recognized in the past. yeah. and really working behind the scenes from the beginning on politics. didn t perhaps assert herself on policy as much as some other first ladies did, susan, but was there when george h.w. bush first had the idea of running for office. she was collecting names and that famous christmas card list of her s. slefs there at the side of election of her husband. her sons decided to run for office, they sought her advice. when they did, she was behind them all the way. she gave them their advice whether they wanted to hear it or not. both her husband and her sons. she was both a public asset and private asset. public asset because she became enormously popular, more popular in public opinion polls than either of the presidents bush. and she was a private asset because, man, she could spot a phony a mile away. she was aware of the motives of people in a way that i think her husband in particular wasn t
ago when george h.w. bush first launched. up next, we re going to go back to the conflict 25 years later and how it is still impacting america s policy today. we ll be right back with much more morning joe.
communicated i m going to say one thing, i m going to say another thing, our goal is to make sure that we get what we want out of the situation that there s not a war in the middle east. i think the american public appreciates a now onned position. richard, how much do you think the american public understands the bull herbiishness of bib netanyahu, bilateral meetings in the oval office to meeting with congress and support of basically tacit support of mitt romney s candidacy? for a starter it s hard for any foreign leader, even one that generally americans feel favorably to that country, it s very hard for any foreign leader to intervene and try and nudge the balance of a domestic election. it risks hugely backfiring. actually the bush administration tried to do in a german election around the time of the run-up to the war in iraq.
really do really doesn t go down well. germans feel strongly for america. to the extent that anyone heard it i don t think it s successful. there is clearly a very committed audience that follows every statement out of israel very closely, that s not just jewish voters but there are broad areas of interest in this country around middle eastern politics. you know, i don t think the fundamental relationship between the two countries has changed. americans do feel supportive of what israel needs, and will rise to israel s defense when needed. this is different, though, given the experience in iraq, there is not just a huge amount of reticence and strong talk. no difference in talk between bush and obama saying we will not tolerate a nuclear armed iran but doing something about it is a tremendous burden for any president moving forward. we were, waiting for bibi netanyahu to take the stage.
complacence. they know that anything can happen on a dime. they beat it into their staff and to their volunteers, do not get complacent, it is not over. one of the things that we should not overlook is joe biden s incredible effort to restore the position of vice president to wing man in chief. literally. quayle was not, bush had a difficult time with it. this is a guy, look at convention speech, look at that, he is like, ralph malph and potsie to richie. he s gone out of his way to make sure we know what the job is. he s like goose in top gun standing on the steps of air force 2 in aviator glasses saying let s do this thing. biden s gaffe gate, he s not lost an hour of time. they are embracing the image. yes. you go with what you got. and people find him endearing and charming. it s a great story in the new