For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
April 28, 2001
Remarks by the President at White House Correspondents Dinner
The Hilton Hotel Washington, D.C.
8:30 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you,
Arlene. Laura and I are delighted to be here, with all the
major leaguers. (Laughter.) Tonight I've decided
to do something a little different. See, my mother, over the
years, has put together at least 70 scrap books about our life as a
family. What I've done is pulled out some of the actual,
never-before-seen photos, from these scrapbooks and created a little
slide show. (Laughter.)
And so, Gordon, if everybody's cell phones are
turned off -- (laughter) -- you can hit the lights. Tonight
I present a Bush family album. What you may not realize is
that I grew up at a time in Texas history when it was still a rough and
tumble frontier. (Laughter.) We were ranchers
back then. (Laughter.) This was my favorite
horse. He was sure-footed, steady. I trusted that
horse totally. And here's the really weird part, his name
was Dick Cheney. (Laughter.)
But times were hard back
then. (Laughter and applause.) This of course was
during the great drought of
1953. (Laughter.) Dad, Neil, Doro, Marvin and
Jeb. In my family, with all those kids in the tub, it's not
arsenic in the water I'd be worried about. (Laughter and
applause.) Personally, I've always preferred a private
bath. (Laughter.) This is my actual first grade
report card. Up top, it says, George W. Bush. And
then notice the final grades on the right. Writing, A;
Reading, A; Spelling, A; Arithmetic, A; Music, A; Art, A. So
my advice is, don't peak too early. (Laughter and applause.)
Here I am with my 5th grade science
project. (Laughter.) Built it
myself. And it's still meeting our energy
needs. (Laughter.) I went on to college, and
graduate school. But somehow, the press has gotten the wrong
idea, that I was a smart aleck party
guy. (Laughter.) This is an unfair
perception. See, in college, I actually did a lot of
independent reading. (Laughter.)
After graduation, I joined the Texas Air
National Guard. I'm the one who committed the state of Texas
to defend Taiwan from attack. (Laughter and
applause.) Speaking of pilots, I'm so proud and honored to
welcome to our nation's capital, Lieutenant Shane Osborn and crew
member Lieutenant j.g. John
Comerford. (Applause.) I hope you and your crew
will be coming to the White House soon. I think you'll like
it there. (Laughter.) I know I've said this to
you personally on the phone, but I'm proud to say it publicly, welcome
back, Lieutenant. (Applause.)
Some people wondered, and I'm sure there might
have been a few out here, how I would handle the recent incident in
China. Truth is, I have long been a serious student of the
Orient. (Laughter.) My mom and dad, of course,
were in China when dad was the U.S. liaison there. People
have asked me, is it difficult trying to follow in the footsteps of a
man who was President, Vice President, U.N. Ambassador, a man who held
so many other important jobs? Is it hard being such a man's
son? Not really. (Laughter.)
Most people don't realize it, but dad has had
some tough times. (Laughter.) Back in the '50s, he went
through a period where he thought aliens were trying to contact
him. (Laughter.) So he built this contraption to
receive their signals. (Laughter.)
As for my mom, after bearing six children, she
herself became a bit stressed. (Laughter.) She
took to acting very strangely. (Laughter.) For a while, she
thought she was too tall, and walked like this.
(Laughter.) As if that weren't strange enough, next she
wrote a book with that damn, mangy ill-tempered
dog. (Laughter.) I hated that dog.
(Laughter.) My mother treated the dog better than she
treated me. (Laughter.) She never helped me write my
book. (Laughter.)
I will say this, however, my mom always stuck
up for us kids. Here's mom replying to a reporter's question
about something Barbara Streisand said
recently. (Laughter.) Fortunately, I've got great
brothers and a great sister. Some people have asked me,
however, if the vote recount left any hard feelings between my brother
Jeb and me. Not a bit. In fact, here's a picture
of the Governor of Florida. (Laughter and applause.)
All this brings me to a serious
point. Eventually, I met a woman named Laura
Welch. (Applause.) She changed my
life. She has given me as an adult, what I enjoyed as a
child, and that is a loving family. The defining moments in
the Bush family are not when my father was elected President, or when I
was elected President. The defining moments have been family
moments. Ladies and gentlemen, I've been blessed with a
family that is full of love, and I pray the same for you.
Good evening. (Applause.)
END
8:39 P.M. EDT
|