Laura Bush Reveals How George W. Stopped Drinking

[sabra]

Source: ABC News

Former First Lady Tells Oprah There Was No 'Jim Beam or Me' Ultimatum

Laura Bush's reportedly famous ultimatum to her husband, "It's either Jim Beam or me," is often cited as the turning point where George W. Bush went from the spoiled and heavy-drinking scion of a prominent political family to the self-made man who would ascend to the presidency.

But, the former first lady said, it never happened.

"I never said the line: It's either Jim Beam or me," Bush revealed in a new memoir, "Spoken From the Heart."

Instead, Bush, 63, came to the decision to quit drinking after a "wild drunken weekend" to celebrate his 40th birthday, the former first lady told Oprah Winfrey today.

...

Laura Bush, 63, said there were several factors that persuaded her husband to stop drinking, including a meeting with evangelist Billy Graham and regularly attending Bible study.

"We had been in Maine the summer before (Bush's birthday) and Billy Graham was there and George had a long talk with Billy Graham," Laura Bush told Winfrey. "Some of our friends had started a Bible study, a men's Bible study that he started to go to. So I think it was a combination of things: of maturing, finding yourself at 40 years old and deciding what you really want.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/laura-bush-reveals-george-stopped-drinking/story?id=10552148

[Roland99]

1. pffft...he's still a drunkard fool

[T Wolf]

2. Too bad he did not stay on the booze. We all would have been much better off.

That is assuming, of course, that he actually did stop drinking. Many of us have our doubts.

[Cleita]

3. Ah c'mon Laura neither you nor your husband ever gave up drinking.

You just went underground with it. Ex-bartender here. I know drinkers when I see them, even when they are temporarily sober.

[Warpy]

10. I'm a nurse who has been through an alcoholic marriage

and yeah, he'd been shitfaced on several occasions in office that I've spotted.

The only person he's been fooling is himself.

[yellowcanine]

32. Sober people don't usually choke on a pretzel and pass out.

Then there were the facial bruises that would show up from time to time. Either he is the worlds biggest klutz or he never stopped drinking.

[Cha]

79. And apparently

pickles.

[madokie]

13. 30 plus year drinker here

before I quit for the last time about 3 or 4 years ago. I can spot a drinker a mile away. I seriously doubt that w drew a sober breath in the 8 years he was squatting in our house. Never seen him at any function where he wasn't drinking and many where he was hammered. Check out the photos of him at the Olympics, shitter'n a drunk house mouse w was.

she can go piss down someone else's leg but I know better

[Cleita]

16. There were a couple of occasions that he was sober. I knew because

he was coherent and spoke in complete sentences. That made me believe more than ever that he was shit faced most of the time because of the contrast in his posture and speech. And Laura if not high on alcohol was certainly hammered on something because most of the time she came across like a zombie who was well practiced in appearing sober but would fall apart if something unusual happened, like the time she stumbled over her answer about hurricane "Corinna".

[madokie]

38. Come to think of it I think I remember seeing/hearing his heinyness sober a time or two too.

my bad :-)

[Cleita]

39. No bad there. It was only a couple of time, like he had slept off a

drunk and had to address the press corp before he had a chance to get to the liquor cabinet. It only double proves he was drunk most of the time, even if not always stumbling around drunk like he was at the Olympic games.

[madokie]

45. Thats how I finally quit drinking

I had gotten so shitfaced the day before that I forgot to make my daily run to the liquor store and by the time I realized it it was almost too late to catch them open. The next day after work instead of stopping and buying a bottle I decided that if I could make it two whole days, one super hungover the other working, then maybe I could make it another, then it was another and then another until I dried out and once I dried out there was no going back. I still am around friends who drink and I've taken a drink here and there but its been quite a while now. I don't like a drinking buzz anymore, I thank my lucky stars for that. I really don't like to be around my friends when they are drinking anymore as I see how stupid it makes them, me too I'm sure when I was imbibing too.

Alcohol can be a bugger to get off of but very easy when one really wants too.

W will die with etol coursing through his veins.

[No Elephants]

83. Kudos on stopping.

I can't drink because of medications. IMO, friends who are interesting sober are somewhere between boring to obnoxious once they get drunk. Funny thing is, they think they're more likeable and more fun after they've had a few. Delusion is amazing.

[dixiegrrrrl]

49. Retired Substance abuse counselor here.

Laura was and is an untreated co-dependent
AND
she always seemed to have the Valium glassy eye thing going on.
That stare straight ahead and never blink, Stepford Wife look.
That's benzos.

