support, as the United States has done."?Washington, D.C., June 25, 2003
"Iran would be dangerous if they have a nuclear weapon."?Washington, D.C., June 18, 2003
"Now, there are some who would like to rewrite history?revisionist historians is what I like to call them."?Elizabeth, N.J., June 16, 2003
"I am determined to keep the process on the road to peace."?Washington, D.C., June 10, 2003 (Thanks to Tanny Bear.)
"The true strength of America happens when a neighbor loves a neighbor just like they'd like to be loved themselves."?Elizabeth, N.J., June 16, 2003
"I'm the master of low expectations."?Aboard Air Force One, June 4, 2003
"I'm also not very analytical. You know I don't spend a lot of time thinking about myself, about why I do things."?Aboard Air Force One, June 4, 2003
"I recently met with the finance minister of the Palestinian Authority, was very impressed by his grasp of finances."?Washington, D.C., May 29, 2003
"Oftentimes, we live in a processed world?you know, people focus on the process and not results."?Washington, D.C., May 29, 2003
"I've got very good relations with President Mubarak and Crown Prince Abdallah and the King of Jordan, Gulf Coast countries."?Washington, D.C., May 29, 2003
"First, let me make it very clear, poor people aren't necessarily killers. Just because you happen to be not rich doesn't mean you're willing to kill."?Washington, D.C., May 19, 2003
"We ended the rule of one of history's worst tyrants, and in so doing, we not only freed the American people, we made our own people more secure."?Crawford, Texas, May 3, 2003 (Thanks to Tony Marciniec.)
"We've got hundreds of sites to exploit, looking for the chemical and biological weapons that we know Saddam Hussein had prior to our entrance into Iraq."?Santa Clara, Calif., May 2, 2003 (Thanks to Michael Shively.)
"I think war is a dangerous place."?Washington, D.C., May 7, 2003
"I don't bring God into my life to?to, you know, kind of be a political person."?Interview with Tom Brokaw aboard Air Force One, April 24, 2003
"You're free. And freedom is beautiful. And, you know, it'll take time to restore chaos and order?order out of chaos. But we will."?Washington, D.C., April 13, 2003
"Perhaps one way will be, if we use military force, in the post-Saddam Iraq the U.N. will definitely need to have a role. And that way it can begin to get its legs, legs of responsibility back."?the Azores, Portugal, March 16, 2003
"Now, we talked to Joan Hanover. She and her husband, George, were visiting with us. They are near retirement?retiring?in the process of retiring, meaning they're very smart, active, capable people who are retirement age and are retiring."?Alexandria, Va., Feb. 12, 2003 (Thanks to Dennis Doubleday.)
"And, most importantly, Alma Powell, secretary of Colin Powell, is with us."?Washington, D.C., Jan. 30, 2003
"The war on terror involves Saddam Hussein because of the nature of Saddam Hussein, the history of Saddam Hussein, and his willingness to terrorize himself."?Grand Rapids, Mich., Jan. 29, 2003
"When Iraq is liberated, you will be treated, tried, and persecuted as a war criminal."?Washington, D.C., Jan. 22, 2003 (Thanks to Chad Conwell.)
"Many of the punditry?of course, not you (laughter)?but other punditry were quick to say, no one is going to follow the United States of America."?Washington, D.C., Jan. 21, 2003
"One year ago today, the time for excuse-making has come to an end."?Washington, D.C., Jan. 8, 2003
"I think the American people?I hope the American?I don't think, let me?I hope the American people trust me."?Washington, D.C., Dec. 18, 2002
"There's only one person who hugs the mothers and the widows, the wives and the kids upon the death of their loved one. Others hug but having committed the troops, I've got an additional responsibility to hug and that's me and I know what it's like."?Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2002
"In other words, I don't think people ought to be compelled to make the decision which they think is best for their family."?Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2002 (Thanks to Stephanie Nichols.)
"The law I sign today directs new funds and new focus to the task of collecting vital intelligence on terrorist threats and on weapons of mass production."?Washington, D.C., Nov. 27, 2002
"These people don't have tanks. They don't have ships. They hide in caves. They send suiciders out."?Speaking about terrorists, Portsmouth, N.H., Nov. 1, 2002
"I know something about being a government. And you've got a good one."?Stumping for Gov. Mike Huckabee, Bentonville, Ark., Nov. 4, 2002
"Any time we've got any kind of inkling that somebody is thinking about doing something to an American and something to our homeland, you've just got to know we're moving on it, to protect the United Nations Constitution, and at the same time, we're protecting you."?Aberdeen, S.D., same day (Thanks to George Dupper.)
"Let me tell you my thoughts about tax relief. When your economy is kind of ooching along, it's important to let people have more of their own money."?Boston, Oct. 4, 2002
"We need an energy bill that encourages consumption."?Trenton, N.J., Sept. 23, 2002
"People say, how can I help on this war against terror? How can I fight evil? You can do so by mentoring a child; by going into a shut-in's house and say I love you."?Washington, D.C., Sept. 19, 2002
"I'm plowed of the leadership of Chuck Grassley and Greg Ganske and Jim Leach."?Davenport, Iowa, Sept. 16, 2002
"There's an old saying in Tennessee?I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee?that says, fool me once, shame on?shame on you. Fool me?you can't get fooled again."?Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002
"If you don't have any ambitions, the minimum-wage job isn't going to get you to where you want to get, for example. In other words, what is your ambitions? And oh, by the way, if that is your ambition, here's what it's going to take to achieve it."?Speech to students in Little Rock, Ark., Aug. 29, 2002 (Thanks to George Dupper.)
"See, we love?we love freedom. That's what they didn't understand. They hate things; we love things. They act out of hatred; we don't seek revenge, we seek justice out of love."?Oklahoma City, Aug. 29, 2002
"There's no cave deep enough for America, or dark enough to hide."?Oklahoma City, Aug. 29, 2002 (Thanks to Michael Shively.)
"I'm a patient man. And when I say I'm a patient man, I mean I'm a patient man."
"I'm thrilled to be here in the bread basket of America because it gives me a chance to remind our fellow citizens that we have an advantage here in America?we can feed ourselves."?Stockton, Calif., Aug. 23, 2002 (Thanks to Christopher Baird.)
"There's no bigger task than protecting the homeland of our country."
"I love the idea of a school in which people come to get educated and stay in the state in which they're educated."
"I promise you I will listen to what has been said here, even though I wasn't here."
"I can assure you that, even though I won't be sitting through every single moment of the seminars, nor will the vice president, we will look at the summaries."
"Tommy [Thompson, Health and Human Services secretary,] is a good listener, and he's a pretty good actor, too."
"The trial lawyers are very politically powerful. ? But here in Texas we took them on and got some good medical?medical malpractice.""I firmly believe the death tax is good for people from all walks of life all throughout our society."
