The Bush Quote Countdown

All these quotes, whether you want to believe it or not, were said by the president of the United States, George W. Bush, at one time or another. So, sit back, relax, have some good laughs, and enjoy the president's "special" moments (He's had many of them).

100. "This is still a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and uncertainty and potential mential losses."- At a South Carolina oyster roast, as quoted in the Financial Times, Jan. 14, 2000

99. "Bill wrote a book at Yale. I read one."- George W. Bush, on William F. Buckley, Al Smith Dinner, New York City, Oct. 19, 2000

98. "The senate needs to leave enough money in the proposed budget to not only reduce all marginal rates, but to eliminate the death tax, so that people who build up assets are able to transfer them from one generation to the next, regardless of a person's race."- Washington D.C., April 5, 2001

97. "Drug therapies are replacing a lot of medicines as we used to know it."- George W. Bush, third presidential debate, St. Louis, Missouri, Oct. 18, 2000

96. "The Bob Jones policy on interracial dating, I mean I spoke out on interracial dating. I spoke against that. I spoke out against interracial dating. I support the policy of interracial dating."- George W. Bush, interview with CBS News, February 25, 2000

95. "The administration I'll bring is a group of men and women who are focused on what's best for America, honest men and women, decent men and women, women who will see service to our country as a great privilege and who will not stain the house."- Des Moines Register debate, Iowa, Jan. 15, 2000

94. "But Iraq has - have got people there that are willing to kill, and they're hard-nosed killers. And we will work with the Iraqis to secure their future."- George W. Bush, Washington D.C., April 28, 2005

93. "It would be helpful if we opened up ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge). I think it's a mistake not to. And I would urge you all to travel up there and take a look at it, and you can make the determination as to how beautiful that country is."- Press conference, Washington D.C., March 29, 2001

92. GOV. BUSH: Because the picture on the newspaper. It just seems so un-American to me, the picture of the guy storming the house with a scared little boy there. I talked to my little brother, Jeb- I haven't told this to many people. But he's the governor of - I shouldn't call him my little brother- my brother, Jeb, the great governor of Texas.
JIM LEHRER: Florida.
GOV. BUSH: Florida. The state of the Florida.- The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer, April 27, 2000

91. "I am mindful not only of preserving executive powers for myself, but for predecessors as well."- George W. Bush, Washington D.C., Jan. 29, 2001

90. "They want the federal government controlling Social Security like it's some kind of federal program."- George W. Bush, Nov. 2, 2000

89. "I understand small business growth. I was one."- New York Daily News, Feb. 19, 2001

88. "Of all states that understands local control of schools, Iowa is such a state."- Council Bluffs, Iowa, Feb. 28, 2001

87. "The California crunch really is the result of not enough power-generating plants and then not enough power to power the power of generating plants."- George W. Bush, Jan. 14, 2001

86. "I was raised in the West. The west of Texas. It's pretty close to California. In more ways than Washington, D.C., is close to California."- George W. Bush, in Los Angeles as quoted by the Los Angeles Times, April 8, 2000

85. "It's about past seven in the evening here so we're actually in different time lines."- George W. Bush, congratulating newly elected Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Washington, D.C., Jan. 2001

84. "There are some monuments where the land is so widespread, they just encompass as much as possible. And the integral part of the- the precious part, so to speak- I guess all land is precious, but the part that the people uniformly would not want to spoil, will not be despoiled. But there are parts of the monument lands where we can explore without affecting the overall environment."- Media round table, Washington, D.C., March 13, 2001

83. "I think it's very important for world leaders to understand that when a new administration comes in, the new administration will be running the foreign policy."- George W. Bush, interview with USA Today, Jan. 12, 2001

82. "I'm the master of low expectations."- George W. Bush, abroad Air Force One, June 4, 2003

81. "I think we are welcomed. But it was not a peaceful welcome."- George W. Bush, defending Vice President Dick Cheney's pre-war assertion that the United States would be welcomed in Iraq as liberators, NBC Nightly News interview, Dec. 12, 2005

80. "If you don't stand for anything, you don't stand for anything!"- George W. Bush, Bellevue Community College, Nov. 2, 2000

79. "Wow! Brazil is big."- George W. Bush, after being shown a map of Brazil by Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brasilia, Brazil, Nov. 6, 2005

78. "And if you're interested in the quality of education and you're paying attention to what you hear at Laclede, why don't you volunteer? Why don't you mentor a child how to read?"- St. Louis, Missouri, Jan. 5, 2004

77. "It is time to set aside the old partisan bickering and finger-pointing and name-calling that comes from freeing parents to make different choices for their children."- Remarks on "parental empowerment in education," Washington, D.C., April 12, 2001

