    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
    [May 22, 1991]
    [Pages 536-538]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 536]]

    Question-and-Answer Session With Students at the Saturn School of
    Tomorrow in St. Paul, Minnesota
    May 22, 1991

        The President. Any questions? I'll answer it without the computer.
    This guy, Lakers.
        Q. Do you ever have any time to have fun, like go outside and, like,
    throw a frisbee or go out and play?
        The President. Yes, we do. We go to Camp David. Have you ever heard
    of Camp David? And I go up there on the weekends. They've got all kinds
    of sports.
        Q. You mean, you go up there and actually play around and stuff?
        The President. Yes. We have a baseball pitching machine, for
    example; we have a bowling alley; we've got a place where you can shoot
    skeet; they've got a gymnasium, a lot of workout--we play wallyball,
    which is a volleyball game inside the racquetball court. You can swing a
    golf club. It's wonderful. And there's swimming. You like swimming?
        So, you do all that. And at the White House, you probably don't see
    it in the pictures, but there's athletic facilities in there, and that's
    fun. But when you go out, go outside the gates, you usually have a lot
    of people with you and stuff.
        But at Camp David, why, it's more relaxing, so I can do pretty much
    what you can do. If I want to go out--if my wife, Barbara, and I want to
    go out for supper, we can do it. We can go to a restaurant. But you have
    these guys come along, some of the press and some of the Secret Service
    and all of that. But it's not that tough.
        Q. What's the best thing about being President?
        The President. Well, in the most serious vein, I love coping with
    the problems in foreign affairs, and I'm determined to see this program
    that we're working on in education--we call it America 2000--be a
    success. We've got to do better in education, we've got to do better in
    fighting against drugs and crime.
        A President can't do all of this, but he can have a program. Then
    the Congress has to come and help, you see. But I like that part of the
    job--trying to do something that'll help somebody, trying to do
    something that will enhance the peace.
        Recently we had a war that you're all familiar with, and the
    President had to make the decisions--you going to go to war or not. And
    there was a big principle there, and that was that a big guy doesn't
    bully his neighbor. It was an international principle with all the U.N.
    countries supporting what we did.
        So, on the substance, that's what I like about my job. And the
    pleasure side, it's just--people are very nice to me in the White House.
    There are wonderful people that work there, you know. Got a good staff
    and work with good men like our Secretary.
        Yes, Vikings man.
        Q. Would you admit your grandchildren to go to this school?
        The President. Yes, I'd--well, one of them is 14, and maybe he would
    be advanced a little more. We've got one who is--we've got them all
    ages. But I hope that someday the schools they go to will have this kind
    of innovative program.
        Q. Who inspired you to be President?
        The President. That's a hard question. Because I was in politics and
    my dad started in public life. And you know, when you have a father
    doing something like--he was a United States Senator, and then it
    evolved from that. In the late seventies, I tried and got defeated. And
    then I got to be Vice President--was picked by President Reagan. And
    then it just flowed from there. Had tried in '80, lost, got up and
    dusted myself off and tried again.
        Q. You still didn't answer my question, though. Why did you want to
    become President?
        The President. Well, see, the reason I just gave her. But I want to
    try to help. I headed up there, and it's--you know, you have to have
    some motivation--ideological motivation. I think that our administration
    is doing good things for the country--so, doing good things for the
    country is one. And then I think when you're my age and

    [[Page 537]]