?Waco, Texas, Aug. 13, 2002
"Over 75 percent of white Americans own their home, and less than 50 percent of Hispanos and African Americans don't own their home. And that's a gap, that's a homeownership gap. And we've got to do something about it."?Cleveland, Ohio, July 1, 2002
"Whether you're here by birth, or whether you're in America by choice, you contribute to the vitality of our life. And for that, we are grateful."?Washington, D.C., May 17, 2002
"Do you have blacks, too?"?To Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso, Washington, D.C., Nov. 8, 2001
"This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating."?as quoted by the New York Daily News, April 23, 2002
"I want to thank the dozens of welfare to work stories, the actual examples of people who made the firm and solemn commitment to work hard to embetter themselves."?Washington, D.C., April 18, 2002 (Thanks to George Dupper.)
"And so, in my State of the?my State of the Union?or state?my speech to the nation, whatever you want to call it, speech to the nation?I asked Americans to give 4,000 years?4,000 hours over the next?the rest of your life?of service to America. That's what I asked?4,000 hours." ?Bridgeport, Conn., April 9, 2002
"We've tripled the amount of money?I believe it's from $50 million up to $195 million available."?Lima, Peru, March 23, 2002
"The suicide bombings have increased. There's too many of them."?Albuquerque, N.M., Aug. 15, 2001
"Brie and cheese."?Taunting a reporter who recently spent time on the West Coast, Crawford, Texas, Aug. 23, 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."?Crawford, Texas, Aug, 13, 2001 (Thanks to Michael Shively.)
''I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe?I believe what I believe is right."?Rome, July 22, 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."?Visiting the Jefferson Memorial, Washington, D.C., July 2, 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."?Washington, D.C., June 18, 2001
"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."?Referring to the McCain-Kennedy patients' bill of rights, Brussels, Belgium, June 13, 2001
"Can't living with the bill means it won't become law."?Referring to the McCain-Kennedy patients' bill of rights, Brussels, Belgium, 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."?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."?Miami, Fla., June 4, 2001
"Our nation must come together to unite."?Tampa, Fla., June 4, 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."?Remarks to the Hispanic Scholarship Fund Institute, Washington, D.C., May 22, 2001
"Thirdly, the explorationists are willing to only move equipment during the winter, which means they'll be on ice roads, and remove the equipment as the ice begins to melt, so that the fragile tundra is protected."?Conestoga, Pa., May 18, 2001
"Presidents, whether things are good or bad, get the blame. I understand that."?Washington, D.C., May 11, 2001 (Thanks to Jay Schlossberg.)
"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."?Philadelphia, May 14, 2001 (Thanks to John Brooks.)
"There's no question that the minute I got elected, the storm clouds on the horizon were getting nearly directly overhead."?Washington, D.C., 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."?Washington, D.C., May 1, 2001 (Thanks to Gene Mosher.)
"Whatever it took to help Taiwan defend theirself."?On how far we'd be willing to go to defend Taiwan, Good Morning America, April 25, 2001
"We must have the attitude that every child in America?regardless of where they're raised or how they're born?can learn."?New Britain, Conn., April 18, 2001 (Thanks to Eric Beerbohm.)
"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."?Remarks on "parental empowerment in education," Washington, D.C., April 12, 2001 (Thanks to J.R. Taylor.)
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."?Concord Middle School, Concord, N.C., 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."?Washington, D.C., April 10, 2001
"The Senate needs to leave enough money in the proposed budget to not only reduce all marginal rates, but to eliminate the death tax, so that people who build up assets are able to transfer them from one generation to the next, regardless of a person's race."?Washington, D.C., April 5, 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."?Press conference, Washington, D.C., March 29, 2001
"I've coined new words, like, misunderstanding and Hispanically."?Radio-Television Correspondents Association dinner, Washington, D.C., March 29, 2001
"I assured the prime minister, my administration will work hard to lay the foundation of peace in the Middle?to work with our nations in the Middle East, give peace a chance. Secondly, I told him that our nation will not try to force peace, that we'll facilitate peace and that we will work with those responsible for a peace."?Photo opportunity with Ariel Sharon, Washington, D.C., March 20, 2001 (Thanks to Scott Beber.)
"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."?Tyndall Air Force Base, 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."?Interview with the Washington Post, March 9, 2001
"I think there is some methodology in my travels." ?Washington, D.C., March 5, 2001
"I'm also honored to be here with the speaker of the House?just happens to be from the state of Illinois. I'd like to describe the speaker as a trustworthy man. He's the kind of fellow who says when he gives you his word he means it. Sometimes that doesn't happen all the time in the political process."?Chicago, March 6, 2001 (Thanks to Gary Belkin.)
"Of all states that understands local control of schools, Iowa is such a state."?Council Bluffs, Iowa, Feb. 28, 2001 (Thanks to Peter Sagal)
"Those of us who spent time in the agricultural sector and in the heartland, we understand how unfair the death penalty is."?Omaha, Neb., Feb. 28, 2001
"I have said that the sanction regime is like Swiss cheese?that meant that they weren't very effective."?White House press conference, Washington, D.C., Feb. 22, 2001
"You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test.''?Townsend, Tenn., Feb. 21, 2001
"Home is important. It's important to have a home."?Crawford, Texas, Feb. 18, 2001
"We're concerned about AIDS inside our White House?make no mistake about it."?Washington, D.C., Feb. 7, 2001
"There's no such thing as legacies. At least, there is a legacy, but I'll never see it."?To Catholic leaders at the White House, Jan. 31, 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."?Austin, Texas, Jan. 8, 2001
"Natural gas is hemispheric. I like to call it hemispheric in nature because it is a product that we can find in our neighborhoods."?Austin, Texas, Dec. 20, 2000
"Let me put it to you this way, I am not a revengeful person."? Interview with Time magazine in the Dec. 25, 2000, issue.
"I am mindful of the difference between the executive branch and the legislative branch. I assured all four of these leaders that I know the difference, and that difference is they pass the laws and I execute them."?Washington, D.C., Dec. 18, 2000
"The great thing about America is everybody should vote."?Austin, Texas, Dec. 8, 2000
"Dick Cheney and I do not want this nation to be in a recession. We want anybody who can find work to be able to find work."?60 Minutes II, Dec. 5, 2000
"They misunderestimated me."?Bentonville, Ark., Nov. 6, 2000
"Think about that. Two hundred and eighty-five new or expanded programs, $2 trillion more in new spending, and not one new bureaucrat to file out the forms or answer the phones?"?Minneapolis, Nov. 1, 2000
"They want the federal government controlling Social Security like it's some kind of federal program."?St. Charles, Mo., Nov. 2, 2000
"It's your money. You paid for it."?LaCrosse, Wis., Oct. 18, 2000
"I don't want nations feeling like that they can bully ourselves and our allies. I want to have a ballistic defense system so that we can make the world more peaceful, and at the same time I want to reduce our own nuclear capacities to the level commiserate with keeping the peace."?Des Moines, Iowa, Oct. 23, 2000
"Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream."?LaCrosse, Wis., Oct. 18, 2000
"If I'm the president, we're going to have emergency-room care, we're going to have gag orders."
"Drug therapies are replacing a lot of medicines as we used to know it."
