Page 106 - Gorbachev News Today

♪ >> maybe the most historic thing that happened while you were president was the end of the cold war. could you tell me about the day that the wall fell? >> i remember the democrat leaders in the congress, mitchell and gephardt, saying the president doesnt get it, he ought to be over there now dancing on the wall with these kids that are having families join for the first time. which historically would have been the stupidest thing i could have done. leslie stahl i think it was said to me why...

Historian, tim neftali right now. bush was only in office for one term but he got a lot done, especially when you look at foreign policy. >> well, he wanted to stabilize that period and he helped the soviet union have a soft landing. now, it would be wrong to say that george bush ended the cold war. but he was the exactly right partner for mikhail gorbachev. gorbachev was going to be making very tough decisions and what bush understood was bush didnt want to make those tougher. he underthat will...

We did. my wife, my son mierks daughter-in-law, 4-year-old grandson, jeffrey. when we were having lunch on the second day, president bush was anxious to finish lunch and go out and walk and do something. he started to hustle us along and 4-year-old jeffrey raised his hand and said i havent finished my ice cream and president bush said well, okay. so we all sat down again. thats who he was. he was like that with everybody, that humility, that humbleness. dont take myself so seriously. i am the pr...

Dont have to pander, i dont have to go with the flow. i know i have an internal core. >> i think youre exactly right, fareed. he knew who he was. and there was also a strong sense of modesty. he didnt have to go through his life bragging or proving things to other people. at 18, he showed his courage by volunteering for -- to fly in world war ii. and you mentioned, i think, the two most extraordinary moments in the foreign policy of his tenure. the peaceful end to the cold war. and i think he wa...

In these days of tearing down our institutions to say, "trust me." yet americans have to have faith and trust to some degree or none of our systems will work. hes saying that in 1976, but it can be said today about the era were living through right now today, charles. and also we should reflect on what a consequential time period this was, the bush years, and all of the changes happening all around the world that you and your colleagues were covering. >> indeed. the three of us logged hundreds o...

And were now in a period where trust has kind of been thrown out the window. but looking back at that time, and it started with reagan and theres really a continuum through the reagan years and the four bush years, in which ronald reagan went to berlin and said, mr. gorbachev, tear down this wall. and during the bush administration that wall, the berlin wall, did indeed come down. and the soviet union dissolved. and all of those countries in eastern europe intellectually, at least, migrated west...

Say. i just want to talk to you. about the responsibility and the opportunity that we have before us. and i thought, wow, that was really something. and gorbachev relaxed. and you could see the weight come from his shoulders too. and then they just talked. >> im especially glad we had this meeting and we did gain a deeper understanding of each others views. we set the stage for progress across a broad range of issues. >> he understood the pressures on mikhail gorbachev, both culturely, before me...

Short years he was president. i am biased, of course, but i think he was the best one-term president we ever had, and among the most underappreciated of all of our presidents. and i think history is correcting that. when you look at what happened on his watch, the cold war that we had fought for 40 years ended, and it ended peacefully because of the adroit way in which he managed its end. he got criticized strongly for not being more emotional about the berlin wall coming down. he was criticized...

Said what was this conversation? this is extraordinary that in the last waning moments of the soviet union, gorbachev called you. and typical of george bush, he hadnt thought much of it. hes such a humble man that hed really not seen the significance of that. >> gorbachev called him to say good-bye, and to say how much it meant to him that theyd had this relationship over the last couple of years and offered to help in any way. and president bush said my horseshoe pit is always open, mikhail, co...

Decision. steer the chute, so its more on you. and people say why do you do this stupid stuff? i say, well, two reasons. one, at my age, you still get a thrill, a physical thrill from something. you look down. no visible means of support. and next thing you know, youre falling and floating, hopefully. and then it sends a message around the world that, i say around the world, immodestly, but people do seem to see it, that, you know, old guys can still do interesting things, fun things, exciting t...