    maybe younger, too, you want to think that you can contribute to world
    peace. It's a big picture thing. But you look around the troubles--the
    Soviet Union and China and South America and all of this. I think we can
    help. I think the United States is still respected, and I think people
    still look up to us. So we want to use that respect and credibility to
    help them. It's wonderful in that sense.
        Q. How does it feel to be President?
        The President. Well, it feels pretty good, except at times, when you
    have some big problems out there. But I'm lucky, because I have very
    good people: the White House staff, very good people in the Cabinet,
    very good people that are working--these ambassadors and people that are
    working the problems I was telling this guy about.
        So, it's not that complicated. You have to have good advice, and
    there's certain things you have to do. You just can't say ``do this,''
    because you have to go to Congress and work with them. But it's a
    wonderful challenge. I love it. Every single day I'm there I like it
    very, very much.
        Q. How old were you when you thought about becoming President?
        The President. How long ago did I start?
        Q. How old were you when you thought about----
        The President. That's a good question--started thinking, I mean. I
    don't know the answer. I honestly don't know the answer, whether it
    crossed my mind when I was in high school. It might have. In those days,
    everybody wanted to be President. You wanted to be a fireman and a
    policeman in sixth grade, and you want to be a President when you get
    about a senior in high school. So, a lot of people did. But I can't say
    I was motivated and driven by that period in my life.
        I've got two more, and then I've got to go. They're signaling me to
    get out of here.
        Q. When were you first interested, or did you ever expect to be
    running for the President or being the President?
        The President. Well, I can't remember, as I told him, when I was
    first interested, but then I think seriously started thinking about it
    in the late seventies.
        Q. Do you like having to get up and having to go--like split-second
    having to go to different countries and stuff like that?
        The President. I like that kind of travel. I loved coming out here
    today. I love getting out of the White House, and I love that. And I
    like listening to you guys. You say, well, I wonder whether he's just
    putting this on or whether he's acting or whether he likes it. I like
    it. I learn; each question, I learn what might be on your mind. I learn
    in the classroom. I learned here. And we're trying to revolutionize
    education. And I see these good questions, see what you can do with
    this, and I'm thinking we've got to succeed.
        So, I like getting out for that reason and, yes, I love to go
    abroad. Our country is still very well respected around the world, and
    we have a leader--we're the leader of the free world and people look up
    to us. So, you go there and try to encourage programs or policies that
    will enhance that, will make it better.
        This guy, and then I've got to run. They're signaling. I'll give the
    pilot one chance after this. Go ahead.
        Q. When you go bowling, do you always have like the Secret Service
    agents go with you?
        The President. Yes. Well, close by. If I went there, we'd have to
    have Secret Service guys there. They go there ahead of time, and they'd
    want to protect the other bowlers from me. [Laughter] I'm a bowler. But
    no, you can go do that. You just ask them, and you've got to give them a
    little advance notice. But there's a lot of--we saw yesterday the death
    of a good friend of mine in India. I don't know whether anybody noticed
    that. But his name was Rajiv--did you see it?
        Q. Yes. Last night.
        The President. You're right. Rajiv Gandhi. And we knew him well.
    Barbara and I knew him well. I just talked to his wife this morning.
    Here was a man, he was out campaigning, and a terrorist got him.
    Allegedly a bomb in a flower basket--he goes by and somebody pushes a
    button. So, there's a lot of stupid people out there that think you can
    change things by terror. We have to be on guard in this country, even
    though we've been blessed by having less of it.
        Last question.

    [[Page 538]]

        Q. How do you feel about Saddam Hussein's actions?
        The President. Condemn it. The most brutal thing we've ever seen. It
    was without any moral underpinning. The whole world rose up against him.
    Do you remember, he tried to say it's him against--the Arabs against the
    United States? But the United Nations said something different: It's the
    whole world against his brutality. When you see what he did to the
    environment, when you see what he did to the people of Kuwait, when you
    see the principle that he offended, principle of aggression against a
    neighbor--nonaggression against a neighbor, why, you say this man has no
    redeeming value. He's a bad person. Unfortunately, there are people like
    that in the world.
        Well, I had better run, but thank you. Thank you so much.
        Q. Thank you so much. Thank you for visiting.
        The President. I like to do--you've got a good man over here, hoping
    he's a teacher. You did a great job. Thanks a lot. It made it much more
    interesting this way. Thank you all. Good luck. Nice to see you.
        Reporter. Mr. President?
        The President. No press conference. Let me explain something to you
    guys in the class. The press--these ones you see--now, you'll see him on
    Channel 4 tonight. No, on NBC tonight. So, you watch. And their job is
    to ask me questions and for me to give answers as best I can. Sometimes
    I do it. We have press conferences. Maybe you've seen it. And then
    sometimes they'll understandably want to get an answer to a question.
    But I can't do it all the time. I have to do it in a rather organized
    fashion. So, we do it mostly in press conferences.
        But they've got their job to do, like he is and wants me to answer.
    I'm not going to answer it right now. Not that I'm afraid to answer the
    question, but I just have to get on the schedule, and once we get bogged
    down, we're in the middle of a press conference. But that's the way it
    works. But you'll see some of these people tonight. Jim [Jim
    Miklaszewski, NBC News], you'll see. And who else have we got? But it'll
    be on the television. Brit Hume back there with ABC--and they come
    along. See, they come on most of the trips, not all. Sometimes we answer
    the questions, and then they write the stories. You'll see them
    reporting on the visit to the school tonight. That's the way it--now,
    whether Time magazine over here--you ever heard of Time? Well, see, now,
    he's going to write a glowing piece about this education program.
    [Laughter.] We've got high hope.
        But everybody, all these guys--and they won't say it, but they'll
    all be impressed with what they've seen here. And in various ways that
    will help other schools take the initiative that your school has taken.
        Hey, listen, thanks a lot. Nice to see you. Good luck to you.

                        Note: The question-and-answer session began at 12:30
                            p.m. in the Discourse Room. In his remarks, the
                            President referred to Secretary of Education
                            Lamar Alexander; Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime
                            Minister of India, and his wife, Sonia; and
                            President Saddam Hussein of Iraq. A tape was not
                            available for verification of the content of
                            this session.