Matt Spetalnick
Reuters
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
President George W. Bush, facing growing public discontent over
the Iraq war, admitted on Monday his parents are worried about
him but insisted he rarely talks policy with his father.
Bush acknowledged, however, he did consult with the 41st president
before nominating Robert Gates, CIA director under his father,
to replace Donald Rumsfeld as defense secretary. But he said the
elder Bush had no advance knowledge of the appointment.
In a rare glimpse of his relationship with the former president
after recent signs of possible strains between the two men, Bush
said he calls his parents every two weeks.
"I love to talk to my dad about things between a father
and a son, not policy," he said.
"Washington can be a tough town at times and there is nothing
better than hearing a loving voice on the end of the phone call
occasionally and so I check in with Mother and Dad," Bush
said.
"Of course, they're worried about their son ... they're
paying too much attention to the newspapers, I guess."
His comments follow the release of a book, "State of Denial,"
by journalist Bob Woodward, that said the 82-year-old George H.W.
Bush was "anguished" over how the Iraq war had played
out, although he quickly dismissed that account.
Bush gently admonished his father before the November 7 midterm
elections for saying he hated to think what life would be like
for his son if the Democrats won control of Congress. Bush's Republicans
lost their majorities in both houses.
Asked whether he consults constantly with his father, Bush said:
"No ... He understands what I know, that the level of information
I have relative to the level of information most other people
have, including himself, is significant and that he trusts me
to make decisions."
Despite that, Bush has reached back to his father's administration
for advice on a possible course shift in Iraq.
Besides nominating Gates, he is awaiting recommendations on Wednesday
from a bipartisan panel co-chaired by James Baker, his father's
former secretary of state.
Asked to comment on widespread view that his father's influence
was coming to bear on his administration, Bush insisted: "I
am the commander-in-chief."
