As a promotion for StoryCorps’National Day of Listening, President Bush and his wife, Laura, talked about their time in the White House, Bush’s parents, and (notably for CT readers), what role faith has played in the president’s day-to-day life.
“I’ve been in the Bible every day since I’ve been the President, and I have been affected by people’s prayers a lot,” Bush said. He continued:
I have found that faith is comforting, faith is strengthening, faith has been important. … I would advise politicians, however, to be careful about faith in the public arena. …In other words, politicians should not be judgmental people based upon their faith. They should recognize – as least I have recognized I am a lowly sinner seeking redemption, and therefore have been very careful about saying (accept) my faith or you’re bad. In other words, if you don’t accept what I believe, you’re a bad person.
And the greatness of America – it really is – is that you can worship or not worship and be equally American. And it doesn’t matter how you choose to worship; you’re equally American. And it’s very important for any President to jealously protect, guard, and strengthen that freedom.
The President’s sister, Doro Bush Koch, also asked Bush how he would like to be remembered. “I would like to be a person remembered as a person who, first and foremost, did not sell his soul in order to accommodate the political process,” his answer began.
Part of the interview aired on NPR on Thanksgiving. The White House website has excerpts.
