[applause] 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. Thank you. Please be seated. Well, now that weve said the pledge and saluted our flag, i would like it if all those who are with the armed forces here today, whether you would be active or retired as well as their families would you please stand we might show you our appreciation. [applause] thank you. Thank you so very much. On that note there are a few other people that i would like to recognize in the audience this evening. Like to start with our board of trustees, president bushs ambassador to the court of st. James, bob tuttle and his wife maria. Ambassador. [applause] and extraordinary supporter over the years of bush family, of president bush, mr. Brad freeman. Brad . [applause] one of our newer but remarkable trustees, mr. Ben sutton. Ben. [applause] from the reagan family, michael and cameron. Michael, cameron. [applause] state assemblyman dante acosta. [applause] just a few more. Our former congressman and his wife janice. [applause] all of our elected officials from the county of ventura and city of simi valley. [applause] president bushs secretary of treasury rosario marine. [applause] and lastly retired u. S. Army officer gary lindh and his wife mara. Gary. [applause] i would be remiss if i didnt mention that gary became paralyzed from the waist down when a helicopter crashed while conducting operations in iraq in 2008 but thanks to the generosity of the infinite hero foundation, he can now walk through the assistance of an exoskeleton. Yeah. [applause] if you would like to know what an exoskeleton is, gary will be at the Reagan Library tomorrow night for an event to share his story. We invite all of you to come back tomorrow at the same time for what i know will be a very inspirational event. Thanks for coming, gary. [applause] now to begin our conversation with our special guest this evening is another of our foundations trustees, mr. Fred ryan. Fred has served i have a better applause line than that. Fred has served as the reagan foundations chairman for 22 years. Prior to his chairmanship fred served in the Reagan White House from 1982 to 1989 and after that he served as president reagans first postwhite house chief of staff. I know of no other person who has spent more time and effort working on behalf of ronald and nancy reagan over the years than fred ryan. Fred would never brag about that fact but it is a fact so i will brag for him. Ladies and gentlemen, if you would, please join me in welcoming to the stage, mr. Fred ryan. [applause] thank you, john. For a very kind introduction and welcome, everyone. Well our special guest tonight has been to the reagan president ial library several times. The first as owner of a Major League Baseball team. Then as governor of texas. He was back as a candidate for president of the United States. Was back as president of the United States to dedicate air force one here at the Reagan Library. Has been here as a former president of the United States and is the author of a popular book, decision point. Tonight he is back as an accomplished painter. We can only wonder what he will be on the next visit to the Reagan Library. [laughter]. As americans we closely observe what our president s do when they leave the white house of the after serving in the most powerful around demanding job on the planet, they certainly deserve to spend time doing things in the postpresident ial years they enjoy and want to do the most. Some take on bold new challenges and exciting adventures after leaving office. In fact one of my favorite former president s became a skydiving enthusiast after he left office, until his wife put a stop to it. But like our special guest tonight, there have been a few artists among our former president s including ulysses s. Grant, Dwight Eisenhower and jimmy carter. To our knowledge no president has ever attempted portrait ture. Our 43rd president ventured bravely into the territory because he was so moved by sacrifices of our american warriors and began a challenge of capturing and independent mortgage alizeing their courage on canvas. I have to say as i look at president bushs collection of portraits in awe. Not only because of his talent and skill but because of his subject matter. How he finds a way to take their strength and their dignity and their perseverance and their patriotism and lift it up for all of us to see in a deep and intimate way. In these paintings we feel the essence of the warrior spirit. Hopefully this work gives each of us a better understanding of the issues facing these heroic veterans. So in this new book, portraits of courage, president bush paints and tells the stories of more than 60 brave souls. In the book he states his goal is quote, to honor our men and women in uniform, to highlight family members and caregivers that bear the burden of their sacrifice, encourage those who may be struggling to get the help they need and to help americans support our veterans and empower them to succeed. After reading the book there is no question that the president has achieved those noble goals. In doing so, i believe he is revealed a bit of himself as well. Oscar wilde