Has taken up painting. Creating portraits of military veterans. They have been published in the book, portraits of courage. President bush talked about why he decided to paint these veterans and his time in office. Good evening. I have the honor of being the executive director. I thank you for joining us. In honor of our men and women who defend our freedom around the world in uniform please stand and join me for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america. And to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Please be seated. Now that we have said the pledges that are fake, like it if all of those who are with the armed forces here today whether active, or retired as well as their families, they stand so we may show you our appreciation. [applause] [applause] we thank you so very much. On that note, there are a few other people i like to recognize. Start their board of trustees, president bushs ambassador, bob and his wife maria. Supporter of. From the reagan family, micah and cameron. [applause] the status of women in just a few more, a former congressman and his wife. [applause] of the elected officials from the county of ventura. Simi valley. [applause] president bushs secretary of the treasury. [applause] and lastly, retired u. S. Army officer, gary and his wife. [applause] id be remiss if i did not mention that jerry became paralyzed from the waist down when the helicopter crashed while conducting operations in iraq in 2008. Thanks to the generosity of the he can now walk through the existence of an excess skeleton. [applause] is like to know what an exoskeleton is, gary will be at the Reagan Library tomorrow night for an event to share his story. We have a all to come back tomorrow at the same time for will be an inspirational event. Thank you for coming. [applause] now, to begin her conversation with our special guests another of our foundations trustees. Fred has served, as the Reagan Foundation chairman for 22 years. Prior to his chairmanship he served in the white house from 82 89. After that he served as the dragons first post white house chief of staff. I know of no the person who spent more time and effort working on behalf of ronald and nancy reagan over the years. Fred, you never brag about the fact. Please join me in welcoming to the stage, mr. Fred ryan. [applause] [applause] thank you for the kind introduction. Our special guest tonight has been here several times. First is unity majorleague baseball team. Then as governor texas. His back as candidate for the United States back as president of the United States to dedicate air force one has been heres a former president of the United States and author of a popular book. Tonight his back is an accomplished painter. So i wonder what have be on his next visit here. Because they observe what president s do when they leave the white house. After serving in the most powerful and demanding child they deserve to spend time doing things they just enjoy and wants to the most. Some take on bold new challenges and exciting adventures. One of my favorite became a skydiving enthusiast until his wife put a stop to it. There have been a few artists among our former president s including grant, carter, and carter. No president has ever attempted portraiture. The 43rd president ventured into that because he was so moved by the sacrifices of our wounded american warriors. He began the challenge of capturing them on campus. I look at the vision of portraits and all. That only because the talent and skill that because the subject matter. He finds a way to take the strength, dignity and patriotism and left it out for us all to see. The essence of the warrior spirit. Hopefully it gives us a better understanding of these heroic veterans. In this book, portraits of courage to tell the story of 60 brave souls. The goal is to honor our men and women in uniform, highlight family members and caregivers bear the burden of their sacrifice. To encourage those struggling and to help american supporter veterans and empower them to succeed. Theres no question the president has achieve those goals. In doing so he has revealed a bit of himself. Oscar wilde wrote every portrait painted with feeling is a portrait from the artist. This rather the painter who reveals himself. Now migrate honor to introduce the 43rd president of the United States, george w. Bush. [applause] thank you. Thank you for the kind remarks thank you so much for vitamin e back for the trustees i hope to see you again a memo to brian. I painted him. I asked his mother what he thought of the painting and i thought he just had a face only a mother could love. And she liked it. It was a huge relief. As you can see we have a full house. Were streaming this online. There have been a number of questions submitted about the book, your painting, and a few other subjects. I want to mention to those here and online that the book is not available, portraits of courage. A top seller on amazon, or if you go to the push center directly at push. Middledot or, it is available straight from this earth. Theres a special edition personally signed by the president. All proceeds will go to the veterans causes. [applause] the first thing Everyone Wants to know is, when did you start painting . I was an art agnostic for most of my life. A terrible admission to make. I get back from washington and i will be book in another book. Im trying to stay fit. Im working at the bush center but it wasnt enough. When youre the president un 10t day it is zero. I had an anxiousness to keep moving and learn something. I read Winston Churchills painting as a pastime. He took up painting. The essay is worth reading. I basically said, if this guy campaign, i can paints. [laughter] i told that to laura and she said yes, sure. I hired an instructor, gail. She came over to the house and said, what is your objective . And i said there is a rembrandt draft was spotty. On in this body. But i painted a cube and a watermelon. It was a liberating experience. I have been painting ever since for about five years. The first question we have is, did you have a history of painting as a child early in your life . Did your mom tape any of your painting to the refrigerator . No. I was not that interested in arts. Now