Our best wellknown president ial historians who has written so many things and so many books, but im going to be asking you about some of the stuff i found in my old wellworn copy of character above all. The first thing id like to ask all of you is, we lost our bush and george bush just so close together. What kind of reassessment do you think this has brought for the country as to what the bush name stood for and whats the significantly was of all the work that they did in so many arenas of Public Service . Looking back on it now, close to a year, i just think about life the Public Service. I think about world war ii generation. It really wasnt about them as individuals. I think it was actually a turning of the page of our countrys history in many respects. And i was privileged to be asked to give the eulogy for my grandfather when we came back to houston and really was a celebration of both of their lives. Wasnt a celebration of one individual but also celebration of our heritage. When you think about as texans the art times in the patch in midland after his one or two Service Later rising to the political ranks in houston, texas, and really the story of just a couple seeking to achieve the American Dream as it was defined. N those simple values and work ethic i think was celebrated that week. I will say this also come in texas with a different celebration but in d. C. It was refreshing after three days lets call it, a white noise washington d. C. Just shut down and the country really came together and it was really special to be part of and witness. I hope people will continue to recognize the contribution of that generation. I covered 1992 campaign where george bush lost his bid for a second term, and we know how discouraging that was for him. Even in that election there was not animosity toward president bush and certainly not toward barbara bush. That was i think i feeling was time for a change after three terms of republican president s but it do thinkse theres been a reassessment of both bushes since that election. I think one factor that has come i think theres a new appreciation for the skill and deafness that with which george bush head of the end of the cold war, which was not a lead pipe. Imi also think the administratin of President Trump has prompted some americans to appreciate the civility, the bipartisan tone, the willingness to talk across partyre lines, the willingness o reach a compromise. Some of the qualities that president bush brought to the white house iap think our newly appreciated today in a way they werent appreciated previously. I do think also that barbara bush is reputation continues which was never bad, continues to get better as we understand more about just how influential she was. And i agree with everything thats been said so far. Conflict,looking for think this is not the place to come for it because i think we are all great admirers of both. But interested in seasons point back, because if, you go back o 1992 susan 1992 figure george bush was defeated for reelection the argument that bill clinton was making was, hes out of touch, skills not needed and a postcold war era, even though was george h. W. Bush who ended the cold war so you could concentrate on the domestic side of american life. But he, to me, showed something thats very profound about history and that is that i like to think anything other historians mostly feel the same way that as history goes on you begin to change your views of people. As time goes on and as you get access to letters and diaries and also hindsight. Because things i can guarantee you do not look the same about a sitting president as they will ten or 20 or 30 or 40 years later, preferably a longer period of time. As time went on it allowed us to see and allows more americans who think about this to understand just as susan was saying, it was not at all the cold war would end would in as. The cold war ended in 1991 on terms that harry truman andng al these other cold war president s dont have dreamt of, and one of theea central reasons that that happened, every cold war president made a contribution. But i think we were protected by god when george h. W. Bush was president during the last years of macau gorbachev, because if i went back through time and i was looking for qualities in a president that will turn outhe o be important, i would want somebody with the human qualities and the diplomatic skill to build a relationship with gorbachev so that gorbachev to do things like open the berlin wall and allow the Eastern European satellites to go and later on to join nato in a in a way that he didoi not feel tht george h. W. Bush would make fun of them or embarrassing in certain ways. And so that we now set think much more clearly how lucky we were to have him as president. And everything i will say and want to add particularly susan and turn about this because both are and have been writing about first ladies. I have been doing this for almost 40 years, and i have written primaries about first light but ive been writing about a book about president with first ladies and ive met a number of them, including barbara bush and had the honor of and also of nancy reagan who kerry is how far along are you . Im getting there. Its a terrible thing for offer to everr ask that questio. But in any case, one thing i would generally say about first ladies him and youll tell me if this sounds right to you, george would have to comment on this, and that is that you ask the first lady about something that you know they did during the presidency and he will always essentially say, it wasnt me. It was the president. I may have had some small influence but it was either his idea or he really carried the load on this, give him the credit. And the more time you spend studying first ladies, particularly after they and the president are gone, you find how vitally important these first ladies were, in their own right and also in these presidencies. Maybe the best example of that would be best truman best truman. Best truman at the time was spotted by the general public as someone who barely knew what her husband was doing professionally, spent a lot of time in the truman home