76. "I mean, there needs to be a wholesale effort against racial profiling, which is illiterate children."- George W. Bush, second presidential debate, Oct. 11, 2000

75. "I think we ought to raise the age at which juveniles can have a gun."- George W. Bush, third presidential debate, St. Louis, Missouri, Oct. 18, 2000

74. "We discussed the way forward in Iraq, discussed the importance of a democracy in the greater Middle East in order to leave behind a peaceful tomorrow."- George W. Bush, Tbilisi, Georgia, May 10, 2005

73. "It's in our country's interests to find those who would do harm to us and get them out of harm's way."- George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 28, 2005

72. "The truth of the matter is, if you listen carefully, Saddam would still be in power if he were the president of the United States, and the world would be a lot better off."- George W. Bush, second presidential debate, St. Louis, Missouri, Oct. 8, 2004

71. "In other words, I don't think people ought to be compelled to make the decision which they think is best for their family."- George W. Bush, on smallpox vaccinations, Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2002

70. "We'll let our friends be the peacekeepers and the great country called America will be the pacemakers."- George W. Bush, Houston, Texas, Sept. 6, 2000

69. "I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."- George W. Bush, Saginaw, Mich., Sept. 29, 2000

68. "We look forward to hearing your vision, so we can more better do our job. That's what I'm telling you."- George W. Bush, Gulfport, Mississippi, Sept. 20, 2005

67. "Another example would be the Dred Scott case, which is where judges, years ago, said that the Constitution allowed slavery because of personal property rights. That's a personal opinion. That's not what the constitution says. The constitution of the United States says we're all- you know, it doesn't say that. It doesn't speak to the equality of America."- George W. Bush, second presidential debate, St. Louis, Missouri, Oct. 8, 2004

66. "Actually, I- this may sound a little West Texan to you, but I like it. When I'm talking about- when I'm talking about myself, and when he's talking about myself, all of us are talking about me."- George W. Bush, Hardball, MSNBC, May 31, 2000

65. "They said, 'You know, this issue doesn't seem to resignate with the people.' And I said, you know something? Whether it resignates or not doesn't matter to me, because I stand for doing what's the right thing, and what the right thing is hearing the voices of people who work."- George W. Bush, Portland, Oregon, Oct. 31, 2000

64. "I'm also not very analytical. You know I don't spend a lot of time thinking about myself, about why I do things."- George W. Bush, aboard Air Force One, June 4, 2003

63. "Those who enter the country illegally violate the law."- George W. Bush, Tucson, Arizona, Nov. 28, 2005

62. "For every fatal shooting, there were roughly three non-fatal shootings. And, folks, this is unacceptable in America. It's just unacceptable. And we're going to do something about it."- George W. Bush, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 14, 2001

61. "Never again in the halls of Washington, D.C., do I want to have to make explanations that I can't explain."- George W. Bush, Portland, Oregon, Oct. 31, 2000

60. "I was going to say he's a piece of work, but that might not translate too well. Is that all right, if I call you a 'piece of work'?"- George W. Bush to Jean-Claude Juncker, prime minister of Luxembourg, Washington, D.C., June 20, 2005

59. "We must have the attitude that every child in America- regardless of where they're raised or how they're born- can learn."- New Britain, Connecticut, April 18, 2001

58. "I want to thank you for taking time out of your day to come and witness my hanging."- George W. Bush, at the dedication of his portrait, Austin, Texas, Jan. 4, 2002

57. "The woman who knew that I had dyslexia- I never interviewed her."- George W. Bush, responding to a magazine article claiming he suffered from dyslexia, Orange, California, Sept. 15, 2000

56. "I think we agree. The past is over."- On his meeting with John McCain, Dallas Morning News, May 10, 2000

55. "Will the highways on the Internet become more few?"- Concord, New Hampshire, Jan. 29, 2000

54. "You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test."- George W. Bush, Feb. 21, 2001

53. "We will make sure our troops have all that is necessary to complete their missions. That's why I went to the Congress last September and proposed fundamental- supplemental funding, which is money for armor and body parts and ammunition and fuel."- George W. Bush, Erie, Pennsylvania, Sept. 4, 2004

52. "I'm going to spend a lot of time on Social Security. I enjoy it. I enjoy taking on the issue. I guess, it's the Mother in me."- George W. Bush, Washington D.C., April 14, 2005

51. "I'm occasionally reading, I want you to know, in the second term."- George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., March 16, 2005

50. "I can only speak to myself."- George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 28, 2005

49. "I am mindful of the difference between the executive branch and the legislative branch. I assured all four of these leaders that I know the difference, and that difference is they pass the laws and I execute them."- George W. Bush, Dec. 18, 2000

