You the latest in nonfiction books and authors. Funding for cspan two comes from these partners, and more. Including spark life. The greatest town on earth is a place you call home. That spark light, its our home to. Right now, we are all facing our greatest challenge. That is why spark light is working around the clock to keep you connected. Were doing our part, so it is easier to do yours. Spark light, along with these Television Companies, support cspan 2 as a Public Service. I am mark green, president and ceo the Wilson Center with charter by congress more than 50 years ago to, in their words strength in the few full relation between the world of learning and the world of public affairs. One of the principal ways to fulfill that mission is through the history and Public Policy program. Which drives to reach public resource record of 20th and 21st Century International history from repositories around the world. Based upon those records, to facilitate scholarship, education, and debate. We also mobilize scholarship and research to inform Public Policy in other ways. From podcasts like International History declassified, to blogs like my own, stubborn things. Todays program is very much in line with that purpose. Our guest today, amy car she has served as the National Chant for democracy interim chief of the George BarbaraBush Foundation president of Franklin PierceUniversity Acting dean of the bush school of government of Public Service at texas a m university and senior roles under three u. S. President under george w. Bush, secretary of transportation under george h. W. Bush. And we have andrew s. Natsios, a executive professor at the bush school at texas a m university and director of the institute of national affairs. He has been a distinguished professor at the university of george brown. A veteran who served in the gulf war, u. S. Special envoy to sudan during the door for crisis and now, go today they have edited and produced transforming our world. President h. W. Bush and Foreign Policy. A collection of Foreign Policy essays from wellknown practitioners who participated in the unfolding of International Events as part of that bush administration. As we get going i want to make sure everyone knows we will have your audience questions right at the end of our program. If you have questions please submit them to event at Wilson Center dot org. Please include your name and affiliation. Let me get things going. For me a recurring theme in this book, even though it was written by 20 authors in terms of the essays is good footed. The notion that george h. W. Bush was uniquely qualified to lead the free world when he did. As you guys pointed out, the first president in 120 years with prior to that experience. The only president with leadership experience in u. S. Intelligence agencies. The last world war ii veteran to serve, and the last injured in combat. And yet the book describes his election as an aberration. Could we have a george h. W. Bush elected today. Could we see someone with those unique qualifications rise to take the reins at these important times in our history . Andrew carr, why dont i start with you . Thank you for having me on with my great friend, Andrew Natsios. Think you for your service to our country in both congress and the usf a. D. , and now with the Wilson Center. I am excited to be here with you. Andrew natsios, deserves 99. 9 of the credit in making sure this remarkable collection of essays and reflections comes out. I am credited with having helped him but really, he helped me help him. He motivated me, the most remarkable thing is read the introduction that Andrew Natsios wrote in this book, he summarizes all of the rest of the chapters. But he does it in a way that is, im going to say both optimistic and pessimistic. It is optimistic that we know now what we should be looking for in a president. Pessimistic in saying it is going to be hard to get there. To answer your question directly, i think it will be very hard to have another person like george h. W. Bush, in the field of candidates who could successfully compete to become president of the United States. I say that because his track record of responding to the call of global Public Service is almost unique. None of his predecessors had it. I dont think any of the successors to him have that wealth of knowledge. It is best summarized as what Andrew Natsios wrote in the introduction, where we know about how he came to respect the noble calling a Public Service. From a family who was engaged in Public Service. How he grew up in new england, with new england values, even though he became a texan. He had the gravitas of being at yale but the boots on the ground ability to communicate well, from being an oil worker in midland texas. He was fortunate to have a secretary of state who he was mine melded to. They were the best of friends, colleagues, soulmates. That made a big difference. He also had survivors remorse as someone who was shot down in world war ii and watched his buddy get killed. So, yes that had an impact on him he also was experienced in so many different aspects as outlined in a chapter, but also, i am reflecting on jeff engles commentary, he practiced hippocratic oath implement see do no harm i think he was a real gentlemen as plato and burke told us he also had prudence and the ability to be prudent, in fact that was a word that he used often. Prudent. He did have prudence, he was very well engaged in a respectful way with everybody, his friends and his adversaries. He was respectful. Most of all this collection of essays outlines his respect for the institutions of democracy. He was an Institution Builder and polisher. And Andrew Natsios captures that in his introduction. All of the authors, they all made significant contribution themselves. There could be books written about each of them. There have been books written about each of them. They are beyond expertise