in missouri and so was in washington to see these huge event harry truman was the presenter of, the end of world war ii, the korean war, immigration of the military and so on. And then after they were both gone and you begin to get into the letters and diaries and so on, you saw how really essential she was, not only to an but to that presidency. So all im telling you is that if you hear a first lady in realtime or a first spouse as a man will be first spouse i hope soon, just give the credit to the president , be a little bit skeptical. Does that sound right to you . Let me say one thing a pose and are currently difficult question to George P Bush that relates. I found. Thats each the barbara bush, like aids was an issue, behind the scenes she was very influential in but more generally just as the partner to george h. W. Bush to his old life. She was just indispensable to him. One of the questions i interviewed about 130 people for the book and almost every person i interviewed i 1 would end the interview by saying, if george bush is not married barbara pierce, would he have everything he did . Including becoming president. I asked barbara bush this and she said of course you would. I asked george h. W. Bush this and he thought about and he said, yes, i think i would have. [laughing] by the way, if you are married, that is the wrong answer to give. Its in the husbands manual. But almost every other person any good, not quite as one but almost everyone said no, he wouldnt have done all he did without being married to barbara pierce. And the younger the person who responded, the more likely they were to say that she was crucial. In the generation of the grandchildren, somee of them did not see and understand the question. Like, how could youw ask that question . Of course. So letba me ask you if george h. Bush had not married barbara pierce would get done all he did including becoming president . Absolutely not. I think thats an unequivocal no. The reason is she was the backbone. The enforcer as she was called and labeled, later labeled the silver fox s but i think she speedy the enforcer was later in life. Silver fox i think them tell me if my memory is right, Time Magazine . First it was the gray fox which seemed a little insulting. Then it morphed into the silver fox but the enforcer even as a label came later i think were clearly reflected it. And the entourage in the family sure, but heres my question for george. I would assume that was because she wanted to be thought of as the sword fox as long as she was, big side of her, family person, but at the same time later on as life went on people realized that she also had a very tough side. Does that sound right to you . Absolutely on point. And you speedy im sure you never mentioned that. I was never the recipient of that. Well, whether was sitting up straight, which im not doing now speedy she always loved her clothing. Absolute. The required the skill set to raise george w. Bush and when he was raise. But no, she clearly was the enforcer of the family and instill the code of service in all ofco us. She at times was the bad guy, if you will come in terms of executing discipline. That started in the days of midland all the way to the 18 grandkids up in maine. We all, respected my grandma. Sat upe sure he straight, it with correct grammar, you know, to speak correctly. Were going to miss her so much and thats the spiritca that she had. But i would say t politically se was an advisor to my grandfather. She wasnt just the one thatin ruled the roost in terms within the family. She was the first person that he would ask for advice on, particularly early on when he had two senate losses and other political challenges that faced him from watergate on. As we are here in austin, texas, so the bushes come to midland as newlyweds and they are two kinds of exotic species that you didnt see much of in texas. They were connecticut yankees and there was something that was even rarer at the time. They were republicans. Later after the they moved to houston, your grandfather takes over the Republican Party in part becausese theres an messy battle going on between the corporate republicans and the berkshires. I think the bush family is, when so crucial to implanting the kind of dna of the Republican Party into texas politics. The kind of republicanism is you today in texas in many ways doesnt really resemble that that much, or do you still sense that its better . And if there could be a return to it,t, perhaps . I think theres a silent majority of republicans that building their lives, raising the family that dont have the time to go and be as active as they want to be and look for solutions and leadership, whether its in austin or washington, d. C. Regretfully because of the conflicts that we have seen in texas with her own party, weve actually lost some of our super majority, particularly in the statehouse. Here i am on my soapbox saying im one of the few republicans trying to bring people together as weex head into redistricting year here in texas which is decided by the composition of the housese and senate. Thats the stakes this cycle which are always hear from politicians, most important election in your lifetime, truly is the p p case. The state trends more blue. Susan, one of the really interesting things that you came across in your research, you actually asked mrs. Bush, do you still consider yourself a republican . What did she say . The first time i i interviewd her for the book which is october 2017 we were coming up oneyear anniversary of President Trumps election, and it will stun you all to know that she was not a huge fan of President Trump. I said, so its been about a year. Are you still a republican . She said yes, of course. What turned out to be the last interview that it did with her in february 2018, although we didnt know att that point would be thebe last interview, i said, the first am a talk to i asked you if you are still a republican. Do you still feel that way . She said, no. No, i dont think i am. It doesnt mean she was a democrat. She didnt like democrats at all but i think she felt she no longer had a home in the Republican Party. Its interesting