i am. So goes to show, you can teach an old dog new tricks. Our age, 70 is sitting around with your pals there are only two topics of medication conversation. What medication are you taking and how are your grandkids. My buddy say you have a passion for painting not to try. I am living. To tell you you do not know what you can do unless you try. My copper aging baby boomers, let it out. Run to the finish line. The next question is a sense of you taking. [laughter] i grandkids are gray. Very good fred, i didnt think you had a baby. Next question from janet. She said, you started painting farm animals and World Leaders. Was the first winter warrior you painted and why . My mother who can be quite plainspoken heard i was painting and she basically said you cant pay. This is a woman his when i told her i was going to run against and richard said, you cannot win. And so she said, my dogs. So i became a pet portrait painter and painted bob the cat, bernie the cat. Barney and then an instructor, one of the greatest things an instructor can do is set new horizons for the student. My instructor brought over and said you are to paint the portraits of World Leaders. And im saying this guy actually thinks i could do that . And i did that. And so i have two instructors now. One is at the house set i understand you painted these World Leaders said european portraits of people nobody knows. It dawned on me that i have to pay these warriors. So have democrats on golf tournaments with these wounded vets. Like dinosaur biker. Then i started studying their stories. The first gaia was painted is where you hear and he said because i cant get out of my mind seen the buddy who got killed. And i paint pictures or photos and i find painting, thinking what that must be like in his mind. He then writes me a letter later and as a result is much more comfortable talking about. Brian is working with a lot of troops and they dont want to talk about it. They think people will not understand me or it will not get promoted. I would never get hired. They keep it inside. Turner writes me a letter that said it enabled me to start sharing my story, that step onto seeking help. So i repainted turner. I was trying to show people how one can improve when you deal with this stigma. I something to show people i improved as a painter as well. The next question follows up, what is the process for painting a portrait. Today sit in the studio . Do they get to see and approve it . Have you ever had someone who is unhappy . Yes, my wife. I painted laura one time, i thought it was a good painting. At first it was too anguished and family said forget it i did pay my mother for her 90th birthday was a painting of her walking her to talks on the beach but in order to do the angst where showed me i painted my mom from the past. [laughter] via id painful photos. The only person i ever painted i was me. When my instructors convince me to pay myself looking in the mirror. Its hard to paint file while you like him in the mirror. So i did not run up events. As giuseppe liked it. I was nervous about some of them. Theres a guy in their name todd. Todd wrote us a letter about what it was like to be in more. Is painting todd he told us he had night sweats and size thinking about what it was like to have night sweats. So its a dark painting in a sense. I saw todd two days ago and i said i will show you painting. So thats really good. I said i will commanderinchief. Can telling the truth. He liked it and it was a great relief. They collected because i captured the anguish he felt. Doesnt that anymore and i wish i could repaint him but the book is out. [laughter] which of your winter warrior portraiture was the toughest to paint . Theyre all tough and away. When you think about it. Every one of these, some had very physical ones and for and all the med pts or dramatic brain injury. Hard to, my baby boomer vietnam war. Its like theres a draft when they came home they were treated for an attack would defend the country millions volunteered. To be able to salute people was a high honor. So oftentimes i thought about the integrity and courage of those willing to volunteer to wear the uniform. So i had a lot of pride in painting them. The toughest was mia melissa dancing. She was the first woman to lose her leg in combat. She was a bronze medal in rio. Im sitting next to her and she says lets dance. And i said i dont want to do hits. Not a good dancer. So the z part was her. Most of the painting i look like alfred e newman. Remember him. It where do you do painting, who cleans up and how long does it take to do portrait. I paint upstairs at the house. And another where i can retreat to. And, i clean up. Most of the time. Laura is a neat nick. An oil painting is not neat. I limit my palate to two yellows to reds, a blue and white. And the blue is a very powerful blue. You get a little nick on your finger and you dont get it totally clean it down on a white bedspread, its blue. So im not a very good cleaner. This took me a year to paint these portraits a painting is really never done. I look at some of these and wish i could put them back on the easel. But at some point have call it quits so i live with these portraits for a year. I would go upstairs and look at obrien say i think i have to touch them up a little bit more. So, i cannot answer this question. Michael and greenwich asked, have you ever been on happy with the painting and tossed it aside . Yes. Many times a paint and get in bed and then think about it and get in bed and then scrape it all off. Thats good thing about oil painting. Acrylic strike so fast there is no scraping. So, yes, all the time. Good thing about oil is you can keep painting over it. Theres questions beyond the painting but from betty in washington, d. C. She writes, in a time when someone calls uncertainty, what can you tell the other generation of our country. Read history. I remember somebody telling me, youve had the toughest presidency and i said, not even close. How about Abraham Lincoln when the country was at war with each other. Or how about 50 years later, it was a tough time there something unique about us, we have a spirit that cannot be extinguished. Millions were the uniform and got phds in life. At a young age. So