[Cleita]

55. Look at the pictures down post when they were at the Olympics.

She was smiling throughout him being carried out of the stands as if he didn't exist. It's like they were in separate rooms. She had to be on something to be so oblivious to what was happening throughout that scenario.

[dixiegrrrrl]

60. When it happened I thought how weird that was.

Like they were miles apart.

Pure Stepford wife expression.

[Christa]

19. Exactly!!

He was drunk as a skunk at the Olympic Games, and on many more ocassions. We are not fooled by her lies.

[RaleighNCDUer]

44. Unfortunately, her book will long outlive our memories.

And fifty years from now he will be remembered as the guy who sobered up before becoming president.

Unless someone on the inside publishes HIS memoir and tells the truth.

[No Elephants]

81. kudos to you for being able to stop. Respect.

[Turbineguy]

4. Sounds like part of a plan.

God made me do it.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

5. Karl probably gave him that ultimatum. He just got the two mixed up in his drunken stupor. nt

[yellowcanine]

28. Thanks. NOW I have this horrible mind picture of George and Karl together in bed.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

34. My apologies, but Kkkarl's account of the 1st time he saw Lil' Boots in that

bomber jacket sounded like love at fist sight.

[Judi Lynn]

41. Looked it up after seeing your post, since I'd never heard it. Yikes!

It was related in Buzzflash, as one source:

~snip~
BuzzFlash: Again, neither you nor I have the ability to be Freudian about this, but when I reread Rove’s comments about meeting George W. Bush,I thought it bordered on the homoerotic. He described that he was in a leather jacket. He even got down to the level of detail that he had this crease in the back of his pocket that came from carrying chewing tobacco in that spot.

James Moore: Right.

BuzzFlash: It’s the kind of physical detail that you just don’t normally see if a person doesn’t have an emotional attraction to somebody.

James Moore: Right. He said, I saw him walking up, and he was wearing boots and blue jeans, and a brown leather bomber jacket, and he had these steely blue eyes, and he was smacking gum. He had this thick curly hair, and you could see the tobacco circle pouch in his back pocket. And Rove said, I thought he was just the coolest guy in the world. I wanted to be like him.

http://blog.buzzflash.com/interviews/035

Oh, NOOOOOOOO!

Thanks for the reference. It "completes" us!

http://www.lowculture.com.nyud.net:8090/archives/images/rove_wheel.jpg http://www.newsfollowup.com.nyud.net:8090/id/images_14/bush_cowboy_gay_2.jpg

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

42. See, now people can get mad at you and not me for

providing the details :evilgrin:.

[joe black]

78. Yep

Bible study for men only. That one caught my eye.

[tonekat]

6. I was hoping for something more newsworthy

Like Shrub waking up the morning after nude on a traffic island at a busy intersection as people were driving to work, or something like that.

Needs embellishment, too dry.

[notadmblnd]

I figured he switched from alcohol to prescription drugs

cause he's definitely still using something.

[boycottfaux]

29. Anyone see this one?

This is George W. at a wedding of a friend in 1991.  Looks
pretty drunk to me . .


http://www.thesmokinggun.com/bush/bush.html

[dflprincess]

46. From the above poster's link:

The link dates back before the 2000 election

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/bush/bush.html

The video was shot at the August 29, 1992 wedding of Jamie Weiss, the daughter of Dubya's close friends Mike and Nancy Weiss. Mike, a Lubbock, Texas lawyer and CPA, was Bush's campaign chairman during his first political race (an unsuccessful 1978 congressional bid) and was one of the Texas governor's earliest political appointments. Nancy, also a Bush appointee, had a prime speaking slot on the final night of the Republican convention. She told the crowd, "I wish you could see how he reaches out to people, teasing those who can take it and protecting those who can't."


When cameraman T. Patrick Murray filmed Bush during the wedding reception at a Lubbock country club, the future governor took some rambling--and we presume good-natured--swipes at the newlyweds, the bride's parents, and her brother Kelly (Bush was being quizzed by a member of the bridal party). We love the part where teetotaler George actually disses two of the Weisses for supposedly not drinking or smoking. And as for those weird Don King-like "only in America" cracks--not to mention what's in that glass--your guess is as good as TSG's.

[Oregone]

7. Honestly, from what I know of her, I would of taken the Jim Beam

He's a Bush....for God's sake the dude could of gotten laid with or without her. And in the latter approach, he wouldn't of had to have a conversation with an idiot when he was done.

