Transcripts For CSPAN3 The Presidency Camp David 20240713 :

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the chief executive officer of the george w. Bush president ial center, ken hersch. [ applause ] thank you and welcome to the engage series presented by highland capital. Im the introducer in chief. Our goal is to provide content you cant get anywhere else. Were honored today with this session to launch a wonderful insiders look at president ial retreats and a glimpse of what life looks like for a president outside of the white house. Its a fascination that so many people. Were delighted to take a deep dive into camp david, crawford, kennebunkport and the lbj ranch. Tonight, we have a series of guests who can also give us that special insight. To kick us off, i would like to introduce the 43rd president of the United States. [ applause ] thank you all. [ applause ] thank you very much. [ applause ] so this is a special moment for laura and me because we have such fond memories of the president ial retreats. One of the things about the presidency that is kind of hard to explain is what if feels like to be in a bubble. You are kind of in a bubble, particularly in washington, d. C to be in a bubble. You are kind of in a bubble, particularly in washington, d. Ce to be in a bubble. You are kind of in a bubble, particularly in washington, d. C. President ial retreats are very important in the life of the presidency. I want to thank ken and holly and the team for opening up the president ial retreats and a lot of the stories of president ial retreats for the people here in dallas. We had three president ial retreats, which is kind of unusual. One of which was kennebunkport, maine. It was my dads president ial retreat. Laura and i would go up there on occasion. When we went, it was all family, which was incredibly important part of our presidency. I think i dont remember i think we entertain eed putin there. I will never forget, dad said to putin, do you want to go on a boat ride . He had this boat with three 300 horsepower engines. Putin kind of a macho dude at this point. Yeah, i would like to go. He said it in russian, of course. He had this interpreter who was kind of a strange little guy who was nervous. Anyw anyway, dad gets out in the ocean and opens that thing up. Putin, of course, was just in heaven. The interpreter thought he was going to die. So Walkers Point was an important part of getting out of the bubble. But not nearly as important as crawford and camp david. Crawford is a place laura and i love. Its a place that we went to in august, which made it kind of uncomfortable for a lot of the people on our staff from the east coast. I loved it. I mean, i would get outside. This is before we owned a bulldozer. Would chop down cedar. It was unbelievably therapeutic. I would ride bikes. But mainly, i rested. Here is the thing about these retreats though. You never escape the presidency. And so the definition of getting outside the bubble in crawford meant there were probably 150 staffers of some sort or another down laura and i entertained a lot of World Leaders there, and weve got a lot of fond memories of conducting personal diplomacy on the ranch. It became kind of a way for us to give some of these leaders a special look, and it really did open up the dialogue in a much easier way than had we been discussing things in the white house. I remember koizumi and i sitting out by the pool there talking about japanese history. Laura and i took a great walk across the prairie with Angela Merkel and her husband. Putin came, and we had a press conference, and rather than have it on the ranch, i decided that a cool thing to do would be to go to crawford high school. Now, crawfords a town of like 600 people. Theres 31 people in the senior class, and three were allowed to ask questions. Then of course we had to answer questions from the press. But we had a lot of World Leaders there. Israeli Prime Minister, crown prince of saudi arabia. One of the interesting stories from the crown prince of saudi arabia was when he came, and he was angry because sharone had occupied ramallah, and he was madder than heck about it. And one of the first things he said to me was, tell the pig to get out of ramallah. Now, that is about as great an insult as you could possibly issue in the middle east. And, you know, frankly, i wasnt about to allow a foreign leader to dictate our foreign policy. And i said, now, look, just give me some time. That wasnt the answer he wanted, and our interpreter, who is a friend of mine and Colin Powells and condis, came into where we were sitting because he wanted to be alone for a while with his people, and said, hes going to leave, which would have been a disaster for a young presidency to have a major ally bolt the scene, and it would have been something we would have been dealing with for a long period of time. So i said, colin powell, go in there and fix it. He came back and said, i cant. He said only you. I said, okay. So i walk in there. I dont know what im going to tell the guy. Hes in there smoking butts like mad in our living room, and so i said, i hear youre going to leave. He kind of grunts yes. I said, before you do, i want to talk about two things, religion, and i said let me talk to you about my faith. I said, i quit drinking because of religion, and described the relationship i had with billy graham and all that, and i said, im curious about your religion. Nothing. The guy wasnt interested. Smoked his cigarette. So that didnt work. So i played the ranch card. I said, i hear you have a farm outside riyadh and you love it there. Yes. I said i love this place. Id like to give you a tour before you leave. Can i give you a tour . He reluctantly said yes. So there we are in the ford 150. Im driving, which is unusual, and abdullah and the interpreter leaning over the back seat, were driving along. These are live oaks. Couldnt careless. These are cedar elms. Not interested. These