wrote, every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist. It is rather the painter who on the colored canvas reveals himself. Well now it is my great honor to introduce a talented american artist through his paintings further revealed the depth of his compassion and character, the 43rd president of the United States. Pete george w. Bush. [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause] thank you, mr. President. Thank you. Thank you, fred. Sit down. Thank you all, please. Youre eating into airtime. [laughter] fred, thanks for your kind remarks. Thanks so much for inciting me back. Also want to thank john, the trustees, michael, good to see you again. And my buddy brian flum well talk about in a little bit. Brian is here. I painted him and i asked his mother what she thought of the painting . I always thought he had a face only a mother could love. Anyway [laughter]. She liked it, which is a huge relieve. Elton, good to see you again. Anyway, ready to roll. All right, mr. President , you can see we have a full house. Were streaming this on line and on television. There have been a number of questions submitted about the book, about your painting, and a few other subjects. Well try to get through as many as we can. I want to mention to those here and online, the book is now available, portraits of courage. Already a top seller on amazon. If you go to the burke center directly at bush center. Org the book is available straight from the source. I saw there is special deluxe edition personally signed by president. Yeah. Important to emphasize, all proceeds of the book go to the all the programs that the bush center is serving. [applause] mr. President , the first thing Everyone Wants to know, when did you start painting . Well, i was an art agnostic for most of my life. [laughter]. Terrible admission to make, i know. I get back from washington and, i wrote a book. Then another book. I am trying to stay fit. Im working a lot at the bush center there in dallas but it wasnt enough. You have to understand when youre the president youre going 100 miles an hour and the next day it is zero. I just, i had this kind of anxiousness to get, to keep moving and to learn something. And so i read Winston Churchills essay, painting is a pastime. I am a big admierer of churchhill. He was a great leader and i took up painting and this essay is worth reading. I basically said what the hell, this guy can paint, i can paint. [laughter] and so i told that to laura. She said, yeah, sure. I hired an instructor, gail. And she came over to the house, she said, she said what is your objective . I said, gail, there is a rembrandt trapped in the body. She came back realizing i was serious. Then i paint ad cube. I painted a watermelon. It was liberating experience. Not only liberating but ive been painting ever since for five years. The first question is from betina, she asks, did you have a history of painting as a child early in your life and did your mom paint many of your School Paintings on the refrigerator . Im sure i was a finger painter. I am just not interested in the house. Now i am. It goes to show you can teach old dogs a new trick. When you get to be our age [laughter] 70. Youre sitting around with your pals, there are only two topics conversation generally, what medicines are you taking . [laughter]. And how are your grandkids . My buddies say, man, you got a passion for painting. I said, yeah, you ought to try it. I cant paint they say. Funny i said the same thing until five years ago. Im living proof, to tell you dont know what you can do unless you try it. And so my call for aging baby boomer, leg it out run to the finish line. And painting has enabled me to do that. Next question, is what medicines are you taking and how [laughter] i didnt think you i didnt think you had it in you. Very good. I try my best. Question from janet, said you started painting farm animals and world leaders. When did you decide to paint Wounded Warriors . Who was the first around why . Well, thank you. I actually, what happened my mother, who can be quite plainspoken, heard i was painting. She basically said you cant paint. [laughter]. By the way this is woman when i told her i was going to run against ann richards in 1993 said, you cant win. I said i damn sure can paint. So she said, paint my dogs. So i became a pet portrait painter. [laughter]. For a period of time. And i painted bob the cat, bernie the cat. Barney. And, so, and then i an instructor in dallas, one of the greatest thing any instructor can do is set new horizons for a student. My instructor brought over the artist, you ought to paint portraits of world leaders. Im sitting there as fledgling artist. This guy thinks i can actually do that. I got two instructors. One of them is at the house. I understand you painted these world leaders. You ought to paint portraits of people knob knows. It dawned on me i ought to paint these warriors who i do know. So the at bush center we have Mountain Bike rides and golf tournaments with these wounded vets, like brian is a biker. I got to know brian. I started studying their stories. The first guy i painted was major chris turner. I