48. "You know, sometimes when you study history, you get stuck in the past."- George W. Bush, on what he told Russian president Vladimir Putin, as quoted in the Wall Street Journal, June 25, 2001

47. "This administration is doing everything we can to end the stalemate in an efficient way. We're making the right decisions to bring the solution to an end."- George W. Bush, April 10, 2001

46. "But the true strength of America is found in the hearts and souls of people like Travis, people who are willing to love their neighbor, just like they would like to love themselves."- George W. Bush, Springfield, Missouri, Feb. 9, 2004

45. "I hope you leave here and walk out and say, 'What did he say?'"- George W. Bush, Beaverton, Oregon, Aug. 13, 2004

44. "First, we would not accept a treaty that would not have been ratified, nor a treaty that I thought made sense for the country."- George W. Bush, on the Kyoto accord, April 24, 2001

43. "There a huge trust. I see it all the time when people come up to me and say, 'I don't want you to let me down again.'"- George W. Bush, Boston, Massachusetts, Oct. 3, 2000

42. "If they pre-decease or die early, there's an asset base to be able to pass on to a loved one."- George W. Bush, on Social Security money held in private accounts, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, March 30, 2005

41. "I have said that the sanction regime is like Swiss cheese- that meant that they weren't very effective."- White House press conference, Washington, D.C., Feb. 22, 2001

40. "Those of us who spent time in the agricultural sector and in the heartland, we understand how unfair the death penalty is."- Omaha, Nebraska, Feb. 28, 2001

39. "I recently met with the finance minister of the Palestinian Authority, was very impressed by his grasp of finances."- George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 29, 2003

38. "First, let me make it very clear, poor people aren't necessarily killers. Just because you happen to be not rich doesn't mean you're willing to kill."- George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 19, 2003

37. "If you're sick and tired of the politics of cynicism and polls and principles, come and join this campaign."- George W. Bush, Hilton Head, S.C., Feb. 16, 2000

36. "I'm gonna talk about the ideal world, Chris. I've read- I understand reality. If you're asking me as the president, would I understand reality, I do."- On abortion, Hardball, MSNBC, May 31, 2000

35. "Laura and I really don't realize how bright our children is sometimes until we get an objective analysis."- CNBC, April 15, 2000

34. "The most important job is not to be Governor, or First Lady in my case."- George W. Bush, Pella, Iowa, as quoted by the San Antonio Express-News, Jan. 30, 2000

33. "I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep on the soil of a friend."- George W. Bush, on visiting Denmark, Washington D.C., June 29, 2005

32. "Sometimes when I sleep at night I think of (Dr. Seuss's) 'Hop on Pop.'"- George W. Bush, in a speech about childhood education, Washington, D.C., April 2, 2002

31. "We look forward to analyzing and working with legislation that will make- it would hope- put a free press's mind at ease that you're not being denied information you shouldn't see."- George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 14, 2005

30. "Who could have possibly envisioned an erection- an election in Iraq at this point in history?"- George W. Bush, at the White House, Washington, D.C., Jan. 10, 2005

29. "Just remember it's the birds that's supposed to suffer, not the hunter."- George W. Bush, advising quail hunter and New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici, Roswell, New Mexico, Jan. 22, 2004

28. "[A]s you know, these are open forums, you're able to come and listen to what I have to say."- George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Oct. 28, 2003

27. "And so, in my State of the- my State of the Union- or state- my speech to the nation, whatever you want to call it, speech to the nation- I asked Americans to give 4,000 years- 4,000 hours over the next- the rest of your life- of service to America. That's what I asked- 4,000 hours."- George W. Bush, Bridgeport, Connecticut, April 9, 2002

26. "If affirmative action means what I just described, what I'm for, then I'm for it."- George W. Bush, during the third presidential debate, St. Louis, Missouri, Oct. 18, 2000

25. "In this job you've got a lot on your plate on a regular basis; you don't have much time to sit around and wander, lonely, in the Oval Office, kind of asking different portraits, 'How do you think my standing will be?'"- George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., March 16, 2005

24. "I don't bring God into my life to - to, you know, kind of be a political person."- George W. Bush, interview with Tom Brokaw aboard Air Force One, April 24, 2003

23. "The folks who conducted to act on our country on September 11th made a big mistake. They underestimated America. They underestimated our resolve, our determination, our love for freedom. They misunderestimated the fact that we love a neighbor in need. They misunderestimated the compassion of our country. I think they misunderestimated the will and determination of the Commander-in-Chief, too."- George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Sept. 26, 2001

