Drudge has posted Laura Bush’s speach before she gave it. Here are some of my highlights.
Tonight, I want to try to answer the question that I believe many people would ask me if we sat down for a cup of coffee or ran into each other at the store: You know him better than anyone – you’ve seen things no one else has seen – why do you think we should reelect your husband as President.
Carmela is living proof of what she told me. She said: “If you’re determined and you want to work hard, you can do anything you want to. That’s the beautiful thing about America.”
AMEN!
This time of war has been a time of great hardship for our military families. The President and I want all our men and women in uniform and their wives and husbands, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters to know we appreciate their sacrifice. We know it will mean a more peaceful future for our children and grandchildren.
No American President ever wants to go to war. Abraham Lincoln didn’t want to go to war, but he knew saving the union required it. Franklin Roosevelt didn’t want to go to war – but he knew defeating tyranny demanded it. And my husband didn’t want to go to war, but he knew the safety and security of America and the world depended on it.
I remember some very quiet nights at the dinner table. George was weighing grim scenarios and ominous intelligence about potentially even more devastating attacks. I listened many nights as George talked with foreign leaders on the phone, or in our living room, or at our ranch in Crawford. I remember an intense weekend at Camp David.
George and Prime Minister Tony Blair were discussing the threat from Saddam Hussein.
And I remember sitting in the window of the White House, watching as my husband walked on the lawn below. I knew he was wrestling with these agonizing decisions that would have such profound consequence for so many lives and for the future of our world.
And I was there when my husband had to decide. Once again, as in our parents’ generation, America had to make the tough choices, the hard decisions, and lead the world toward greater security and freedom.
After years of being treated as virtual prisoners in their own homes by the Taliban, the women of Afghanistan are going back to work. After being denied an education, even the chance to learn to read, — the little girls in Afghanistan are now in school. Almost every eligible voter – over ten million Afghan citizens – have registered to vote in this fall’s presidential election. More than 40 percent of them women. And wasn’t it wonderful to watch the Olympics and see that beautiful Afghan sprinter race in long pants and a t-shirt, exercising her new freedom while respecting the traditions of her country.
Vaclav Havel — playwright, intellectual, freedom fighter, political prisoner, then President of the Czech Republic — said “Laura, you know, democracy is hard: it requires the participation of everybody.”
These last three years since September 11, have been difficult years in our country’s history, years that have demanded the hope, grief and perseverance that our soldier’s husband wrote about. We’ve learned some lessons we didn’t want to know – that our country is more vulnerable than we thought, that some people hate us because we stand for liberty, religious freedom and tolerance. But we have been heartened to discover that we are also braver than we thought, stronger and more generous.
And he’s a loving man, with a big heart. I’ve seen tears as he has hugged families who’ve lost loved ones. I’ve seen him return the salute of soldiers wounded in battle. And then, being George, he’s invites them to come visit us at the White House. And they’ve come, bringing an infectious spirit of uniquely American confidence that we are doing the right thing and that our future will be better because of our actions today.
These are times that require an especially strong and determined leader. And I’m proud that my husband is that kind of leader.