[BolivarianHero]

52. Shouldn't that be Laura's concern...

In George's case, it's definitely he who is the idiot that she had to talk to after getting laid.

[Phlem]

8. I can't believe I'm having to write this

But the who helped bring and who brought this type of despair that affects everyone around the world, do not need publicity. They should be rotting in a jail. B!tch was also on Oprah, gag.

-p

[madokie]

9. Thats a bunch of crock

of shit if ever I read any in my live and I can tell you now I've read some real swill, this is pig shit laura baby and she knows it.

[YOY]

11. Guess the air musta been thin during the Beijing Olympics.

Cause Chimpy was drunk as a motha fucka!

[CTyankee]

82. Do you ever wonder why he was allowed in public in that condition?

You'd think his handlers wouldn't want the world to see him so out of control drunk. I can't quite understand it...and on a trip to a foreign country at that...

[defendandprotect]

12. Both stories -- the accident and the drinking, the marriage in general -- not believable ....

some say Laura was being forced out of her home by Bush's abuse when drinking --

among other things.

[Politicalboi]

14. Sure glad he stopped drinking

Oh Wait!



Lies, Lies, and more Lies. What can we expect from her ilk.

[Judi Lynn]

15. It had to be after he represented the U.S. at the Olympics in China.

http://www3.pictures.gi.zimbio.com.nyud.net:8090/Olympics+Day+3+Swimming+6dV6Fd4zfx9l.jpg
http://media.hamiltonspectator.topscms.com.nyud.net:8090/images/9f/0d/dd357cad42d8bdd2bd5e8becd660.jpeg
http://www2.pictures.gi.zimbio.com.nyud.net:8090/Olympics+Day+3+Swimming+nqKlYDPuEnql.jpg
http://img.wonkette.com.nyud.net:8090/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/drunk-bush-olympics.jpg
http://punditkitchen.files.wordpress.com.nyud.net:8090/2008/08/political-pictures-george-bush-olympic-volleyball-secret-service.jpg

[sabra]

18. ...

[Judi Lynn]

25. That's his famous "Presidential bearing" Karen Hughes bellowed about in 2000. Sad.

http://news.bbc.co.uk.nyud.net:8090/media/images/40030000/jpg/_40030212_300_bush_hughes_afp.jpg

[Yeahyeah]

64. ?The daughter's not amused.Too bad she'll always be a good little Bush

and never tell the truth about it all.

[Uncle Joe]

23. After looking at your pics, I kind of hope he was drunk.

:hi:

[Jennicut]

75. His daughter looks at him like he is a dumbass. Now, my Dad is a conservative.

But not THAT embarrassing.

[MidwestTransplant]

17. "self-made" Ha.

[rfranklin]

43. That one caught my eye immediately...

You got to be totally delusional to think this guy was "self made."

[Javaman]

70. more like he made himself....

let it sink in, it will crack you up later. LOL

[BrklynLiberal]

20. That entire premise is such a crock of crap it is not even funny..

where George W. Bush went from the spoiled and heavy-drinking scion of a prominent political family to the self-made man who would ascend to the presidency.

It should be obvious that the entire story had to be a crock...he never changed one iota.

[Fridays Child]

21. "...we were two people who did not have divorce in our DNA."

Hey, Pickles, FUCK YOU and your fucked up presumption of genetic superiority. If that village idiot you married had beaten you up and you still couldn't divorce him, you can have your fabulous DNA.

[Javaman]

69. They don't have brains in their DNA, either. nt

[Plaid Adder]

22. State of Union in 2008 reveals how George W. never stopped drinking. n/t

whee,

The Plaid Adder

[Zoeisright]

24. Uh huh. Sure.

What a bunch of lies.

[CLANG]

26. Right, telll that to Angela Merkel

Mr. Massage is in the HOUSE!!

[randr]

27. Local rumor

One night in Aspen a Texan from a political family decided his birthday celebration required any bartender to lay out lines of coke for he and his friends. Several altercations ensued.

[2QT2BSTR8]

30. I find it funny how wifey-poo is doing all of this "revealing" lately.

[thereismore]

31. maturing at 40? Pft. A turd also matures. nt

[dipsydoodle]

33. Stopped drink

tea.