"It's one thing about insurance, that's a Washington term."
"I think we ought to raise the age at which juveniles can have a gun."
"Mr. Vice President, in all due respect, it is?I'm not sure 80 percent of the people get the death tax. I know this: 100 percent will get it if I'm the president."
"Quotas are bad for America. It's not the way America is all about."
"If affirmative action means what I just described, what I'm for, then I'm for it."?St. Louis, Mo., October 18, 2000
"Our priorities is our faith."?Greensboro, N.C., Oct. 10, 2000
"I mean, there needs to be a wholesale effort against racial profiling, which is illiterate children."?Second presidential debate, Oct. 11, 2000 (Thanks to Leonard Williams.)
"It's going to require numerous IRA agents."?On Gore's tax plan, Greensboro, N.C., Oct. 10, 2000
"I would have my secretary of treasury be in touch with the financial centers, not only here but at home."?Boston, Oct. 3, 2000 (Thanks to M. Bateman.)
"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."?Saginaw, Mich., Sept. 29, 2000
"I will have a foreign-handed foreign policy."?Redwood, Calif., Sept. 27, 2000
"It is clear our nation is reliant upon big foreign oil. More and more of our imports come from overseas."?Beaverton, Ore., Sep. 25, 2000
"I am a person who recognizes the fallacy of humans."?Oprah, Sept. 19, 2000
"A tax cut is really one of the anecdotes to coming out of an economic illness."?The Edge With Paula Zahn, Sept. 18, 2000
"The woman who knew that I had dyslexia?I never interviewed her."?Orange, Calif., Sept. 15, 2000
"The best way to relieve families from time is to let them keep some of their own money."?Westminster, Calif., Sept. 13, 2000
"They have miscalculated me as a leader."?Ibid.
"I don't think we need to be subliminable about the differences between our views on prescription drugs."?Orlando, Fla., Sept. 12, 2000
"This is what I'm good at. I like meeting people, my fellow citizens, I like interfacing with them."?Outside Pittsburgh, Sept. 8, 2000
"That's Washington. That's the place where you find people getting ready to jump out of the foxholes before the first shot is fired."?Westland, Mich., Sept. 8, 2000
"Listen, Al Gore is a very tough opponent. He is the incumbent. He
represents the incumbency. And a challenger is somebody who generally
comes from the pack and wins, if you're going to win. And that's where
I'm coming from."?Detroit, Sept. 7, 2000 (Thanks to Michael Butler, Houston, Texas.)
"We'll let our friends be the peacekeepers and the great country called America will be the pacemakers."?Houston, Texas, Sept. 6, 2000
"We don't believe in planners and deciders making the decisions on behalf of Americans."?Scranton, Pa., Sept. 6, 2000
"I regret that a private comment I made to the vice presidential candidate made it through the public airways."?Allentown, Pa., Sept. 5, 2000.
"Well, I think if you say you're going to do something and don't do it, that's trustworthiness."--Ibid.
"I don't know whether I'm going to win or not. I think I am. I do know I'm ready for the job. And, if not, that's just the way it goes."?Des Moines, Iowa, Aug. 21, 2000
''This campaign not only hears the voices of the entrepreneurs and the farmers and the entrepreneurs, we hear the voices of those struggling to get ahead."?Ibid.
"We cannot let terrorists and rogue nations hold this nation hostile or hold our allies hostile.''?Ibid.
"I have a different vision of leadership. A leadership is someone who brings people together."?Bartlett, Tenn., Aug. 18, 2000 (Thanks to Tarja Black.)
"I want you to know that farmers are not going to be secondary thoughts to a Bush administration. They will be in the forethought of our thinking."?Salinas, Calif., Aug. 10, 2000 (Thanks to Kris Sester.)
"And if he continues that, I'm going to tell the nation what I think about him as a human being and a person."?President George H.W. Bush, on the Today show, Aug. 1, 2000
"States should have the right to enact reasonable laws and restrictions particularly to end the inhumane practice of ending a life that otherwise could live."?Cleveland, June 29, 2000 (Thanks to Douglas Basford.)
"The only things that I can tell you is that every case I have reviewed I have been comfortable with the innocence or guilt of the person that I've looked at. I do not believe we've put a guilty ... I mean innocent person to death in the state of Texas." All Things Considered, NPR, June 16, 2000 (Thanks to Andy Nouraee.)
"I'm gonna talk about the ideal world, Chris. I've read?I understand reality. If you're asking me as the president, would I understand reality, I do."?On abortion, Hardball, MSNBC; May 31, 2000
"There's not going to be enough people in the system to take advantage of people like me."?On the coming Social Security crisis; Wilton, Conn.; June 9, 2000 (Thanks to Andy Mais.)
"I think anybody who doesn't think I'm smart enough to handle the job is underestimating."?U.S. News & World Report, April 3, 2000 (Thanks to Alfred Stanley, Austin, Texas.)
Bush: "First of all, Cinco de Mayo is not the independence day. That's diecis?is de Septiembre, and ..."
Matthews: "What's that in English?"
Bush: "Fifteenth of September." (Diecis?is de Septiembre = Sept. 16)
?Hardball, MSNBC, May 31, 2000 (Thanks to numerous readers.)
"Actually, I?this may sound a little West Texan to you, but I like it. When I'm talking about?when I'm talking about myself, and when he's talking about myself, all of us are talking about me."?Ibid.
"This is a world that is much more uncertain than the past. In the past we were certain, we were certain it was us versus the Russians in the past. We were certain, and therefore we had huge nuclear arsenals aimed at each other to keep the peace. That's what we were certain of. ... You see, even though it's an uncertain world, we're certain of some things. We're certain that even though the 'evil empire' may have passed, evil still remains. We're certain there are people that can't stand what America stands for. ... We're certain there are madmen in this world, and there's terror, and there's missiles and I'm certain of this, too: I'm certain to maintain the peace, we better have a military of high morale, and I'm certain that under this administration, morale in the military is dangerously low."?Albuquerque, N.M., the Washington Post, May 31, 2000
"He has certainly earned a reputation as a fantastic mayor, because the results speak for themselves. I mean, New York's a safer place for him to be."?On Rudy Giuliani, The Edge With Paula Zahn, May 18, 2000 (Thanks to Peter Goldman.)
"The fact that he relies on facts?says things that are not factual?are going to undermine his campaign."?New York Times, March 4, 2000 (Thanks to Garry Trudeau.)
"It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it."--Reuters, May 5, 2000 (Thanks to Allison Fansler.)
GOV. BUSH: Because the picture on the newspaper. It just seems so un-American to me, the picture of the guy storming the house with a scared little boy there. I talked to my little brother, Jeb?I haven't told this to many people. But he's the governor of?I shouldn't call him my little brother--my brother, Jeb, the great governor of Texas.
JIM LEHRER: Florida.
GOV. BUSH: Florida. The state of the Florida.?The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer, April 27, 2000
"I hope we get to the bottom of the answer. It's what I'm interested to know."?On what happened in negotiations between the Justice Department and Eli?n Gonz?lez's Miami relatives, as quoted by the Associated Press, April 26, 2000 (Thanks to Saul Selzer.)