was sitting next to turner at a dinner, and i said, why are you here . Because i cant get out of my mind seeing a buddy of mine killed. And i paint from pictures. And or photos. As im painting turner, im thinking what that must be like in his mind. First one in there. He then writes me a letter later. As a result of standing up at arvetes, much more talking about the invisible wounds of war. One of the problems we face, there is huge stigma. Brian is telling you working with a lot of troops. They wont talk about it. They think people wont understand me. Or i wont get promoted. I will never get hired. So they keep it inside which often times leads to selfmedication. Turner says stands up and talking about has enabled my to start sharing my story more and more which is step one to seeking help. So i repainted turner. I only repainted two people in the book. He. I repainted the same portait again. I show people how one can improve to deal with the stigma to increase health. I i am previoused as a painter as well. The next question from isabella follows up what you are saying. What is the process of painting one of our portraits . Do they sit in the studio . Do you paint from photos or do they get to see and approve it . No. Have you ever had somebody who was unhappy subject . Yeah, my wife. [laughter]. I painted laura one time. I thought it was a pretty good painting. [laughter]. First it was too anguished, too this, too that. Finally said forget it. I did paint my mother for her 90th birthday and it was a painting of her walking her two dogs on the beach in kennebunkport, maine. But in order to deal with the angst laura showed me i painted mom from the back. [laughter] i do paint from photos. I never, only person i painted live is me. So, one of my instructors convinced me painting myself looking into a mirror. It is a pretty grim looking expression on the face, it is hard to paint and smile while youre looking in a mirror. And so, no, i never run it by. I didnt run it by the vets. I was hoping beyond all hope they liked it. I was nervous about some of them. I wasnt nervous about brians. I think its a good painting. There is guy in there named todd. When you read the book, todd wrote us a letter what it was like being in war. When i was painting todd, he had told us he had night sweats. I was thinking about what it is like to have night sweats. And so, its a pretty dark painting in a sense. I saw todd at mcdill in tampa two days ago. Let me show you a painting. Man it is really good. Todd, im no longer the commanderinchief. [laughter] you can tell me the truth. He liked it. It was a great relief for me. I think he liked it because i captured the anguish he felt. But he doesnt feel it anymore. I wish i could repaint him but you know, books out. [laughter]. Question from meredith. She asks which of the Wounded Warrior portraits was the toughest one for you to paint . Theyre all tough in a way. When you think about it because everyone of these men and women have, some of them have very physical wounds of war, all of them one way or the other, pts or traumatic brain injury. When you think about that, it was hard to do. On other hand you know, i have such great pride knowing them. I am a baby boomer. Which means vietnam war. When it was like when there was a draft and a war. A lot of people didnt understand it. There was huge angst. When the vets came home, and when the vets came home we were treated despicably. When we get attacked, i made it abundantly clear we would defend the country. Millions volunteered. Totally different attitude. People saluted in the face of danger was a high honor. I thought about the integrity and courage of those who were willing to volunteer to wear the uniform. So painting them, i had a lot of pride in painting them. And you know, i guess toughest with me and Melissa Stockwell dancing. Melissa stockwell, first lieutenant, first woman to lose her leg. She is tremendous athlete. Wins the bronze medal at the paraolympics in the triathlon. After the bike rides i asked, lets dance. She said i dont want to dance. Im not a very good dancer. She convinced me to dance. The i convinced melissa to paint her. The hard part was me. For most of the painting i looked like after fred e newman. Alfred e. Neuman. Remember him no. He ran for president. What me worry. Yeah. Mr. President , caroline from maryland asks where do you usually do your painting . Who cleans up after you, and how long does it take you to do a portrait from start to finish . That is a great question. I build upstairs in a studio at the ranch and i added one in kennebunkport. So i have places where i can retreat to. And, i clean up. Most of the time. [laughter] laura is a neat nick. Oil painting is not neat. I spread like thalo blue, i limit my palate to two yellows, two reds, thalo blue and a white. Teaches you how to mix colors. Thalo blue, powerful blue. A little nick and dont get it totally clean and lie down on a white bed spread, thalo blue. And so [laughter]. I am not a very good cleaner to be frank. This took me a year to paint 98 portraits. A painting is really never done. I look at some of the portraits and say, gosh i wish i