that inth the last president ial election they could vote in, george h. W. Bush voted for Hillary Clinton. Barbara bush didnt like Hillary Clinton much either, and so barbara bush wrote in jeb bush is named for president. But it says something about a thele that helped establish gop in the state, neither of them voted for the republican resident or candid in the last election of their lives. The other thing is, and we talked about probably the accomplishment of George Herbert walker bush that he is going to get his biggest place in history books forth guiding, not just ts country, but the whole world through the end of the cold war. He was so sure photoperiod he had these relationships. I mean, the president talks about america first, but george bush has relationships with a lot of the key players that went back decades, whether it was the envoyy to china or head of the cia. Do you think that this kind of internationalist strength of the Republican Party still exists, or has donald trump taken it to a different place . Well, he is the leader of the party so we does the fine foreign policy. Republicans dont have to agree on every single issue there is. If you look back on the time of my grandfather, whether it was being the first liaison to china before he diplomatically recognize them, he feared that is one of his favorite posts of all time. But in terms of his international relationships, used to joke when his Vice President about the string of russian premiers that would die, soviet premiers, if you die, i fly. He really trying to insult on his frequent flyer miles in developing those relationships and making sure our National Security objectives were being achieved. Whenever you could get him to talk about politics, which is very difficult to do as a grandchild, he would be with excitement when it came to foreign policy. Michael, again, the surefooted miss, the degree to which the base these relationships of trust with other foreign leaders. You also saw that in the international coalition, going into the first gulf war. For sure. It was just very much him him not only the fact that he had the personality that was designed for diplomacy, but he had been ambassador to theve u. Since 1971. Relatively early in life, thats what you do there. A lot of people he knew as a masters were leaders of government by the time he became president. Can i ask one of the question that just, to follow and software talk about before . I had heard someone say and it sounds right to me, but the three of you, please tell me if this sounds right to you. And that is that barbara bush andan nancy reagan, your two subjects, didnt have susan, maybe the close relationship . Yes. I didnt have a lot in common that both went to smith college. But one thing was that they were married to people who were optimistic, you know, like to make friends, like to see the best in people. In this case those two women if they walk into a room, i think i would say this for both of them, if there were some in 18 respecter didac not have george h. W. Bush is this interest at heart, you know, barbara bush just had a sensor for sensing the person in the room that that person was a danger or needed some work and i think nancy reagan did, too. Does that sound right to all of you . Yes. I mean, i think barbara bush was more likely to remember an offense, and exact a price compares george h. W. Bush was more likely due toh forget abot our just to forget. Do you think thats true . Absolutely. My grandmother doesnt had a longterm memory. I have the scars to show it. And that applies to politics where it would be a a discussin and she would say thats soandso did cross you back in texas. She was usually the first to jump in on prior political conflicts. Thats what was meant by the enforcer, right . Exactly. Kind of the e security do you think that was something that really was essential to his political career . What he had been able to succeed without it and go to far sometimes . What you think . He obviously has great advice along the way butke theres nothing like the spouse stepping in, had no other gender than to be i think People Choose to forget. When you look at the reaganbush partnership for eight years, they forget how brutal that 1980 republican primary really was. The debate in dallas. Yeah, they really went at each other. You want to remind us what happened in dallas, just y in ce everyone voodoo blank . There were food economics. He was not nancy reagan didnt forget that. You know, just beginning to end that primary was very, very difficult. Several people ive talked to about all of this suggests that often its easier for the husbands to let go of this than the wives. Let me just say or the candidates. Yes. Ie dont want to identify ts person who were interviewed for the book, an elected official who is on stage now [laughing] you did know that karen had i dont even know if you remember you saying this, were talking about this aspect of his grandparents relationship, and this unnamed elected official on stage said sometimes come he said its either important not you but the person were talked about, the defeat important for necessary for the candidate or the official to have amnesia and so its useful to someone else you trust by your side. I g think thats right, i think you want to govern, sometimes you have to let bygones be bygones. Maybe just let someone who is saying the person is not with you and you ran last time. Even Jackie Kennedy was considered to be sort of to the end of being rather uninvolved in herol husbands career, she oe told jfk, why are you being so nice to ask . I forget you ask was. Because i thought he did this terrible thing and jfk said but hes done nice things for me since that and you cant go to politics if your candidate or an Office Holder andnd you just hae that in your mind all the time. But is it important to have someone who does haveth that in mind . Thats a question. Can ask the Office Holder absolutely. Especially in the twitter era, right . If you read your comments, youll usually receive incoming from all directions. Its important to have somebody that can keep an honest appraisal, that can remove yourself. Because as summit