"Laura and I really don't realize how bright our children is sometimes until we get an objective analysis."?CNBC, April 15, 2000
"I was raised in the West. The wesv of Texas. It's pretty close to California. In more ways than Washington, D.C., is close to California."?In Los Angeles as quoted by the Los Angeles Times, April 8, 2000
"Reading is the basics for all learning."?Announcing his "Reading First" initiative in Reston, Va., March 28, 2000 (Thanks to Carl LaRocca.)
"It's evolutionary, going from governor to president, and this is a significant step, to be able to vote for yourself on the ballot, and I'll be able to do so next fall, I hope."?In an interview with the Associated Press, March 8, 2000 (Thanks to Joshua Micah Marshall.)
"I understand small business growth. I was one."?New York Daily News, Feb. 19, 2000
"The senator has got to understand if he's going to have?he can't have it both ways. He can't take the high horse and then claim the low road."?To reporters in Florence, S.C., Feb. 17, 2000
"I don't want to win? If that were the case why the heck am I on the bus 16 hours a day, shaking thousands of hands, giving hundreds of speeches, getting pillared in the press and cartoons and still staying on message to win?"?Newsweek, Feb. 28, 2000
"I thought how proud I am to be standing up beside my dad. Never did it occur to me that he would become the gist for cartoonists."?ibid.
"If you're sick and tired of the politics of cynicism and polls and principles, come and join this campaign."?Hilton Head, S.C., Feb. 16, 2000
"How do you know if you don't measure if you have a system that simply suckles kids through?"?Explaining the need for educational accountability in Beaufort, S.C., Feb. 16, 2000
"We ought to make the pie higher."?South Carolina Republican Debate, Feb. 15, 2000
"The most important job is not to be governor, or first lady in my case."?Pella, Iowa, as quoted by the San Antonio Express-News, Jan. 30, 2000
"This is Preservation Month. I appreciate preservation. It's what you do when you run for president. You gotta preserve."?Speaking during "Perseverance Month" at Fairgrounds Elementary School in Nashua, N.H. As quoted in the Los Angeles Times, Jan. 28, 2000
"I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family."?Greater Nashua, N.H., Chamber of Commerce, Jan. 27, 2000
"When I was coming up, it was a dangerous world, and you knew exactly who they were," he said. "It was us vs. them, and it was clear who them was. Today, we are not so sure who the they are, but we know they're there."?Iowa Western Community College, Jan 21, 2000
"We must all hear the universal call to like your neighbor just like you like to be liked yourself."?ibid.
"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"?Florence, S.C., Jan. 11, 2000
"There needs to be debates, like we're going through. There needs to be town-hall meetings. There needs to be travel. This is a huge country."?Larry King Live, Dec. 16, 1999
"I think it's important for those of us in a position of responsibility to be firm in sharing our experiences, to understand that the babies out of wedlock is a very difficult chore for mom and baby alike. ... I believe we ought to say there is a different alternative than the culture that is proposed by people like Miss Wolf in society. ... And, you know, hopefully, condoms will work, but it hasn't worked."?Meet the Press, Nov. 21, 1999
"The important question is, How many hands have I shaked?"?Answering a question about why he hasn't spent more time in New Hampshire, in the New York Times, Oct. 23, 1999
"I don't remember debates. I don't think we spent a lot of time debating it. Maybe we did, but I don't remember."?On discussions of the Vietnam War when he was an undergraduate at Yale, Washington Post, July 27, 1999
"The only thing I know about Slovakia is what I learned first-hand from your foreign minister, who came to Texas."?To a Slovak journalist as quoted by Knight Ridder News Service, June 22, 1999. Bush's meeting was with Janez Drnovsek, the prime minister of Slovenia.
"Keep good relations with the Grecians."?Quoted in the Economist, June 12, 1999
"And I am an optimistic person. I guess if you want to try to find something to be pessimistic about, you can find it, no matter how hard you look, you know?"?Washington, D.C., June 15, 2004 (Thanks to Robert Irwin.)
"I want to thank my friend, Sen. Bill Frist, for joining us today. ? He married a Texas girl, I want you to know. (Laughter.) Karyn is with us. A West Texas girl, just like me."?Nashville, Tenn., May 27, 2004
"I'm honored to shake the hand of a brave Iraqi citizen who had his hand cut off by Saddam Hussein."?Washington, D.C., May 25, 2004
"y the way, we rank 10th amongst the industrialized world in broadband technology and its availability. That's not good enough for America. Tenth is 10 spots too low as far as I'm concerned."?Minneapolis, Minn., April 26, 2004
"This is historic times."?New York, N.Y., April 20, 2004
"Obviously, I pray every day there's less casualty."?Fort Hood, Texas, April 11, 2004 (Thanks to Pat Gallagher.)
"Recession means that people's incomes, at the employer level, are going down, basically, relative to costs, people are getting laid off."?Washington, D.C., Feb. 19, 2004 (Thanks to Garry Trudeau.)
"The march to war affected the people's confidence. It's hard to make investment. See, if you're a small business owner or a large business owner and you're thinking about investing, you've got to be optimistic when you invest. Except when you're marching to war, it's not a very optimistic thought, is it? In other words, it's the opposite of optimistic when you're thinking you're going to war." ?Springfield, Mo., Feb. 9, 2004 (Thanks to Garry Trudeau.)
"See, one of the interesting things in the Oval Office?I love to bring people into the Oval Office?right around the corner from here?and say, this is where I office, but I want you to know the office is always bigger than the person."?Washington, D.C., Jan. 29, 2004 (Thanks to Michael Shively.)
"More Muslims have died at the hands of killers than?I say more Muslims?a lot of Muslims have died?I don't know the exact count?at Istanbul. Look at these different places around the world where there's been tremendous death and destruction because killers kill."?Washington, D.C., Jan. 29, 2004 (Thanks to Michael Shively.)
"In an economic recession, I'd rather that in order to get out of this recession, that the people be spending their money, not the government trying to figure out how to spend the people's money."?Tampa, Fla., Feb. 16, 2004
"In my judgment, when the United States says there will be serious consequences, and if there isn't serious consequences, it creates adverse consequences."
"There is no such thing necessarily in a dictatorial regime of iron-clad absolutely solid evidence. The evidence I had was the best possible evidence that he had a weapon."
"[T]he illiteracy level of our children are appalling."?Washington, D.C., Jan. 23, 2004 (Thanks to Lewell Gunter.)