could put them back on the easel and keep painting. At some point you have to call it quits. I lived for these portraits a year. Some more complete at others. I would go upstairs and look at obrien. I said i think i need to touch him up a little more. It is never ending process. So i cant answer that question. Well, michael in greenwich asks, have you ever been one ever your paintings tossed it aside. All the time. Is that right . Yeah. A lot of times i will paint and get in bed, think about it. Hustle upstairs and scrape it all off. That is the great thing about oil painting. You can paint scrape, paint scrape. I tried acrylics but it dries so fast there is no scraping. [laughter] and, yeah, all the time. You can keep painting over it, can get until youre comfortable. There are questions beyond the painting, more to come back to. A question from betty in washington, d. C. She writes in a time some would call uncertainty, what can you tell the Younger Generation of our country to do to renew the sense of belief and optimism in america that Ronald Reagan embodied. Read history. I remember somebody telling me after 9 11, you had the toughest presidency. I said, not even close. How about Abraham Lincoln when the country was at war with each other . I just talked about a period of time that the in my mind still, 50 years later. And, it was a tough period. What she has to understand is that our nation goes through divisive and tough times. But there is something to unique about us. That is why im so optimistic. Optimistic about the future of the country. One reason im optimistic, millions war the uniform. They have phds in life. At a young age. So the, back on subject here. So the fundamental question is, can we help them transition . Because theyre the leaders of the future. And that is what this whole project is about. Helping people take the skillset they learned in the military and transition to bring those skills into civilian life. And, there is a real challenge. There is a military civilian divide. A lot of it has to do with language. Guy applies for a job. Vice president of human relations says, what is your skillset . Sniper. [laughter] i dont think which need one this year. [laughter] but if the person had said im disciplined, i work hard, im a team player, i believe in personal responsibility, i can take pressure, all of a sudden the civilian take as different look. So one of the challenge west have as a society is understanding how the military thinks and the military understands how civilians think. A lot of work has been done on this by the way. Im optimistic, yeah. Kids have, kids have to understand the history of the country. And you will see. There is a resiliency to us that should make people optimistic. My certain is, that the rhetoric in politics can get so out of hand these days that good people say i dont want to bet involved in politics. It used to be that way. They used to call Abraham Lincoln an april. This isnt the first time there has been name calling in politics. Called lincoln an ape. I mean there might have been namecalling of me sometimes. [laughter] kathy in chicago asks, writes, we were so glad to see your dad make it to the super bowl for the coin toss just days after leaving the hospital. [applause] how is he doing, how is your mom . Theyre both great given their limitation its. Dad cant walk. He is confined to a wheelchair yet his spirit is joyful. I went to see dad three years ago i think it was in icu unit in Methodist Hospital in houston and he was have you ever been to icu, but it is not real warm. I said to dad, you know, dad, my library is opening in three months and sure want you there. And his voice is incredibly weak. He said, i will be there, son. I left, kind of tearful thinking, probably not. And sure enough, when we opened up the library, the most important thing for me, it was nice to have all the former president s and weather was great, a lot of friends were there but dad was on the stage. That flipping the coin reminded me of him being there for the library opening. This guy has a huge desire to live. And you know i often thought about, i wrote a book about him, fred. I thought about it. It had to have started when he was 19 years old floating in a raft off the island of chichijima. Worried about the japanese capturing him and killing him. Mom is doing fine. She is shrinking. As she does her voice he gets louder. [laughter] but shes, she is you know, she is a piece of work is what she is. [laughter]. [applause] doesnt tell her i said it. Just our secret. Mr. President , a question from the audience. Why did you criticize President Trump recently after not criticizing president obama for eight years . So here is what happens. Im ask the question, do i believe in free press . And the answer is, absolutely, i believe in free press as should every other american believe in free press because the press holds people to account. Power is very addictive. [applause] i feel the same way about President Trump and people say why. First of all, the office of the president is more important than the occupant. I believe that i believe that undermines the office of the