There I was, former President George W. Bush, with a plastic bag in my hand,” Bush joked with the crowd.
He also said, “It was an honor to serve our country and now it’s time to be retired citizens.” Bush called his presidential experience exciting and exhilarating and said he would absolutely do it again.
Bush spoke poignantly of the occasions he spent with families of fallen soldiers. He told the story of speaking with a father who wanted to join the military in honor of his fallen son.
The man asked Bush to grant him a waiver, and he acknowledged at first he didn’t know he could do that. Now, however, that 61-year-old doctor is in the navy where he has served in an Iraqi combat zone and in Afghanistan — all in honor of his son.
“America produces unbelievably patriotic people,” Bush said.
The former president also talked about his new book, which is expected to arrive in stores later this fall. He calls it a non-judgmental book that allows readers to make up their own minds regarding what Bush saw and heard.
On Iraq, Bush said, he had no regrets.
“I’d do it again. The world is a lot safer without Saddam Hussein in power,” he said.
Bush also spoke of alcohol use — a problem he said he overcame in 1986 — and of the importance of his relationships with his wife, children and father
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