"Just remember it's the birds that's supposed to suffer, not the hunter."?Advising quail hunter and New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici, Roswell, N.M., Jan. 22, 2004
"One of the most meaningful things that's happened to me since I've been the governor?the president?governor?president. Oops. Ex-governor. I went to Bethesda Naval Hospital to give a fellow a Purple Heart, and at the same moment I watched him?get a Purple Heart for action in Iraq?and at that same?right after I gave him the Purple Heart, he was sworn in as a citizen of the United States?a Mexican citizen, now a United States citizen."?Washington, D.C., Jan. 9, 2004
"I want to thank the astronauts who are with us, the courageous spacial entrepreneurs who set such a wonderful example for the young of our country."?Washington, D.C., Jan. 14, 2004
"And if you're interested in the quality of education and you're paying attention to what you hear at Laclede, why don't you volunteer? Why don't you mentor a child how to read?"?St. Louis, Mo., Jan. 5, 2004
"So thank you for reminding me about the importance of being a good mom and a great volunteer as well."?St. Louis, Jan. 5, 2004
"[T]he best way to find these terrorists who hide in holes is to get people coming forth to describe the location of the hole, is to give clues and data."
"[A]s you know, these are open forums, you're able to come and listen to what I have to say."?Washington, D.C., Oct. 28, 2003
"The ambassador and the general were briefing me on the?the vast majority of Iraqis want to live in a peaceful, free world. And we will find these people and we will bring them to justice."?Washington, D.C., Oct. 27, 2003 (Thanks to Robert Hack.)
"[W]hether they be Christian, Jew, or Muslim, or Hindu, people have heard the universal call to love a neighbor just like they'd like to be called themselves."?Washington, Oct. 8, 2003 (Thanks to George Dupper.)
"See, free nations are peaceful nations. Free nations don't attack each other. Free nations don't develop weapons of mass destruction."?Milwaukee, Wis., Oct. 3, 2003
"[W]e've had leaks out of the administrative branch, had leaks out of the legislative branch, and out of the executive branch and the legislative branch, and I've spoken out consistently against them, and I want to know who the leakers are."?Chicago, Sept. 30, 2003
"Washington is a town where there's all kinds of allegations. You've heard much of the allegations. And if people have got solid information, please come forward with it. And that would be people inside the information who are the so-called anonymous sources, or people outside the information?outside the administration."?Chicago, Sept. 30, 2003 (Thanks to Andy Bowers.)
"I glance at the headlines just to kind of get a flavor for what's moving. I rarely read the stories, and get briefed by people who are probably read the news themselves."?Washington, D.C., Sept. 21, 2003
"I'm so pleased to be able to say hello to Bill Scranton. He's one of the great Pennsylvania political families."?Drexel Hill, Penn., Sept. 15, 2003 (Thanks to Michael Shively.)
"We had a good Cabinet meeting, talked about a lot of issues. Secretary of State and Defense brought us up to date about our desires to spread freedom and peace around the world."?Washington, D.C., Aug. 1, 2003 (Thanks to Tanny Bear.)
"Security is the essential roadblock to achieving the road map to peace."?Washington, D.C., July 25, 2003
"Our country puts $1 billion a year up to help feed the hungry. And we're by far the most generous nation in the world when it comes to that, and I'm proud to report that. This isn't a contest of who's the most generous. I'm just telling you as an aside. We're generous. We shouldn't be bragging about it. But we are. We're very generous."?Washington, D.C., July 16, 2003
"My answer is bring them on."?On Iraqi militants attacking U.S. forces, Washington, D.C., July 3, 2003
"I urge the leaders in Europe and around the world to take swift, decisive action against terror groups such as Hamas, to cut off their funding, and to support?cut funding and support, as the United States has done."?Washington, D.C., June 25, 2003
"Iran would be dangerous if they have a nuclear weapon."?Washington, D.C., June 18, 2003
"Now, there are some who would like to rewrite history?revisionist historians is what I like to call them."?Elizabeth, N.J., June 16, 2003
"I am determined to keep the process on the road to peace."?Washington, D.C., June 10, 2003 (Thanks to Tanny Bear.)
"The true strength of America happens when a neighbor loves a neighbor just like they'd like to be loved themselves."?Elizabeth, N.J., June 16, 2003
"I'm the master of low expectations."?Aboard Air Force One, June 4, 2003
"I'm also not very analytical. You know I don't spend a lot of time thinking about myself, about why I do things."?Aboard Air Force One, June 4, 2003
"I recently met with the finance minister of the Palestinian Authority, was very impressed by his grasp of finances."?Washington, D.C., May 29, 2003
"Oftentimes, we live in a processed world?you know, people focus on the process and not results."?Washington, D.C., May 29, 2003
"I've got very good relations with President Mubarak and Crown Prince Abdallah and the King of Jordan, Gulf Coast countries."?Washington, D.C., May 29, 2003
"First, let me make it very clear, poor people aren't necessarily killers. Just because you happen to be not rich doesn't mean you're willing to kill."?Washington, D.C., May 19, 2003
"We ended the rule of one of history's worst tyrants, and in so doing, we not only freed the American people, we made our own people more secure."?Crawford, Texas, May 3, 2003 (Thanks to Tony Marciniec.)
"We've got hundreds of sites to exploit, looking for the chemical and biological weapons that we know Saddam Hussein had prior to our entrance into Iraq."?Santa Clara, Calif., May 2, 2003 (Thanks to Michael Shively.)
"I think war is a dangerous place."?Washington, D.C., May 7, 2003
"I don't bring God into my life to?to, you know, kind of be a political person."?Interview with Tom Brokaw aboard Air Force One, April 24, 2003
"You're free. And freedom is beautiful. And, you know, it'll take time to restore chaos and order?order out of chaos. But we will."?Washington, D.C., April 13, 2003
"Perhaps one way will be, if we use military force, in the post-Saddam Iraq the U.N. will definitely need to have a role. And that way it can begin to get its legs, legs of responsibility back."?the Azores, Portugal, March 16, 2003
"Now, we talked to Joan Hanover. She and her husband, George, were visiting with us. They are near retirement?retiring?in the process of retiring, meaning they're very smart, active, capable people who are retirement age and are retiring."?Alexandria, Va., Feb. 12, 2003 (Thanks to Dennis Doubleday.)
"And, most importantly, Alma Powell, secretary of Colin Powell, is with us."?Washington, D.C., Jan. 30, 2003
"The war on terror involves Saddam Hussein because of the nature of Saddam Hussein, the history of Saddam Hussein, and his willingness to terrorize himself."?Grand Rapids, Mich., Jan. 29, 2003
"When Iraq is liberated, you will be treated, tried, and persecuted as a war criminal."?Washington, D.C., Jan. 22, 2003 (Thanks to Chad Conwell.)
"Many of the punditry?of course, not you (laughter)?but other punditry were quick to say, no one is going to follow the United States of America."?Washington, D.C., Jan. 21, 2003
"One year ago today, the time for excuse-making has come to an end."?Washington, D.C., Jan. 8, 2003
"I think the American people?I hope the American?I don't think, let me?I hope the American people trust me."?Washington, D.C., Dec. 18, 2002
"There's only one person who hugs the mothers and the widows, the wives and the kids upon the death of their loved one. Others hug but having committed the troops, I've got an additional responsibility to hug and that's me and I know what it's like."?Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2002
"In other words, I don't think people ought to be compelled to make the decision which they think is best for their family."?Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2002 (Thanks to Stephanie Nichols.)