in terms of what they have done. They have been serving as patriots. Jean baker has the first essay, but he knows but george h. W. Bush almost as well as george h. W. Bush. He sets the stage for what we have throughout the rest of the chapters. Andrew . A couple of stories that tell you a lot about bush himself. Bush was taught by his mother and his father not to use the word i if he could possibly avoid it. Its hard to do that if you are a politician. If you watch, you listen, look at the stuff that he has written. Memos as president and speeches, he doesnt use the word. Because he said it is too egotistical and egocentric. He came back from a baseball game when he was in high school. He hit a home run and they won the game as a result of it. He ran in and told his mother, his mother said, thats very nice george. She said, thats very nice, george. How did the team do . He asked, dont you care about the home run . And she said, i care about how the team did. Not how you did. He repeated that story many times. There was an auditorium in near three buildings of the bush school, library, and the conference center. You came and spoke there at the democratic conference. By the way we had five pandemic conferences before covid19 that was one of the focuses of the skill center. Anyway, he used to come all the time. Just one story of how he is revered in texas. He almost died, i think it was pneumonia he had, three years earlier. In fact there was a german news magazine actually said he had died. It was very embarrassing, they had to do a retraction and all that. Anyway he survived, he came back and there is a special booth for him at the football game. Theres 100,000 people at these football games. He got a 15 minute standing ovation. They had to postpone the game. The audience would not sit down after he appeared after his near death experience. If people want to know how popular he is in texas, all you have to do is go to the college. He didnt even go to school at texas a m. His friends in houston criticized him for. Texas a m is in a rural area, why are you putting elaborate there . I think i know why, its the values of texas a m. There was a french scholar we had a conference on the reunification of germany about seven or eight years ago, he sort of said that george bush had nothing to do with german reunification. I knew if i invited him he wouldve said it. Everyone else said that he did have a major role. George bush was a security adviser helmut kohl, to the german chancellor during the reunification. He was there, he spoke, and he said something that i wont forget. He said i was on the phone almost every single day for two years orchestrating with brent skill croft, and of course how much coal was on the phone constantly with bush. Making sure every single detail was attended to. During the implementation process nothing got screwed up so the laugh that when he said that that was just complete nonsense. There was a concert of the great german orchestra in houston during the anniversary celebration of the reunification of germany. The german consul general stood up during into bush had invited us to go, we were both there. She said mister president i just want to thank you because we would not be one country now if it not for you. And then of course there was another standing ovation. This is the german counsel general who made it point of saying this. I think that george bush was a modest person but he didnt have much to be modest about. He was a historic figure he was a very humble guy. I think those characteristics mean, he didnt promote himself at all. As a result of that i dont think a lot of the things that he did ever made many waves. Which is why we did this book. Its interesting. It reminds me a few years ago when Brent Scowcroft was still with us. I had the opportunity to meet with him. I was an international instituteat the time. I asked him, what would be the lesson that he would offer for young people today . And brent said, i it wasnt easy. The history that todays young people look back on. The reunification, the fall of the wall, as though it was just logical and inevitable and it wasnt easy each step, each move, each discipline move matt not moving at times which is what you are pointing to. These things are extraordinary and in some cases not in the skill sets of politicians these days. Who are looking for instant, reading the polls would happen today with social media. Yet he had the foresight, he and the team baker, scowcroft, so many. Understood the calibrations and the difficulties in what it would take to get it done. That maybe is the greatest sign of how unusual that time one and how unique his contributions were. There is one unique thing that i say to people about george bush, or any president for that matter. The most important thing the president does is to appoint other people to run the federal government. One person, no matter how brilliant, how experienced, how could possibly run a government as big as we have. It is enormous, it is enormously complex. George bush cultivated a large group of people across the country in his First Campaign for president in his 1980, and then in 1988 in his eight years of Vice President he built up a huge network. It wasnt just people that could run a campaign. But also to run the federal government putting people who were loyal to him, who shared his worldview, his morals in office he was in fact seizing control and a very gentle way of the reigns of power. He didnt have to yell a people, fire people in fact almost no one was fired at the nsc the entire time he was in office. There was a chapter by jane paul loot, she worked with brent snow craft. She had a distinguished career. Her and i served together in the gulf war. In her chapter she said you know, there are only 50 people on the staff of the nsc. Under president obama there were 400, that is how much it has increased. She said the quality of the