presidency. Secondly, i understand there are a lot of critics. I dont want to make the president s job worse. No matter what Political Party it is, its a hard job. I think of a former president sat there secondguessing, it will make it harder. I want anybody whos president to succeed. We are all in this deal together, and so i understand sometimes my remarks can be construed as criticism, theyre certainly not meant to be. After i finish this book to her, you probably wont hear from me for a while. I like privacy. The thing about the presidency , people say thank you for the sacrifice. Its not a sacrifice. But you do sacrifice anonymity. I cant walk down madison avenue in new york without drawn flies. Maybe i ought up with that a little better, without drawing a lot of attention. [laughter] to the extent that i can have privacy, i like it. Its given me a chance to not be totally inside yourself, but its a learning experience and also, its amazing how time moves which is a little scary when youre 70. They write, the bush family has always been viewed as standing for civility and politics. Wendy things change ny. I dont think so. I think politics has always been a rough sport. If you read history there are a lot of cases where in campaigns there was slander and people saying bad things about each other but i think whats changed, however, is how people get their news. Believe it or not, im really the first blackberry or first email president. Its just that the email or the black berry was government issue right at the end of bill clintons time and the reason i make that point is technology has changed so dramatically and so quickly, as has the dispersal of news. In the old days there was the three abc, nbc and cbs. Now people get news and information from all over the place. Part of the issue with these new dispersal agents is that you can be anonymous. Theres no responsibility or accountability whatsoever. That lends itself to some pretty angry messages going out. The danger of course as i mentioned earlier, people say i dont want to get involved in thats a huge problem. Our system is only as good as the willingness as good people willing to be involved with it. A question from michael in buffalo. Ronald reagan had the famous line of asking are we better off than we were four years ago. Is the world a more dangerous place than it was four years ago . The world is a dangerous place. This may be taken as criticism by one of my successors, and i dont really 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. President s reseed and thats generally field with people who dont share the same ideology or the same human rights and dignity and freedom that we do. Theres an isolation tendency in our country. I would argue thats dangerous to our National Security and doesnt fit the character of the country. You mentioned that. [applause] youve talked a little about social media. I looked on twitter for the account and it was described as locked. Do you tweet and you recommend it to others. Thats a loaded question. No, i dont tweet. If there is a twitter account under my name, somebody else is running it. This is an interesting question. We do good things at the bush center, but the only way i make news is if i criticize my successor or criticize my party. The fundamental question is how can you get good news out so people can find out about it. Twitter an instagram are useful ways for us to communicate with a group of people who are interested in what we are doing. I do facetime. [laughter] thats hightech, is not. I do that with my grandchildren every day. By the way theyre doing well from your eight years as americas leader, what advice might you give those in our country today, to those were thinking of running in the future . My advice starts with know what you dont know. Fine people who do know what you dont know and listen to them. My advice is that the job is different once you get in. It looks one way and you get into the oval office and it looks different. Trust me, and my advice is if youre thinking about it, go for it. Unless of course your whole life is wound up in whether you win or lose. Then dont go for it. My dad never won the state of texas until 1988. So he loses and 64, he loses and 70, he loses to Ronald Reagan in 1980, and were not very good about cycle battle, but i think because his priorities was faith in his family and his friends, the loss, while it stung, was tolerable. Then he wins in 1988 and becomes president of the United States. Its hard to believe. You cant win your own state three times and you end up being president which i think speaks volumes about the question you just asked which is take risks, but make sure you got the right foundation on which to take risks. More questions about painting, if we could. Would you have painted in the white house if you knew you had the skills. Theres no do overs. What i have taken down the sign mission accomplished, yeah i wouldve. I dont know. Its a good question. I doubt it. It is an allconsuming job. You think about the presidency and the problems youre dealing with and the issues youre dealing with all the time, and what startling is when youre not president , because mankind can adjust to the environment in which they live, theyre pretty adaptable, and the next day after you have to go get the coffee yourself, you wake up and realize you no longer have that sense of responsibility, and its pretty startling so i guess my answer to your question is the reason you have the sense of responsibility is because the job is allconsuming. Do you see the world differently now through the eyes of an artist. I do. In what ways. I was on the ellen the generous show today who by the way, is a very fine person, and i looked in her eyes and i said i could mix that color. [laughter] i see colors and shadows that i never did before. I see the sky differently. I dont know if its made me a more centered or more sensitive person, but i know this, it has changed my life to the better. Does laura paint with you. No nor does she play golf should that shes not a painter. Shes a positive critic, martha has a really good i am loves art and shes made some very meaningful and positive suggestions and some not so positive suggestions, but she takes a great interest in the art and with this exhibit, all these paintings will be displayed at the Center Starting today and there was a huge crowd, by the way and so laura went over there to make sure the colors on the walls worked well with the paintings and shes taken a big interest in the project, and like my mom, she is my biggest fan. They are unbelievably positive and i guess its to encourage me to keep doing it. You once said, if you aim for big change you shouldnt expect to be rewarded by shortterm history. You feel history has misjudged you or has been fair to you. I dont think its judged me yet properly because i think its impossible to judge a president in the short term. I think youll reach a time to be able to analyze the decisions a president makes and the consequences over time. I want people to at least have an understanding of why a made this decisions i made, regardless of if you agree with them, at least you can try to learn why. I also wrote and i put in the indirec introduction it would be a bad point for future this dorians. There genuinely sincere about trying to find out my pate place in history, then they ought to read this book as a data point. Weve got this library very much like the Reagan Library full of archives and some of the stuff hasnt been declassified yet, but it will be and historians will research and to write an objective history there has to be more president s to follow me so that it enables one to see perspective. Im not that worried about it. I really am not. I gave it my all and thats all you can do. [applause] what will people be surprised to learn about you since you left the oval office. That im a painter. [laughter] when i wrote that book, i was thrilled to say a lot of people will be shocked about this book. They didnt think i could read, much less right, and so, i think bill be surprised at that. Im not sure what else. I think theyre surprised im not gloating about my successor. I shouldve given you this answer, when president obama was president nice to get a lot of calls from heartland saying you need to speak out and now im getting calls from the coast saying you need to speak out. This next question is back to your paintings. Its human nature to be private about wounds and scars. How did you get the subjects of your paintings to open up and reveal an aspect of themselves that many of us might choose to hide. Thats a great question. I earned their trust is the first thing. I think i was able to earn their trust several ways, one i told our troops and their families that is president i would support them one 100 and i think they saw about. Secondly, when youre writing Mountain Bikes with people, theres a lot of comradely, but its a way to earn somebodys trust and we set it up so our vets can speak and we encourage them to be open. Some were more open than others, but when youre sitting there is a vet, i suspect one another gets up and talks about an invisible wound it gives you confidence to speak up yourself. Heres whats important to understand. The challenge for society is to get rid of the stigma. The best people to do that our vets. Summary comes out a combat and goes into a Doctors Office and says ive got a problem in the doctor really doesnt understand how to speak to that person. If somebody speaks out who does with pts and says i got these issues brian can say i understand what saying. The other aspect is what works. Weve got a Wellness Alliance that were what raising money for which makes up these. Too. Counseling groups. Ucla has a fabulous brain center. The cohen centers, the center at nyu, and these are places that have proven they are able to help these vets who want help to begin with. Thats why were doing what were doing. They talk about it. Some more than others. Im sitting next to turner. I probably make him a little nervous sitting next to the next commander in chief and i said why are you here turner, and he opens up and it was part of his healing process. I dont know why he told me what he told me, but as a result, he is a healer himself. He is part of the. Too. Network. These groups that