[BootinUp]

35. He just really wanted to be "The Decider" apparently. nt

[deutsey]

36. "the self-made man who would ascend to the presidency"

:eyes:

[fishwax]

56. no kidding -- couldn't read the rest of that because my eyes were rolling uncontrollably

:eyes:

[bluesmail]

37. The Real Story. Write these words or else. (eom)

[Kolesar]

40. The story Bush tells about how Billy Graham converted him is a fable, concocted during the 2000 ...

Beast was led by some hippie for Jesus guy. It was all documented in a story in www.salon.com

How George Bush really found Jesus
The story Bush tells about how Billy Graham converted him is a fable, concocted during the 2000 presidential campaign. Here's the truth.
The story Bush tells about how Billy Graham converted him is a fable, concocted during ... Stunned by Bush's directness, Blessitt silently prayed, "Oh Jesus put your words ...
By Craig Unger
Thursday, November 8, 2007

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/george_w_bush/index.html

[unabelladonna]

47. that's the "first step"

it takes alot more than that to recover. bible classes (unless they're in conjunction with AA or another 12 step program) rarely work. i would know....i'm a recovering addict/alcoholic and attend meetings almost 5 days a week).

[TEXASYANKEE]

48. Self-made man?????

No one in their right mind would EVER described him as a self-made man. Shame on ABC for such crappy writing. Self-made! HA!!!!

[HopeHoops]

50. You would have to be a fucking idiot to believe that the shrub stopped drinking.

He was wasted the whole time he was squatting at the White House and seems to be even MORE wasted now!

[pezDispenser]

51. self-made man?

did they change the definition of that recently?

[ConcernedCanuk]

53. "I would never trust a man who couldn't drink"

.
.
.

A woman I was dating when I lived in San Diego in 1979 told me this.

It took me quite a while to understand - but her point was

if a man changes drastically when he's drinking, then he's not the man who you see day to day --

something to ponder

[tanyev]

54. Ack! I cannot avoid that woman today.

Came home and turned on the TV to have something on while I was cooking. First image on my large-screen TV was a tight close-up on Laura Bush's face. Couldn't change channels fast enough. Thought I would go back to my usual station once the 5:00 news was on. Again, the first thing that hit me was a close up of Pickles. I gave up and turned it off.

[fishwax]

57. "self-made man"

:rofl::eyes::wtf:

[WhiteTara]

58. he passed out?

and then in the spirit of communion, he has another in the morning.

[jxnmsdemguy65]

59. F**k Laura Bush and the horse she rode in on...

can't stand that smarmy b*tch...

[Arkana]

61. Hah. Dubya never gave up the bottle--he just learned to hide it better.

[oedura]

62. Bush just programmed her to say that...

Fucking Stepford wife.

[struggle4progress]

63. Actually, I think he just switched to coke for a while in the eighties

[nomorenomore08]

66. Switched? Booze and blow go together like strawberries and cream!

:evilgrin:

[Bluebear]

65. Self-made dry-drunk. nt

[Demeter]

67. Who Cares?

He's still a worthless waste of space.

[Javaman]

68. Pickles: I never said it's either Jim Beam or me...

Pickles (cont'd): I said, it's either Jack Daniels or me. We both had a laugh over that. Heh heh, george is so funny, after I said that, he yelled out to everyone in the room, "bottoms up!", we got sooooooo drunk that night.

[Javaman]

71. Like I said before...

pickles is doing her part to wall paper the past.

It will eventually come out. Like Cleveland's secret surgery or Jefferson sleeping with his "hired help", JFK having Addison's Disease, Warren G. Harding gambled with White House china when he ran low on cash, the list goes on and on. In about 20 to 30 years, it will come out that he was polluted for much of his term. Thus attributing his failure to lead on his being drunk for most of his terms.

passive aggressive enabler pickles will be portrayed as the sympathetic wife who did the best she could to keep him sober.

History is funny that way.

And then there is always this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKSf0j1ofJA

[Prometheus Bound]

72. for five minutes.

[yurbud]

73. I thought she was going to say she stopped reading the labels for him...

''No, George, this one is soy sauce too. You accidentally bought a lot of it.''

[fascisthunter]

74. "He Took Up Pills"

[Missy Vixen]

76. Will this book be shelved in the fiction section?

Everything we've heard so far is a fairy tale, isn't it?

[paparush]

77. Laura "I was sober when I killed my high school boyfriend" Bush isn't very convincing.

[AngryOldDem]

80. Laura Bush = Enabler n/t

[conspirator]

84. Water ? nt

[harry_pothead]

85. And then W became a dry drunk.

[upi402]

86. Undrunk - still insane and dysfunctional

but angrily edgy on top of it. This horn-dog was boning Condo and probably a LOT more. Boy, there's a book that would sell billions!