peoples to all of them became cabinet members, four star generals. President s of universities. Condoleezza rice was on the nsc, she became secretary of state. I think a lot of what george bush is so good at is this huge network that he built, very deliberately. This comes out in the book i think. Something i want to get to. Another personal angle, a few years ago when bush 41 was still with us, i had the honor of visiting him up at kennebunkport. I remember, when i walked into that first front room and i paused for a moment and i looked around at the array of photos, capturing moments from his presidency. I found myself over and over again saying, oh yeah, thats right, oh yeah, i had forgotten. In some, ways thats what came back to me when i read this book. Because each chapter, each essay touches on a moment in our presidency, many of which have been forgotten or perhaps not fully appreciated. All these things that occurred during the bush 41 presidency that are lost to the midst of time. Or again, as brett spoke or off suggested, maybe everyone looks and thinks that somehow inevitable. What do you think, this is to both of, you each of you. What do you think, in terms of accomplishments or events, is perhaps least appreciated these days . That bush 41 pulled together or pulled off . Well, first of all, he did help transform the world. We ended the cold war without going to a hot war. That was pretty dramatic. He was humble in the process, he didnt dance on the wall when it came down. Even though some people that he should go dance on the wall when the berlin wall came down. No, he was very humble. He also was very disciplined about respecting institutions in washington, d. C. That were not his institutions. For example, he worked well with Congress Even though congress was controlled by the democrats. Yes, he served in the house and respected the house and had friends on both sides of the aisle, but he did not blind aside congress with the challenges he had. He actually invited them to be a part of the solution. It didnt always, work didnt mean everything was easy. It wasnt, it was very hard. But i think that the institutions that he knew was critical to part of the institution, he groom to step up to meet their responsibilities. On the domestic side, probably the american disability act. Which was so dramatic and really did change america, and it motivated the world to have a greater conscious about those people who are challenged and need a little bit of a leg up, no pun intended. They need some help. So, the american disability act. But there were so many, i encourage people to read johns book about his time as chief of staff, to get a look at what happened on the domestic side. This is focused on what happened on the international side, and efforts of the u. S. I80. Where he was very dramatic in spreading the passion of america around the world, thats what comes out in these various chapters. But chase on tour myers chapter really discusses how hit he staff his government. How did he bring people in, and what was he looking for. He was not looking for people who would just echo his views, he looked for people who are challenges views constructively and make a difference. I have to tell you, we all know the name bush now because he was president and he was Vice President before that. But a lot of people to know better track record in service, they know now about a son who was president. Which is pretty darn unique. But i would point out, the first time i was campaigning with, him i had just come on as the voluntary chairman of the campaign in 1970, eight 79. He was running in the 1980 process. There was an event, he was speaking at an event in springfield, connecticut im sorry, hartford, connecticut. I got a call from James A Baker the third, who was part of the campaign, and he said ambassador bush was going to be speaking at an event in hartford, connecticut. Its only about 45 minutes away from springfield, massachusetts. Could you put together a tea or some thing for ambassador bush, to get to meet some people . I dont know a lot of people in springfield, massachusetts, but i call the friend who did know people there. They gave me someone, as a potential host for a tee, at 3 00 in the afternoon, i drove out to see where this house was and meet the people and all that kind of stuff. The next day was the event, drove down to hartford, picked up ambassador bush, drove him down to springfield and came to this home in springfield. Walked in and there is about 25 people ready to have tea with candidate, ambassador bush. His side on the mantle over the fireplace, it said welcome george bush and was spelled be you s c h, like anheuser bush. He came a long way. He was an asterisk in the polls, but that asterisk made a huge difference for america. And it made an even greater difference for the rest of the world. Because he actually did more to introduce transformation than any other president in our history when it came to inviting people to the responsibilities of governing. Yes, with the opportunities that come through democracy. But he actively made many bad leaders better leaders, because of how he led. Around the world. And so, thats what transformed the world. And were very grateful of his service. Jane flutes chapel chapter about brent school cough organizing the Security Council is a must read. It talks about the partnership that existed, even inside the white house. Normally, there is tension between different bureaucracies inside the white house. I know, that being the chief of staff. I would carry that around all the time to put it in the gears. President bush and Brandon Scowcroft and jim baker were a remarkable team, and they also had the benefit of working with dick cheney and colin powell. It was a spectacular team that made a difference. It came because of president i division, but he did not allow himself to be stuck on stupid. He was always looking