"The law I sign today directs new funds and new focus to the task of collecting vital intelligence on terrorist threats and on weapons of mass production."?Washington, D.C., Nov. 27, 2002
"These people don't have tanks. They don't have ships. They hide in caves. They send suiciders out."?Speaking about terrorists, Portsmouth, N.H., Nov. 1, 2002
"I know something about being a government. And you've got a good one."?Stumping for Gov. Mike Huckabee, Bentonville, Ark., Nov. 4, 2002
"Any time we've got any kind of inkling that somebody is thinking about doing something to an American and something to our homeland, you've just got to know we're moving on it, to protect the United Nations Constitution, and at the same time, we're protecting you."?Aberdeen, S.D., same day (Thanks to George Dupper.)
"Let me tell you my thoughts about tax relief. When your economy is kind of ooching along, it's important to let people have more of their own money."?Boston, Oct. 4, 2002
"We need an energy bill that encourages consumption."?Trenton, N.J., Sept. 23, 2002
"People say, how can I help on this war against terror? How can I fight evil? You can do so by mentoring a child; by going into a shut-in's house and say I love you."?Washington, D.C., Sept. 19, 2002
"I'm plowed of the leadership of Chuck Grassley and Greg Ganske and Jim Leach."?Davenport, Iowa, Sept. 16, 2002
"There's an old saying in Tennessee?I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee?that says, fool me once, shame on?shame on you. Fool me?you can't get fooled again."?Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002
"If you don't have any ambitions, the minimum-wage job isn't going to get you to where you want to get, for example. In other words, what is your ambitions? And oh, by the way, if that is your ambition, here's what it's going to take to achieve it."?Speech to students in Little Rock, Ark., Aug. 29, 2002 (Thanks to George Dupper.)
"See, we love?we love freedom. That's what they didn't understand. They hate things; we love things. They act out of hatred; we don't seek revenge, we seek justice out of love."?Oklahoma City, Aug. 29, 2002
"There's no cave deep enough for America, or dark enough to hide."?Oklahoma City, Aug. 29, 2002 (Thanks to Michael Shively.)
"I'm a patient man. And when I say I'm a patient man, I mean I'm a patient man."
"I'm thrilled to be here in the bread basket of America because it gives me a chance to remind our fellow citizens that we have an advantage here in America?we can feed ourselves."?Stockton, Calif., Aug. 23, 2002 (Thanks to Christopher Baird.)
"There's no bigger task than protecting the homeland of our country."
"I love the idea of a school in which people come to get educated and stay in the state in which they're educated."
"I promise you I will listen to what has been said here, even though I wasn't here."
"I can assure you that, even though I won't be sitting through every single moment of the seminars, nor will the vice president, we will look at the summaries."
"Tommy [Thompson, Health and Human Services secretary,] is a good listener, and he's a pretty good actor, too."
"The trial lawyers are very politically powerful. ? But here in Texas we took them on and got some good medical?medical malpractice.""I firmly believe the death tax is good for people from all walks of life all throughout our society."
?Waco, Texas, Aug. 13, 2002
"Over 75 percent of white Americans own their home, and less than 50 percent of Hispanos and African Americans don't own their home. And that's a gap, that's a homeownership gap. And we've got to do something about it."?Cleveland, Ohio, July 1, 2002
"Whether you're here by birth, or whether you're in America by choice, you contribute to the vitality of our life. And for that, we are grateful."?Washington, D.C., May 17, 2002
"Do you have blacks, too?"?To Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso, Washington, D.C., Nov. 8, 2001
"This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating."?as quoted by the New York Daily News, April 23, 2002
"I want to thank the dozens of welfare to work stories, the actual examples of people who made the firm and solemn commitment to work hard to embetter themselves."?Washington, D.C., April 18, 2002 (Thanks to George Dupper.)
"And so, in my State of the?my State of the Union?or state?my speech to the nation, whatever you want to call it, speech to the nation?I asked Americans to give 4,000 years?4,000 hours over the next?the rest of your life?of service to America. That's what I asked?4,000 hours." ?Bridgeport, Conn., April 9, 2002
"We've tripled the amount of money?I believe it's from $50 million up to $195 million available."?Lima, Peru, March 23, 2002
"The suicide bombings have increased. There's too many of them."?Albuquerque, N.M., Aug. 15, 2001
"Brie and cheese."?Taunting a reporter who recently spent time on the West Coast, Crawford, Texas, Aug. 23, 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."?Crawford, Texas, Aug, 13, 2001 (Thanks to Michael Shively.)
''I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe?I believe what I believe is right."?Rome, July 22, 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."?Visiting the Jefferson Memorial, Washington, D.C., July 2, 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."?Washington, D.C., June 18, 2001
"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."?Referring to the McCain-Kennedy patients' bill of rights, Brussels, Belgium, June 13, 2001
"Can't living with the bill means it won't become law."?Referring to the McCain-Kennedy patients' bill of rights, Brussels, Belgium, 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."?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."?Miami, Fla., June 4, 2001
"Our nation must come together to unite."?Tampa, Fla., June 4, 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."?Remarks to the Hispanic Scholarship Fund Institute, Washington, D.C., May 22, 2001
"Thirdly, the explorationists are willing to only move equipment during the winter, which means they'll be on ice roads, and remove the equipment as the ice begins to melt, so that the fragile tundra is protected."?Conestoga, Pa., May 18, 2001
"Presidents, whether things are good or bad, get the blame. I understand that."?Washington, D.C., May 11, 2001 (Thanks to Jay Schlossberg.)
"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."?Philadelphia, May 14, 2001 (Thanks to John Brooks.)
"There's no question that the minute I got elected, the storm clouds on the horizon were getting nearly directly overhead."?Washington, D.C., 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."?Washington, D.C., May 1, 2001 (Thanks to Gene Mosher.)
"Whatever it took to help Taiwan defend theirself."?On how far we'd be willing to go to defend Taiwan, Good Morning America, April 25, 2001
"We must have the attitude that every child in America?regardless of where they're raised or how they're born?can learn."?New Britain, Conn., April 18, 2001 (Thanks to Eric Beerbohm.)
"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."?Remarks on "parental empowerment in education," Washington, D.C., April 12, 2001 (Thanks to J.R. Taylor.)
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."?Concord Middle School, Concord, N.C., 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."?Washington, D.C., April 10, 2001
"The Senate needs to leave enough money in the proposed budget to not only reduce all marginal rates, but to eliminate the death tax, so that people who build up assets are able to transfer them from one generation to the next, regardless of a person's race."?Washington, D.C., April 5, 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."?Press conference, Washington, D.C., March 29, 2001
"I've coined new words, like, misunderstanding and Hispanically."?Radio-Television Correspondents Association dinner, Washington, D.C., March 29, 2001
"I assured the prime minister, my administration will work hard to lay the foundation of peace in the Middle?to work with our nations in the Middle East, give peace a chance. Secondly, I told him that our nation will not try to force peace, that we'll facilitate peace and that we will work with those responsible for a peace."?Photo opportunity with Ariel Sharon, Washington, D.C., March 20, 2001 (Thanks to Scott Beber.)