the fundamental question is, can we help them transition because they are the leaders of the future. Thats what this project is about. Helping people take the skill set and transition to bring the skills into civilian life. Theres a military civilian divine, some of it has to do with language. Vice president of human relations says whats your skill set . Sniper. Well, i dont think we need one the sheer. But if the person has set im disciplined, work hard, im a team player, i can take pressure, all of a sudden the civilian takes a different look. So one of the challenges we have is understanding how the military thinks. So the kids have to understand the history of the country. And youll see, there is a resiliency to us that should make people optimistic. My concern the rhetoric and politics is so out of hand the good people said dont want to get in politics. This is not the first time theres namecalling and politics. There may have been names called at me at one time, im not sure. Cap in chicago asks her rights, were so glad to see her dad to make it to the super bowl for the coin toss just days after leaving the hospital. [applause] how is he doing, and how is your mom . Theyre both great given their limitations. Dad cant walk, hes confined to a wheelchair yet his spirit is joyful. I went to see dad three years ago of the Union Methodist hospital in houston. He had been into the icu room its not real warm. When i said can my libraries opening in three months. I sure want you there. His voice is weak and he says, i will be there son. I love tearful think it probably not. The most important thing to me, its nice to have the former president s, but dad was on the stage. Flipping the coin reminded me of the library opening. This guy has a huge desire to live. It had to have started when he was 19 years old floating on the raft. Worried about the japanese capturing and killing him. Moms doing fine, she is shrinking and that she does her voice gets louder. But, she is a piece of work is what she is. [laughter] [applause] a question from the audience. Why did you criticize President Trump recently after not criticizing president obama . Heres what happens. I messed a question, do i believe in prepress. In the answers, absolutely i believe in prepress. As should every american. Because the press holds people to account. Power is very addictive. Its corrosive if it becomes central to your life. There needs to be an independent group of people who hold you to account. I went anybody who is president to succeed. Were all in this deal together. And so i understand some of my sometime mist remarks can be construed as criticism. Theyre certainly not meant to be. And every finish this book tour, you probably wont hear from me for a while. I like privacy. The being that be presidency. People say thank you for your sacrifice, not a sacrifice to serve a country you love but you sacrifice anonymity. I cant walk down madison avenue new york without drawing flies. Man i ought to but that a little better. Without drawing [laughter] without drawing a lot of attention. And i to the extent i can have privacy, i like it. Whats what art has done. Given me a chance to not be totally inside yourself, but it is a i mentioned a learning experience but also very its amazing how time moves, which is a little scary when youre 70. Bertha writes the bush standing is viewed as civility and politics. Are politics less civil today than in the parse and if so, why. I think politics has always been a rough sport. Theres always again, if you head read history, theres a lot of places in campaigns there was slander and people saying bad things. What has changed, however, is how people get their news. So, believe it or not, im the first black berry the first email president. Just the email the blackberry was a government issue right at the end of bill clintons time. And the robe i make that point is technology has changed so dramatically and so quickly, as has the dispersal of noise. In the old days the three, abc, nbc, and cbs, and now its from people get news and information from all over the place, and part of the issue with this new these in disbursal agents you can be anonymous. Theres no responsibility. Theres no accountabilitywhatsoever, and which lends itself to some pretty angry messages going out. And the danger, as is mentioned earlier, is good people say issue dont want for get involved. Thats a huge problem. The still is only a goods as the willingness of good people to be involved it in. A question for michael in buffalo. Ronald reagan had the famous line of asking, are we better off than we were four years snag is the world a more dangerous place than it was four years ago . The world is a dangerous place, and this may be taken as criticism of one of my successors and i dont mean it to be. There is a lesson, however, when the United States decides to not take the lead, and withdraw. Vacuums can be created when u. S. Presence recedes and that vacuum is generally filled with people who dont share the same ideology, the same sense of human rights and Human Dignity and freedom that we do, and theres an isolationist ten deputy in our country, and i would argue thats dangerous to our National Security and doesnt bee fit doesnt befit the character of the country. You mentioned [applause] you talked about social media. I looked on twitter for the account of george w. Bush and it was described as locked. Do you tweet . No. Do you recommend it to others . Loaded question. No, i dont tweet. If there is a twitter account under my name, somebody else is running it out of the bush center. This is an interesting question. We do good things at the c. A. P. At the bush center but the only way i make news is cite sizing my successor or or criticizing my party. So how do you get good news out so that people who are supporting our center can fine out about it. These twitter and instagram and things are useful ways to commune communicate a group of people who are interested in what we are doing if guess we do. I dont. I do do facetime. With my [laughter] thats hightech, isnt it . Cutting edge . With my grandkids. Like watching a home movie every day. Its awesome. Theyre doing well, by the way. Good. And those medicines youre taki