Bill O'Reilly's Exclusive Interview with President Bush
Friday, October 20, 2006
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,221501,00.htmlhttp://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,222378,00.htmlO'REILLY: This month, very bloody month for U.S. troops.
BUSH: Yeah.---SNIP---
O'REILLY: Is it discouraging that more people don't see why you're doing what you're doing?
BUSH: Discouraging isn't the right word. It encourages me to go out and continue to make the case why we need to succeed in Iraq, why we need to make sure that we, you know, multi-lateralize the North Korean issue to achieve peace, that we got to keep taxes low to keep the economy growing.
But look, I've been up in the polls. And I've been, you know, down in the polls. A president that tries to make decisions, Bill, on polls will be a president that fails the American people.
O'REILLY: I'm just wondering, psychologically. You work hard, right?
BUSH: I think I do.
O'REILLY: I don't think you can ever take a day off, right?
BUSH: That's true.:spray:
O'REILLY: OK. Seven days a week — bang, bang, bang. You're in the most intense time — one of the most intense times in U.S. history. And then you're getting pounded day after day after day — pounded, pounded, pounded. How do you process that?
BUSH:
I believe in what I'm doing. If I didn't believe in what I'm doing, I guess the pounding would end up affecting me. But when you believe in your soul, in the very fiber of your system, that taking on these extremists and radicals in the Middle East is necessary to have peace in the long run for our children, then you move on. And you — and this is a job where you have to do what you think is right. I get a lot of advice. I listen to a lot of smart people, but ultimately, it's the president's job to make the decisions.
O'REILLY: But then Woodward says you don't listen to anybody. You just blow them off.
BUSH: Well, that's his opinion. He just doesn't know how it works, because I've got a lot of good, strong people around me that — you know, they walk in the Oval Office. They're not intimidated. They say here's what's on mind, but I listen to a lot of people from outside as well. Of course I listen to people.
But this is a job where there's only one decision maker. And that's me. And I make decisions based upon principle. I make decisions based on the information I have. And I believe the decisions I have made, no matter how difficult they are, are going to make this world a better place.