grasses, restoring our prairie to native grasses. Could care less. He didnt say anything. Im saying this thing is going to be a disaster. Were at the very far end of the ranch, and theres a turkey standing in the middle of the road, a lone hen. He said, what is that . I said, well, thats a turkey, your royal highness. At one point it was going to be the bird of the United States. Thats what benjamin franklin, one of our leaders, suggested. But instead we went with the bald eagle. And the turkey is standing there, didnt move. And he leans over and says, its a sign from allah, my brother. And im saying to myself, thats damn good advance work. [ laughter ] and we got back to the house, and i said, you want to eat . He said, yes. I said, were going to have lunch, and the relief on the Foreign Ministers face and the ambassadors face was palpable. Dallas bob jordan was there by the way. The reason i tell you that is the ranch was a great place to get to know leaders and to establish a bond with them, as was camp david. Now, camp david was initially called shangrila, which means heavenly place, which it is. Its tucked in the mountains. Thankfully its only a 25minute helicopter ride from the south lawn, which means its extremely accessible, and so laura and i accessed it a lot. We went there as often as we possibly could. Youre going to hear from one of the base commanders from camp david. The whole deal is its a military base, and theyve got a lot of other military functions and duties. But when the president s there, its to like pamper the guy, and they do a really good job of it. Dwight eisenhower changed the name to camp david, and my brother, marvin, lobbied for a while to get me to change it to camp marvin. [ laughter ] thankfully i didnt. Weve got a lot of fond memories of camp david, a lot. And, you know, again, its a place where laura and i invited a lot of World Leaders. Tony blairs first visit to the United States, we took him to camp david. Laura decided to have a movie there. Theyve got a nice movie theater, and its called meet the family oh, meet the parents. I was asleep. [ laughter ] if you like to exercise, its a fabulous place to get outdoors and exercise. We had Mountain Bike trails, a wonderful gym. I think the thing that i remember most about camp david was christmases. Its big enough for our big family each to have their own cabin, and so mother and dad would come. Jeb and his family, neal and his family, camp marvin and his family, and doro, and it was spectacular. A spectacular time. And the reason i emphasize the family aspect is because during the presidency, you know, sometimes its kind of hard to count on certain people, but you can always count on your family to bring you comfort and love. So thats what were going to hear about tonight is a true shangrila. Holly kuzmich is going to interview admiral Michael Georgione who was the base commander when we first got to camp david. Shes going to interview Stewart Mclaren who is the president of the White House Historical association. And finally my chief of staff, josh bolten, one of the coolest guys i know, will be onstage as well. But beforehand, one of the real treats for laura and me was to have a beautiful Little Chapel there called Evergreen Chapel. And a preacher there had a huge influence on us, and his name is stan fornea. And thankfully stan fornea has agreed along with his wife belinda, has agreed to join us tonight. So please welcome the right reverend navy something captain. Chaplain. I know chaplain. Navy captain stan fornea. [ applause ] thank you very much, mr. President. What a privilege it is for me to be here this evening. Thank you for the invitation. On january 22nd, 1963, news reached camp david of the assassination of president kennedy, who had just been a recent visitor to camp david. There was a contractor working at camp at that time by the name of kenneth plummer. And mr. Plummer noticed that in that experience, there was nowhere for people to gather to pray, to think, to be quiet. There was no sacred space whatsoever. So mr. Plummer began the process of saying he wanted to see a chapel built at camp david. It took him some time, but through his persistence, he was able to form a nonprofit. He raised the money to build the chapel, and ground was broken by president reagan, who was the first contributor. And then the chapel was dedicated during the presidency of president bush 41. It was also during that time that president bush decided that he wanted a chaplain there, and so i have had the privilege of following in the legacy of having Navy Chaplains at camp david ever since that time. If there is any one thing that i would want you to know about camp david, it is that there is a very unique climate of community there. It is a small group of people. A lot of people do not realize it is a military installation. And those who are there were chosen because of their desire to serve their nation by serving their commander in chief. And this unique climate of community and even maybe so far as a climate of family that exists there to a great extent is made possible by the president s and how they use and serve. I am a little prejudiced because of my time with president bush, but i would suggest to you that theres no one who has contributed more to a climate of community and family at camp david more than president and mrs. Bush. And that is evident by many Different Things that they did. President bush was always connecting with people there, and that connection with people there, and that connection with people helped create this unique climate of community that existed. You may know that president bush enjoyed Mountain Bike riding when he was at camp david, and my first day there, i had one of the lean and mean marines tell me if president bush asked you to ride bikes with him, tell him no way. [ laughter ] and i said, why . And he said, because nobody can keep up with president bush on these trails and on those