Quotes/George W. Bush
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Claiming Victory After Being Defeat
- "I knew we were going to finish strong. I knew that we were going to come roarin' into Election Day because we've got the right position on taxes, we've got the right position on what it takes to protect you from attack." Spoken at a rally in Arkansas. Deb Reichman. "Bush Campaigning Said Helped Fire Up GOP." Associated Press. November 7, 2006.
Democrats
- "The Democrat philosophy is this: If it breathes, tax it, and if it stops breathing, find its children and tax them." Shouted at a November 6, 2006 campaign rally in Pensacola, Florida. Jennifer Loven. "White House Miffed by Fla. GOP Candidate," Associated Press. November 6, 2006.
Education
- Reading is the basics for all learning.
- announcing his "Reading First" initiative in Reston, Va., March 28, 2000
General Malapropisms
- I'm honored to shake the hand of a brave Iraqi citizen who had his hand cut off by Saddam Hussein.
- as President, meeting Iraqi amputees at the White House on May 25, 2004
Humor
- I want to thank my friend, Senator Bill Frist, for joining us today. (Applause.) You're doing a heck of a job. You cut your teeth here, right? That's where you started practicing? That's good. He married a Texas girl, I want you to know. (Laughter.) Karyn is with us. A West Texas girl, just like me.
- These stories about my intellectual capacity really get under my skin. You know, for a while I even thought my staff believed it. There on my schedule first thing every morning it said, 'Intelligence Briefing.'
- joking at the Radio-TV Correspondents' Dinner, March 29, 2001
- Well, you got a pretty face. ... You got a pretty face. You're a good-looking guy. Better looking than my Scott anyway.
- addressed to Scott Reid, senior strategist to Canadian PM Paul Martin, comparing his physical attributes to those of his own press secretary Scott McClellan. January 16, 2004
Power
- If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator.
- then President-elect, Joking on CNN, aired December 18, 2000
- I'm the commander -- see, I don't need to explain -- I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being the president. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation.
- in a Washington Post interview with Bob Woodward, November 2002, and in Woodward's book Bush at War
Prayer
- I feel the comfort and the power of knowing that literally millions of Americans I'm never going to meet ... say my name to the Almighty every day and ask him to help me ... My friend, Jiang Zemin in China, has about a billion and a half folks, and I don't think he can say that. And my friend, Vladimir Putin, I like him, but he can't say that.
- in the Mobile (AL) Register, Feb. 28, 2003
Race Relations
- There's a lot of people in the world who don't believe that people whose skin color may not be the same as ours can be free and self-govern. I reject that. I reject that strongly. I believe that people who practice the Muslim faith can self-govern. I believe that people whose skins aren't necessarily - are a different color than white can self-govern.
- April 30, 2004, Rose Garden Press Conference
Social Security
- They want the federal government controlling Social Security like it's some kind of federal program.
- St. Charles, Missouri, Nov. 2, 2000
War on Terror
- The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him.
- October 13, 2001
- I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority.
- March 13, 2002, Whitehouse.gov
- I'm a war president.
- February 13, 2004, Meet the Press
- Nobody wants to be the war president. I want to be the peace president.
- July 20, 2004, campaign speech
- For a while we were marching to war. Now we're marching to peace. ... America is a safer place. Four more years and America will be safe and the world will be more peaceful.
- July 20, 2004, campaign speech
- 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.
- August 5, 2004, at the signing ceremony for a $417 billion defense spending bill (H.R. 4613)
Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be here somewhere. No, no weapons over there! Maybe under here?
- speaking in jest at a Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner on March 24, 2004. To that date, hundreds of Americans had already died in Iraq in a futile search for the mentioned weapons.