Bush: I Didn't Compromise My Soul To Be Popular

WASHINGTON — President George W. Bush knows he's unpopular. But here's what matters, he says: "I didn't compromise my soul to be a popular guy." In a wide-ranging interview with Fox News Channel, Bush also praised the national security team assembled by President-elect Barack Obama, offered hope to U.S. automakers seeking government assistance and said the people of Illinois will have to sort out allegations that Gov. Rod Blagojevich sought kickbacks in choosing a successor for Obama's Senate seat.

Bush said presidents fail when they make decisions based on opinion polls.

"Look, everybody likes to be popular," said Bush.

"What do you expect? We've got a major economic problem and I'm the president during the major economic problem. I mean, do people approve of the economy? No. I don't approve of the economy. ... I've been a wartime president. I've dealt with two economic recessions now. I've had, hell, a lot of serious challenges. What matters to me is I didn't compromise my soul to be a popular guy."

An Associated Press-GFK poll last week showed just 28 percent of the public approving of the job Bush is doing, about where he has been all fall. Among Republicans, 54 percent approve, a low figure from members of a president's own political party.

Bush said he didn't think he would be viewed as the 21st century's Herbert Hoover, who was president during the Great Depression. He said he worked to keep the economy from collapsing.

"I'm a free market guy," Bush said. "But I'm not going to let this economy crater in order to preserve the free market system. So we made a lot of very strong moves and it's been painful for a lot of people, particularly because, you know, this _ the excesses of the past have caused a lot of folks to hurt when it comes to, like, their 401(k)'s or, you know, their jobs."

He said his administration is continuing to look at options for helping the Big Three automakers and that it needs to get done "relatively soon." He said a "disorganized bankruptcy" of one or more of the automakers could cause great harm to the economy "beyond that which we're now witnessing."

"That concerns me," he said. "And the other point is that I _ I'm not interested in _ in really putting good money after bad."

On other subjects:

_ Bush called Obama's national security team "solid," especially praising his own Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who will continue in the post in Obama's administration.

"I think the incoming administration's going to have to fully analyze the risks and the tools and _ come to their own conclusion," he said. "But one thing's for certain. I'm confident that President-elect Obama knows that one of his most solemn duties is to protect the American people."

_ Bush avoided discussing Blagojevich.

"They're going to have to sort it through in Illinois," Bush said. "Obviously anytime anybody allegedly betrays the public trust there's got to be great concern because, you know, democracy really is, you know, really rests on the trust of the people. It's a system of people and by people and for people. And, therefore, the public trust is important."

Comments

[dashboard]

You may not be a Hoover, but you suck nonetheless.

[Sarita]

You didn't compromise your soul -- no, you sold it to the devil.: two wars, a sinking economy - a bankrupt nation, our country's reputation in shambles, a crumbling infrastructure, failing schools. Yup, you will be remembered - and you're right, not as Hoover - this country will never forget who your name!

[Synthon]

"What matters to me is I didn't compromise my soul to be a popular guy."

Well, perhaps not to be popular with the masses, but I would contend that Bush did compromise his soul to be popular with his rich, neo-con buddies.

And who are these 28% of Americans who STILL approve of Bush??

[xansam]

bush's rich neo-con buddies and their heirs

[LDnearthesea]

And also stupid, mostly Evangelicals, or just stupid poor or lower middle class, soon-to-be-in-poverty people, living in places like the Sierra Nevada Foothills of California, or Idaho, or Georgia, who insist on voting for Repugnantcans becuae of God, gays, and guns, and against their best economic self interests, who listen to Limbaugh, Savage, and Hannity because it's on the AM radio in their areas, and that's what happens when there's no fairness in broadcasting!

[enlighteninglad]

Everytime I read this twit's words or hear him speak I feel like I need a shower.

[jnah]

what was i supposed to have done, led or something? i love (please note sarcasm) how he can seperate himself from these events. 2 recessions i had nothin to do with. 2 wars huh wasn't me. as if this crap happened by magic

[milo h minderbinder]

Bush: I'm no Hoover.

Everyone else: Yes, you are.

[Rubyfoo]

No, you're not Hoover. You're just a regular guy who found himself in the most powerful job on Earth and didn't really have a clue what to do with it, just a bunch of mediocre, simplistic homilies on how to live your life and do your job, which might as well have been manager of a greeting card store.

[ohmetoo]

Gosh you sure nailed it right there!

[Sarahmay57]

No, you compromised your soul for big oil and the war machine.

[lwfky]

I have never seen a person who has deluded himself more than this "President". The man still cannot see that his policies have led this country to the brink of disaster. He can't see that he created most of the problems that we are now facing. If any political figure in the history of our country deserved to be prosecuted, it is this man.

[Ouroboros]

"I'm not Herbert Hoover... I'm James Buchanan!"

[Durango]

Buchanan's crimes were, mostly, crime of OMISSION.

Bush's were crimes of COMMISSION.

[Durango]

Hell no, he's no Herbert Hoover.

Hoover didn't lie America into an illegal immoral war. Herbert Hoover didn't authorize torture.

Hoover didn't violate his oath to "Preserve, protect and Defend the Constitution of the United States.

Hoover did not ignore warnings of an imminent attack on New York City and the Pentagon and then deny all responsibility for that failure. And then make problems much worse by attacking a nation that had nothing to do with the attack. After a well orchestrated propaganda campaign to justify that war.

No Bush is no Herbert Hoover. He is far, far worse.

[DuPageDem]

Soul? What soul? And don't worry, you won't ever have to be concerned about popularity.

Hoover, an engineer by trade, was a very smart guy though badly misguided. He atoned somewhat under Truman, working to distribute food after the war. Bush is stupid AND misguided. I doubt anyone would put him in charge of anything, ever again.

[ResearchGuy]

The "Hoover Commission" was a major contribution to government efficiency and spawned numerous "Little Hoover Commissions" in the states. A "Bush Commission" would have as its role the prosecution of the Bush regime's war crimes.

[flifishun]

Comedy gold, thats what I'll miss about you George, comedy gold.

[uncleentropy]

Bush did not "let the economy crater to preserve the free market system"...point taken.

He let the economy crater to preserve the corporate oligarchy.

[WmC]

Herbert Hoover launched an international relief effort to aid WWI victims prooving himself a humanitarian hero and an excellent administrator. No, W: you are no Herbert Hoover.

[LDnearthesea]

Bush can claim he gave what amounts to a drop in the bucket regarding AIDS in Africa, but wasn't there provisions about abstinence along with the dough? You are right about Hoover. He went to Stanford based on his good grades, one can asume. Bush got into Yale because his dad went there, using the affirmative action known as legacy.