George W. Bush Begins Exit Interviews…

With a handful of days left in office, President Bush begins a series of exit interviews designed to have him convey his thoughts on the past eight years. What went wrong, what went right? Here are some of his thoughts unveiled during his first round of interviews…

Biggest Regret – The incorrect intelligence that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and “I think I was unprepared for war…In other words, I didn’t campaign and say, ‘please vote for me, I’ll be able to handle an attack”

Biggest Disappointment – Bush said, “I firmly believe that the immigration debate really didn’t show the true nature of America as a welcoming society,” he said. “I fully understand we need to enforce law and enforce borders. But the debate took on a tone that undermined the true greatness of America, which is that we welcome people who want to work hard and support their families.”

On the Economy – “When you have the secretary of the treasury and the chairman of the Fed say, ‘If we don’t act boldly, we could be in a depression greater than the Great Depression,’ that’s an ‘uh-oh’ moment.”

On 9/11 –  ”9/11 unified the country, and that was a moment where Washington decided to work together,…I think one of the big disappointments of the presidency has been the fact that the tone in Washington got worse, not better.”

The Republican Party –  ”I think it was a repudiation of Republicans…And I’m sure some people voted for Barack Obama because of me. I think most people voted for Barack Obama because they decided they wanted him to be in their living room for the next four years explaining policy.”

Going forward –  ”This is a very unique period in American history where a new president is coming in, where we are fighting a two-front war against terrorists and, at the same time, dealing with a very difficult economic situation…And the more we can work together, the better off our country will be.”