"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."?Tyndall Air Force Base, 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."?Interview with the Washington Post, March 9, 2001
"I think there is some methodology in my travels." ?Washington, D.C., March 5, 2001
"I'm also honored to be here with the speaker of the House?just happens to be from the state of Illinois. I'd like to describe the speaker as a trustworthy man. He's the kind of fellow who says when he gives you his word he means it. Sometimes that doesn't happen all the time in the political process."?Chicago, March 6, 2001 (Thanks to Gary Belkin.)
"Of all states that understands local control of schools, Iowa is such a state."?Council Bluffs, Iowa, Feb. 28, 2001 (Thanks to Peter Sagal)
"Those of us who spent time in the agricultural sector and in the heartland, we understand how unfair the death penalty is."?Omaha, Neb., Feb. 28, 2001
"I have said that the sanction regime is like Swiss cheese?that meant that they weren't very effective."?White House press conference, Washington, D.C., Feb. 22, 2001
"You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test.''?Townsend, Tenn., Feb. 21, 2001
"Home is important. It's important to have a home."?Crawford, Texas, Feb. 18, 2001
"We're concerned about AIDS inside our White House?make no mistake about it."?Washington, D.C., Feb. 7, 2001
"There's no such thing as legacies. At least, there is a legacy, but I'll never see it."?To Catholic leaders at the White House, Jan. 31, 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."?Austin, Texas, Jan. 8, 2001
"Natural gas is hemispheric. I like to call it hemispheric in nature because it is a product that we can find in our neighborhoods."?Austin, Texas, Dec. 20, 2000
"Let me put it to you this way, I am not a revengeful person."? Interview with Time magazine in the Dec. 25, 2000, issue.
"I am mindful of the difference between the executive branch and the legislative branch. I assured all four of these leaders that I know the difference, and that difference is they pass the laws and I execute them."?Washington, D.C., Dec. 18, 2000
"The great thing about America is everybody should vote."?Austin, Texas, Dec. 8, 2000
"Dick Cheney and I do not want this nation to be in a recession. We want anybody who can find work to be able to find work."?60 Minutes II, Dec. 5, 2000
"They misunderestimated me."?Bentonville, Ark., Nov. 6, 2000
"Think about that. Two hundred and eighty-five new or expanded programs, $2 trillion more in new spending, and not one new bureaucrat to file out the forms or answer the phones?"?Minneapolis, Nov. 1, 2000
"They want the federal government controlling Social Security like it's some kind of federal program."?St. Charles, Mo., Nov. 2, 2000
"It's your money. You paid for it."?LaCrosse, Wis., Oct. 18, 2000
"I don't want nations feeling like that they can bully ourselves and our allies. I want to have a ballistic defense system so that we can make the world more peaceful, and at the same time I want to reduce our own nuclear capacities to the level commiserate with keeping the peace."?Des Moines, Iowa, Oct. 23, 2000
"Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream."?LaCrosse, Wis., Oct. 18, 2000
"If I'm the president, we're going to have emergency-room care, we're going to have gag orders."
"Drug therapies are replacing a lot of medicines as we used to know it."
"It's one thing about insurance, that's a Washington term."
"I think we ought to raise the age at which juveniles can have a gun."
"Mr. Vice President, in all due respect, it is?I'm not sure 80 percent of the people get the death tax. I know this: 100 percent will get it if I'm the president."
"Quotas are bad for America. It's not the way America is all about."
"If affirmative action means what I just described, what I'm for, then I'm for it."?St. Louis, Mo., October 18, 2000
"Our priorities is our faith."?Greensboro, N.C., Oct. 10, 2000
"I mean, there needs to be a wholesale effort against racial profiling, which is illiterate children."?Second presidential debate, Oct. 11, 2000 (Thanks to Leonard Williams.)
"It's going to require numerous IRA agents."?On Gore's tax plan, Greensboro, N.C., Oct. 10, 2000
"I would have my secretary of treasury be in touch with the financial centers, not only here but at home."?Boston, Oct. 3, 2000 (Thanks to M. Bateman.)
"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."?Saginaw, Mich., Sept. 29, 2000
"I will have a foreign-handed foreign policy."?Redwood, Calif., Sept. 27, 2000
"It is clear our nation is reliant upon big foreign oil. More and more of our imports come from overseas."?Beaverton, Ore., Sep. 25, 2000
"I am a person who recognizes the fallacy of humans."?Oprah, Sept. 19, 2000
"A tax cut is really one of the anecdotes to coming out of an economic illness."?The Edge With Paula Zahn, Sept. 18, 2000
"The woman who knew that I had dyslexia?I never interviewed her."?Orange, Calif., Sept. 15, 2000
"The best way to relieve families from time is to let them keep some of their own money."?Westminster, Calif., Sept. 13, 2000
"They have miscalculated me as a leader."?Ibid.
"I don't think we need to be subliminable about the differences between our views on prescription drugs."?Orlando, Fla., Sept. 12, 2000
"This is what I'm good at. I like meeting people, my fellow citizens, I like interfacing with them."?Outside Pittsburgh, Sept. 8, 2000
"That's Washington. That's the place where you find people getting ready to jump out of the foxholes before the first shot is fired."?Westland, Mich., Sept. 8, 2000
"Listen, Al Gore is a very tough opponent. He is the incumbent. He
represents the incumbency. And a challenger is somebody who generally
comes from the pack and wins, if you're going to win. And that's where
I'm coming from."?Detroit, Sept. 7, 2000 (Thanks to Michael Butler, Houston, Texas.)
"We'll let our friends be the peacekeepers and the great country called America will be the pacemakers."?Houston, Texas, Sept. 6, 2000
"We don't believe in planners and deciders making the decisions on behalf of Americans."?Scranton, Pa., Sept. 6, 2000
"I regret that a private comment I made to the vice presidential candidate made it through the public airways."?Allentown, Pa., Sept. 5, 2000.
"Well, I think if you say you're going to do something and don't do it, that's trustworthiness."--Ibid.
"I don't know whether I'm going to win or not. I think I am. I do know I'm ready for the job. And, if not, that's just the way it goes."?Des Moines, Iowa, Aug. 21, 2000
''This campaign not only hears the voices of the entrepreneurs and the farmers and the entrepreneurs, we hear the voices of those struggling to get ahead."?Ibid.
"We cannot let terrorists and rogue nations hold this nation hostile or hold our allies hostile.''?Ibid.
"I have a different vision of leadership. A leadership is someone who brings people together."?Bartlett, Tenn., Aug. 18, 2000 (Thanks to Tarja Black.)
"I want you to know that farmers are not going to be secondary thoughts to a Bush administration. They will be in the forethought of our thinking."?Salinas, Calif., Aug. 10, 2000 (Thanks to Kris Sester.)
"And if he continues that, I'm going to tell the nation what I think about him as a human being and a person."?President George H.W. Bush, on the Today show, Aug. 1, 2000
"States should have the right to enact reasonable laws and restrictions particularly to end the inhumane practice of ending a life that otherwise could live."?Cleveland, June 29, 2000 (Thanks to Douglas Basford.)