bikes. And so he said, i know its hard to say no to the president , but youve got to say no if he asks you. And one sunday after chapel, we had lunch with the president , and he was beginning to set me up, and i knew it. So he said, chaplain, do you ride bikes . And i said, no, sir. No, sir, i never had really the chance to ride bikes very much. And he dropped it, and i got out of that experience. But he connected with the Young Marines and the others there in doing that. There is no way the president connected more with people and the staff at camp david than through Evergreen Chapel. I had the privilege to conduct over 100 Worship Services for the president and mrs. Bush and the family and the staff of camp david. And it was always the most marvelous experience. The president would always be faithful. In my almost four years there, the president never missed a Worship Service even if we had weeklong services during christmas or easter or holy week. They were always there, and the Camp Community gathered with the president and mrs. Bush when we worshipped together. Mrs. Bush, i remember, would every christmas and easter bring gifts for all the children of camp david. And during our christmas pageants and other things we would do, she would distribute those gifts to our children. And she did that faithfully event after event and year after year. It was just the most marvelous climate of community that existed there. President bush also did something very unique for us, and that is he asked me one time, lets gather all the Camp Community together, their spouses, their children, and lets invite them all to a town hall meeting in the chapel, at which time the president spent almost two hours standing before us, talking about the presidency, his leadership skills, and opened the floor for people to ask questions. And it was so successful and because everyone could not get in at one time, the president said, lets do it again. And we had all the camp staff come once again, and the president gave two hours of just standing before us and talking about what it means to be the president of the United States. So the president and mrs. Bush did a great deal to create this wonderful climate of community at camp david. I think maybe he may have learned some of that from his father. It was christmas one week, and president bush was there and president bush 41 and the extended family. We had had a service in the chapel that sunday, and we were distributing tshirts that had Something Like Evergreen Chapel christmas on it. And at the end of the service, everyone left. I was left in the chapel by myself, and the phone rang, and it was president bush 41. And he said to me, he said, chaplain, is there any chance that barb and i could get a couple of those tshirts . And i said, of course, mr. President. So i got in the golf cart and took them some tshirts over at their cabin. Always gracious, he invited me in, and i had a cup of coffee, and when i got ready to leave, president bush said, do you know why we wanted these t shirts . And i said, no, sir. And he said, well, he says, weve stayed here a little longer than we anticipated this year, and were running a little short of clean underclothes to wear. [ laughter ] at which time, i said, well, you know, mr. President , theres somebody here that can take care of that laundry need if you have it. And yet he looked at me and he said, chaplain, this is christmas week. I wouldnt dare ask someone to do that for me during christmas week. And then he looked and said to me, dont forget its their christmas too. And i always thought that spoke so much about the way the bushes felt about the staff at camp david and how much appreciation they had for the climate of community that existed there. But, you know, sometimes even in a closeknit community there can be some challenges, and ill close with this story. But i was sitting in the chapel one weekend. The president was there along with Prime Minister abe of japan. And it was a saturday. I had sent my Chaplain Assistant home because nothing was scheduled, and i was sitting in the chapel by myself that saturday, and i heard the door open, and in walked president bush and the Prime Minister. And i thought that was nice that the president was showing the Prime Minister around, and the president looked at me, and he said, can you do one of the history briefs that you do for the Prime Minister . Now, that involved a screen and projection equipment, none of which was set up. I had never set it up in my life, and i said, of course, mr. President. We can do that. I said, it will take a moment to set it up. So he sat down on the front pew, and i went back in the back and pulled the screen out and set it up, and then ran up in the balcony to turn on the projection equipment. And this may come as a surprise to you, but i noticed the president looking at his watch every now and then. And so i eventually got it done. I was sweating. I was proud of myself for getting it set up so quickly. And i finally said, mr. President , were ready to go with this. And he said, just a minute. And he looked at the Prime Minister and said, hes good at doing Worship Services, but hes not very good at handling technology. [ laughter ] i was proud of myself. I thought i had done very, very well. And im not saying that the president s greatest virtue is not patience, but he is prompt, which reminds me i need to stop talking and move on. But i do want to tell you in all sincerity that the four years that i spent at camp david was the absolute highlight of my entire 35 years of ordained ministry. Nothing else has ever come close to it, and i dont know if there will ever be anything that can top the fact that i had the privilege of serving our nation in the military and especially the privilege that i had for four years of serving president bush, mrs. Bush, and their family, especially during a time of great turmoil and war, in the chapel at camp david. And for those exper