serve veterans, the website mentions 80 of the Organization Serving veterans lat raised less than 100,000. Year. What can we do to help. The first question is do the 80 that raise 100,000. Year do good work . Theres an opportunity to take a look at the characteristics that you want to be looking for before they give money to an organization. The amazing thing is the response to our vets this time compared to the vietnam war is overwhelming. I think theres 35000 programs to help ou our vets. The real challenge is what works and what doesnt work. We dont want to be the jury, but we do want to highlight programs we know are effective. Team rubicon is an interesting example. It was a started by a guy who takes thats and puts them in where hurricane was hit or an earthquake was hit and they are part of helping locals recover. It is a. Too. Counseling group. Youve got vets dealing with the same issue, all serving somebody else, which is also part of healing. In the book, there are number of people who are recovering nicely because they are now working to help somebody elses life improve. By the way, you dont have to be a vet to realize the benefit of serving your fellow man. You mentioned theres also a talk of the 1 but you talk to the 1 being the warriors who defend the remaining 99 of american. I thought you were talking about the 1 financially. Thats not me. Im on a government pension. [laughter] is there something the government can be doing better for veterans. Look, the va has got some very good programs. Ive talked to many vets who say ive been helped by the va and ive talked to those who have been frustrated by the va. Step one is to make sure the va is responsive but the best way to make sure it works is to do joint ventures with rival sectors that are effective. [applause] by the way, the new head of the va in the former head of the va is very receptive to that idea. We intend, we are gaining some credibility for knowing what were talking about and they want our input to make sure the help every vet deserves is as seamless as possible. I am told this by the former secretary of the va. This is an interesting fact, that part of the reason why the pts, i dropped the d. Its not a disorder. Its an injury. Who wants to be labeled as someone with the disorder. Youre more likely to hire somebody that has an injury, and what was the brilliant point is going to make . [laughter] what the government to do. Right, it turns out vietnam vets are beginning to show symptoms of pts now, after all these years. They been in combat and they come home in the raising their families and they got a job and they retire and now theyre going somethings wrong. They check into the va because theyre exhibiting symptoms of pts and all the sudden youve got a lot of bats heading to the vas of the va has to deal with this. We need to make sure that as many people can get help as quickly as possible without frustrating our vets. The problem with frustrating about that just came out of combat is if they dont get the help they need immediately there is the risk of self medication and we want to prevent that. Who will be the subject of your next portrait and why. Me. I looked at a lot of painters of masters and it turns out they paint themselves a lot. I guess its an arrogant walk, but one reason you do that is if you file it up, it doesnt upset anybody. One of my instructors paint these giant portraits. Hes a fabulous painter and their big faces. He has painted faces nobody knows, the people he grew up with and their great paintings. He said you ought to point paint a huge portrait sixfoot big and so its me. My face on sixfoot campus. Thats a lot of face. [laughter] im working on that. It takes a long time. So cedric is helping me through this. It turns out each part of your face be comes almost like a portrait onto itself. You can spend four or five days on and year because its so big until you get it right so im doing that right now. Its a fascinating experience. Then i painted freddie. So laura and i go to the spa in dallas and we want to see, theres a great friend of ours that has donated quite a bit of money and i wanted to go see it and we get in there and there was a dog foster Mother Holding this little tiny puppy , and of course you have to tell us the story that this dog had been abandoned in an construction site along with its brothers and sisters and the others had been adopted. They had to hold freddie back because he wasnt eating very well and so laura picked up the dog and was over. So he is named freddie ford. He happened to be in the line of sight and i said okay, that dog is now named freddie. I dont know if he thought it was an honor or not, but i painted him. The guy is awesome. I dont know if youve ever done this with your dog, but we did a dna to find out how on pure freddie is. [laughter] he has one whole line that says mixed breed and hes got another line that says chow for sean, pitbull and border collie. He is awesome to look at, by the way. Have you ever thought of being an artist. No im still in art pupil. Every brush stroke is still a learning experience so its important have people around to understand that and are