"The only things that I can tell you is that every case I have reviewed I have been comfortable with the innocence or guilt of the person that I've looked at. I do not believe we've put a guilty ... I mean innocent person to death in the state of Texas." All Things Considered, NPR, June 16, 2000 (Thanks to Andy Nouraee.)
"I'm gonna talk about the ideal world, Chris. I've read?I understand reality. If you're asking me as the president, would I understand reality, I do."?On abortion, Hardball, MSNBC; May 31, 2000
"There's not going to be enough people in the system to take advantage of people like me."?On the coming Social Security crisis; Wilton, Conn.; June 9, 2000 (Thanks to Andy Mais.)
"I think anybody who doesn't think I'm smart enough to handle the job is underestimating."?U.S. News & World Report, April 3, 2000 (Thanks to Alfred Stanley, Austin, Texas.)
Bush: "First of all, Cinco de Mayo is not the independence day. That's diecis?is de Septiembre, and ..."
Matthews: "What's that in English?"
Bush: "Fifteenth of September." (Diecis?is de Septiembre = Sept. 16)
?Hardball, MSNBC, May 31, 2000 (Thanks to numerous readers.)
"Actually, I?this may sound a little West Texan to you, but I like it. When I'm talking about?when I'm talking about myself, and when he's talking about myself, all of us are talking about me."?Ibid.
"This is a world that is much more uncertain than the past. In the past we were certain, we were certain it was us versus the Russians in the past. We were certain, and therefore we had huge nuclear arsenals aimed at each other to keep the peace. That's what we were certain of. ... You see, even though it's an uncertain world, we're certain of some things. We're certain that even though the 'evil empire' may have passed, evil still remains. We're certain there are people that can't stand what America stands for. ... We're certain there are madmen in this world, and there's terror, and there's missiles and I'm certain of this, too: I'm certain to maintain the peace, we better have a military of high morale, and I'm certain that under this administration, morale in the military is dangerously low."?Albuquerque, N.M., the Washington Post, May 31, 2000
"He has certainly earned a reputation as a fantastic mayor, because the results speak for themselves. I mean, New York's a safer place for him to be."?On Rudy Giuliani, The Edge With Paula Zahn, May 18, 2000 (Thanks to Peter Goldman.)
"The fact that he relies on facts?says things that are not factual?are going to undermine his campaign."?New York Times, March 4, 2000 (Thanks to Garry Trudeau.)
"It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it."--Reuters, May 5, 2000 (Thanks to Allison Fansler.)
GOV. BUSH: Because the picture on the newspaper. It just seems so un-American to me, the picture of the guy storming the house with a scared little boy there. I talked to my little brother, Jeb?I haven't told this to many people. But he's the governor of?I shouldn't call him my little brother--my brother, Jeb, the great governor of Texas.
JIM LEHRER: Florida.
GOV. BUSH: Florida. The state of the Florida.?The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer, April 27, 2000
"I hope we get to the bottom of the answer. It's what I'm interested to know."?On what happened in negotiations between the Justice Department and Eli?n Gonz?lez's Miami relatives, as quoted by the Associated Press, April 26, 2000 (Thanks to Saul Selzer.)
"Laura and I really don't realize how bright our children is sometimes until we get an objective analysis."?CNBC, April 15, 2000
"I was raised in the West. The wesv of Texas. It's pretty close to California. In more ways than Washington, D.C., is close to California."?In Los Angeles as quoted by the Los Angeles Times, April 8, 2000
"Reading is the basics for all learning."?Announcing his "Reading First" initiative in Reston, Va., March 28, 2000 (Thanks to Carl LaRocca.)
"It's evolutionary, going from governor to president, and this is a significant step, to be able to vote for yourself on the ballot, and I'll be able to do so next fall, I hope."?In an interview with the Associated Press, March 8, 2000 (Thanks to Joshua Micah Marshall.)
"I understand small business growth. I was one."?New York Daily News, Feb. 19, 2000
"The senator has got to understand if he's going to have?he can't have it both ways. He can't take the high horse and then claim the low road."?To reporters in Florence, S.C., Feb. 17, 2000
"I don't want to win? If that were the case why the heck am I on the bus 16 hours a day, shaking thousands of hands, giving hundreds of speeches, getting pillared in the press and cartoons and still staying on message to win?"?Newsweek, Feb. 28, 2000
"I thought how proud I am to be standing up beside my dad. Never did it occur to me that he would become the gist for cartoonists."?ibid.
"If you're sick and tired of the politics of cynicism and polls and principles, come and join this campaign."?Hilton Head, S.C., Feb. 16, 2000
"How do you know if you don't measure if you have a system that simply suckles kids through?"?Explaining the need for educational accountability in Beaufort, S.C., Feb. 16, 2000
"We ought to make the pie higher."?South Carolina Republican Debate, Feb. 15, 2000
"The most important job is not to be governor, or first lady in my case."?Pella, Iowa, as quoted by the San Antonio Express-News, Jan. 30, 2000
"This is Preservation Month. I appreciate preservation. It's what you do when you run for president. You gotta preserve."?Speaking during "Perseverance Month" at Fairgrounds Elementary School in Nashua, N.H. As quoted in the Los Angeles Times, Jan. 28, 2000
"I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family."?Greater Nashua, N.H., Chamber of Commerce, Jan. 27, 2000
"When I was coming up, it was a dangerous world, and you knew exactly who they were," he said. "It was us vs. them, and it was clear who them was. Today, we are not so sure who the they are, but we know they're there."?Iowa Western Community College, Jan 21, 2000
"We must all hear the universal call to like your neighbor just like you like to be liked yourself."?ibid.
"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"?Florence, S.C., Jan. 11, 2000
"There needs to be debates, like we're going through. There needs to be town-hall meetings. There needs to be travel. This is a huge country."?Larry King Live, Dec. 16, 1999
"I think it's important for those of us in a position of responsibility to be firm in sharing our experiences, to understand that the babies out of wedlock is a very difficult chore for mom and baby alike. ... I believe we ought to say there is a different alternative than the culture that is proposed by people like Miss Wolf in society. ... And, you know, hopefully, condoms will work, but it hasn't worked."?Meet the Press, Nov. 21, 1999
"The important question is, How many hands have I shaked?"?Answering a question about why he hasn't spent more time in New Hampshire, in the New York Times, Oct. 23, 1999
"I don't remember debates. I don't think we spent a lot of time debating it. Maybe we did, but I don't remember."?On discussions of the Vietnam War when he was an undergraduate at Yale, Washington Post, July 27, 1999
"The only thing I know about Slovakia is what I learned first-hand from your foreign minister, who came to Texas."?To a Slovak journalist as quoted by Knight Ridder News Service, June 22, 1999. Bush's meeting was with Janez Drnovsek, the prime minister of Slovenia.
"Keep good relations with the Grecians."?Quoted in the Economist, June 12, 1999