22. "Well, I think if you say you're going to do something and don't do it, that's trustworthiness."- George W. Bush, in a CNN online chat, Aug. 30, 2000

21. "I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family."- George W. Bush, Greater Nashua, N.H., Chamber of Commerce, Jan. 27, 2000

20. "There's a lot of people in the Middle East who are desirous to get into the Mitchell process. And- but first things first. The- these terrorist acts and, you know, the responses have got to end in order for us to get the framework- the groundwork- not framework, the groundwork to discuss a framework for peace, to lay the- all right."- George W. Bush, referring to former Sen. George Mitchell's report on Middle East peace, Crawford, Texas, Aug. 13, 2001

19. "Do you have blacks, too?"- to Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso, Washington, D.C., Nov. 8, 2001

18. "Now, we talked to Joan Hanover. She and her husband, George, were visiting with us. They are near retirement- retiring- in the process of retiring, meaning they're very smart, active, capable people who are retirement age and are retiring."- George W. Bush, Alexandria, Virginia, Feb. 12, 2003

17. "Border relations between Canada and Mexico have never been better."- George W. Bush, in a press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, Sept. 24, 2001

16. "In Iraq, no doubt about it, it's tough. It's hard work. It's incredibly hard."- George W. Bush, repeating the phrases "hard work," "working hard," "hard choices," and other "hard"-based verbiage 22 times in his first debate with Senator John Kerry

15. "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"- George W. Bush, Florence, South Carolina, Jan. 11, 2000

14. "I'm hopeful. I know there is a lot of ambition in Washington, obviously. But I hope the ambitious realize that they are more likely to succeed with success as opposed to failure."- George W. Bush, Jan. 18, 2001

13. "It is white."- George W. Bush, asked by a child in Britain what the White House was like, July 19, 2001

12. "I promise you I will listen to what has been said here, even though I wasn't here."- George W. Bush, speaking at the President's Economic Forum in Waco, Texas, Aug. 13, 2002

11. "There's an old saying in Tennessee- I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee- that says, fool me once, shame on- shame on you. Fool me- you can't get fooled again."- George W. Bush, Nashville, Tennessee, Sept. 17, 2002

10. "One word sums up probably the responsibility of any Governor, and that one word is 'to be prepared.'"- Governor George W. Bush, Dec. 6, 1993

9. "Tribal sovereignty means that; it's sovereign. I mean, you're a- you've been given sovereignty, and you're viewed as a sovereign entity. And therefore the relationship between the federal government and tribes is one between sovereign entities."- George W. Bush, speaking to minority journalists, Washington, D.C., Aug. 6, 2004

8. "It's totally wiped out. ...It's devastating, it's got to be doubly devastating on the ground."- George W. Bush, turning to his aides while surveying Hurricane Katrina flood damage from Air Force One, Aug. 31, 2005

7. "I'm honored to shake the hand of a brave Iraqi citizen who had his hand cut off by Saddam Hussein."- George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 25, 2004

6. "You work three jobs? ...Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that."- George W. Bush, to a divorced mother of three, Omaha, Nebraska, Feb. 4, 2005

5. "Too many good docs are getting out of business. Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country."- George W. Bush, Poplar Bluff, Missouri, Sept. 6, 2004

4. "We're concerned about AIDS inside our White House- make no mistake about it."- Washington, D.C., Feb. 7, 2001

3. "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and people, and neither do we."- George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004

2. "I've been to war. I've raised twins. If I had a choice, I'd rather go to war."- George W. Bush, Charleston West Virginia, Jan. 27, 2002

1. (drum roll please) "I think if you know what you believe, it makes it a lot easier to answer questions. I can't answer your question."- George W. Bush, in response to a question about whether he could take back any of his answers in the first debate, Reynoldsberg, Ohio, Oct. 4, 2000

There you are, I hope you enjoyed it. Honestly, I enjoyed constructing this. Listening to Bush or reading his quotes always gets me laughing. Unfortunately, I had to cut out a lot of good quotes to narrow the field down to 100. Yeah, like I said, Georgie has had many special moments during his tenure. So, if anyone wants to share a quote that I didn't put on this list, you're welcome to send that my way and share it with everyone that reads this. I may be adding on a smart alec analysis of Bush's Top 100 quotes, but don't expect that for another couple days. Happy holidays all. Stay safe and have fun.

Here are the links I used for the quotes:
http://www.00fun.com/bushquotes.shtml
http://www.shanemcdonald.com/laughs/l-george_bush_quotes.html
http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/quotes/georgewbush.html
http://www.gwjokes.com/quotes/index.php
http://www.speedygrl.com/bushquotes.html
http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/blbushisms.htm