willing to help you reach out and continue to press. I used to paint real tight. If you look at those world leaders, theres not much expression. It looks like tony blair or Angela Merkel or vladimir putin, but there was no confidence and not a lot of paint and some of these have got a lot of paint on it and big brushstrokes and its just an evolving style. My instructors help me gain the confidence necessary to paint that way. This one is anonymous, it said would you be available to do a portrait of our family for their christmas card. No. Heres the problem. People say will you paint something for charity. If you paint one for charity you spend the rest of your life painting for charity. So no, im not going to do that, thanks. Nor will i ever saw one. This collection here im 98 paintings will be given to the Bush FoundationEndowment Fund and it may be worth something 30 years from now, if they start running out of money they can sell it. I did make a declared a, a giclee which is a sophisticated copy of each painting. I promise to only make one copy. Portrait and i will send it to each of that. [applause] a couple questions about portraits specifically. Artists who seek to do portraits have to be the toughest. You can miss paint a landscape or still life and whos going to complain but if you decide to capture an image of another human on campus, you better get it right. Have any of your subjects complained. Will yes, laura. I actually painted jennas baby once and she complained, i thought it was nice, she didnt like it, then i painted another and she didnt like it so i finally painted something that looks like the gerber baby. [laughter] this question is also about specifics of portraits. Its consider the mars complex form of art requiring not just skill but an insight into the subjects character. That means a special report needs to be developed between the artist and subject. Did that occur with you and your subject. Yes, thats a great question. I think in order to make a portrait work you have to have feeling about who your painting and as a mentioned earlier, i paint with Great Respect for each person. Id stay in touch with them, as a matter fact brian came back to the ranch and we have got what we call club 43 which are people who have been to our events and we expanded every year and we hope the alumni come back, they form bonds among themselves, its a network of vets, i saw four bets on the today show and i saw another five others. I saw two today on ellen. I stay in touch with them. Some right in, some send in pictures and they are my friends. Thats great. You talked about the art and the paintings, what inspired you to make a book out of the painting. Thats a good question. I guess its a little risky to put your paintings out there, somebody may not like them, but you know what, some people didnt like my decision some kind of used to it. I wanted to raise money for the foundation, and i wanted to tell the stories. I think when you read them you will be moved because they are stories of courage, injury, recovery, willingness to help others, and i also wanted to highlight the invisible wounds. That is my biggest concern. Prosthetics are great. Look, im writing Mountain Bikes with people who have lost legs. They lose their legs and theyve been in combat twice. The prosthetics are great. Its the invisible wounds that concern me. This book is away to highlight that and hopefully it will inspire people to help, people to come forward and talk about it, caregivers to rethink the care they are giving if its not working, its really to call people to a very important cause. Ive got a platform still, not as big as my old one but i intend to use it to help our thats for the rest of my life and this is one way to do so. [applause] mr. President , were just about out of time but we would like to thank you for doing this book. I was fortunate enough to get advance copy and it was inspirational to read this book. What a great gift to give to people in the military and military families. I urge everyone to pick up a copy. Amazon or go to bush. Middledot org. Or washington post. [laughter] youre doing a fine job by the way. Thank you, mr. President. Thank you for the opportunity to have the book. I would encourage people to get that if you can. Thank you for joining us. Thank you all for coming. [applause] [applause] ladies and gentlemen, for those of you who are joining us for dinner, please hold on for just a few moments and let our distinguished guest apart and you will go out that door. Those of you upstairs and joining us for dinner, there is a door in the same corner you can go out. If you are not joining us for dinner, you are welcome to depart this direction right now and go find your car. Give us a moment, we hope you are all joining us tomorrow night for our evening with gary lynn foot. It should be a fascinating event. Thank you all for coming. Cspan, where history unfolds daily. In 1979, cspan was created as a Public Service by americas Cable Television companies. It is brought to you today your cable or satellite provider. [inaudible conversations] good evening im not sure the microphone is on. Can you hear me