George W. Bush in My Life, by Bill Clinton

On Foreign Policy: 1994: Supported $25B Mexico bailout

We asked Congress to approve $25 billion in loans to allow Mexico to pay its debt on schedule and retain the confidence of creditors & investors, in return for Mexico's commitment to financial reforms & more timely reporting on its financial condition, i order to prevent this from happening again.

The risks were considerable, but I had confidence in Mexico's new president, Ernesto Zedillo. Besides, we simply couldn't let Mexico fall without trying to help. In addition to the economic problems it would cause both for us and for the Mexicans, we would be sending a terrible signal of selfishness and shortsightedness throughout Latin America.

I called the congressional leaders and explained the situation. All of them pledged their support. Several governors were also supportive, including George W. Bush, whose state would be hardest hit if the Mexican economy collapsed.

Congress would not pass the bill so we ended up providing the money to Mexico out of the Exchange Stabilization Fund.

Source: My Life, by Bill Clinton, p.642-643 Jun 21, 2004

On Homeland Security: 2000: Warned by Clinton that problem was Al Qaeda, not Iraq

President-elect Bush came to the White House for the same meeting I had had with his father 8 years earlier. We talked about the campaign, White House operations, and national security. He was putting together an experienced team from past Republican administrations who believed that the biggest security issues were the need for national missile defense and Iraq. I told him that based on the last 8 years, I thought his biggest security problems, in order, would be Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda; the absence of peace in the Middle East; the standoff between nuclear powers in India and Pakistan; and the ties of the Pakistanis to the Taliban and al Qaeda; North Korea; and then Iraq. I said that my biggest disappointment was not getting bin Laden, that we still might achieve an agreement in the Middle East, and that we had almost tied up a deal with North Korea to end its missile program.

He listened to what I had to say without much comment, then changed the subject to how I did the job.

Source: My Life, by Bill Clinton, p.935 Jun 21, 2004

The above quotations are from My Life, by Bill Clinton. Click here for other excerpts from My Life, by Bill Clinton. Click here for other excerpts by George W. Bush. Click here for a profile of George W. Bush.
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