小布什憶與尼克松女兒尷尬“相親”
Young George W. Bush once had a blind date with the daughter of President Richard Nixon. It didn't go so well.
Bush recalls the incident in an anecdote-filled book being released this week about his father, former President George H. W. Bush, called "41 - A Portrait of My Father."
The elder Bush was a member of the House of Representatives from Texas in the late 1960s when he arranged a blind date for young George W. with Tricia Nixon. The son made his first-ever trip to the White House to pick her up.
"During dinner, I reached for some butter, knocked over a glass, and watched in horror as the stain of red wine crept across the table. Then I fired up a cigarette, prompting a polite suggestion from Tricia that I not smoke," he wrote. "The date came to an end when she asked me to take her back to the White House immediately after dinner."
Bush calls the book a "love story" about his father.
In it, he writes of the family's concern when the elder Bush declared his intention to go on a parachute jump to mark his 90th birthday earlier this year. Asked what his birthday wish was as he prepared to jump, George H.W. Bush said: "Make sure the parachute opens."
While the book is heartfelt in its praise, Bush writes that his father and White House staff should have been more active in explaining to Americans why he broke his "no new taxes" pledge as part of a 1990 budget agreement, an issue that hurt the Republican president among conservatives and was a factor when he lost his 1992 re-election bid to Democrat Bill Clinton.
"By taking the issue to the people, a president can build up public support and change minds in Washington. Unfortunately, George Bush did not do that for the budget agreement of 1990, and the bitterness that resulted from his broken pledge damaged his standing within the party," Bush writes.
The elder Bush had a serious illness two years ago.
In December 2012, he was hospitalized with pneumonia. The family feared the worst and gathered at his bedside. The elder Bush put his hand on granddaughter Jenna's pregnant belly and said, "There's death and there's new life."
"We all left the room sobbing," Bush writes.在本週發佈的關於自己父親的新書《41：我父親的肖像》中，第43任美國總統小布什回憶起年輕時曾與第37任美國總統理查德•尼克松的女兒初次約會的舊事，約會似乎並不順利。
上世紀六十年代末老布什還是德克薩斯州國會衆議員，他當時爲兒子安排了與尼克松女兒特里西婭的約會。小布什第一次去白宮就是去接特里西婭。
“晚宴期間，我伸手去弄一些黃油，不料打翻了一個杯子，紅酒在桌子上留下污跡，我十分惶恐。然後我點了一支菸，不過引來特里西婭禮貌提醒我不要吸菸。晚宴剛完，特里西婭就要求我送她回白宮，那次約會就這樣結束了。”小布什在書中寫道。
小布什自稱此書是關於父親“愛的故事”。
書中透露，老布什今年早些時候宣佈想以跳傘來紀念他的90歲生日時，其家人都十分擔心，在跳傘前被問及生日願望時，老布什說：“降落傘一定要打開才行。”
小布什在書中表達出對老布什衷心的讚賞，但他還在書中稱，他的父親和白宮工作人員本應該更積極地向美國人解釋，爲何父親在1990年預算協議中違背自己“絕不會開徵新稅”的承諾。這個問題是老布什1992年競選連任敗給民主黨總統比爾•克林頓的重要原因。
“通過向人民解釋，總統能建立民衆的支持，改變華盛頓的思想。不幸的是，就1990年預算協議而言，喬治•布什並沒有那樣做，違背承諾的苦果動搖了他在黨內的地位。”書中說。
老布什2年前曾患重病。2012年12月，他因肺炎住院。當時整個家庭做好了最壞的打算，都圍在病牀邊。老布什把手放在孫女詹娜•布什•海格懷孕的肚子上說：“有死亡，也有新生命。”
“我們都哭着離開了房間。”小布什在書中寫道。
