    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
    [April 23, 1991]
    [Pages 417-418]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Prior to a Meeting With General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Commander
    of the U.S. Forces in the Persian Gulf
    April 23, 1991

        Q. Mr. President, what did you have to say to General Schwarzkopf?
        The President. I'm listening. I'm in a listening mode. And besides,
    this is a photo op, at which I normally do not take questions.
        What I'll say to him and when he first got home is, welcome, well-
    done, and what he

    [[Page 418]]

    and his troops did in terms of fulfilling our objectives is fantastic.
    And what he and his troops did for the morale of the United States of
    America is unbelievable.
        We have a great team in Secretary Cheney and General Powell and
    General Schwarzkopf, and the country knows it. You can feel it. Anytime
    you get out to this place, why, you sense it. It is fantastic. And I
    told him that and congratulated him.
        Q. General Schwarzkopf----
        Q. ----the Oval Office, General?
        The President. Would you like to see how a guy should handle the
    press? Come on, Norm. [Laughter] And don't change your style.
        Q. General Schwarzkopf, regardless of your agreement with the
    President to end the war, do you feel that you would have liked to have
    gone on and prosecuted it further?
        The General. What I'd really like to say is if the President's not
    going to answer any questions, I damn sure am not going to answer any.
    [Laughter]
        The President. Now you see how to handle them?

                        Note: The President spoke at noon in the Rose Garden
                            at the White House. In his remarks, he referred
                            to Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney and Gen.
                            Colin L. Powell, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
                            Staff.