Can You Complete These Bushisms? Quiz

Answer: What did he say?

I feel relatively sure people left the gathering saying to one another "What did he say?". George W. Bush gained a reputation for not always saying what he probably meant to say, and for not quite getting his words right. He gave the media a lot of material with his blunders and attempts at home-spun humor and he gave "authors" their place on the best-selling lists with the same.

Answer: You don't have to listen unless you want to

Presumably he was trying to make an amusing point about America being a free country, although one would think politicians, or anyone, would want to be heard when they are speaking. It is a change of pace to have the suggestion of the opposite. Certainly, people - regardless of their origin of birth - learned long ago when politicians speak it may be wise to HEAR but not BELIEVE everything that is said.

Answer: 250 million years of coal?

The source for this quote, "The Wit and Anti-Wisdom of George W. Bush: A Hysterical Timeline" (2007) by Deb Werksman, only lists "Washington, D.C., June 8, 2005" for this statement. According to the online resource called the American Presidency Project, he made these statements as a part of his "Remarks at the Associated Builders and Contractors National Legislative Conference". So, we can only guess that (once again) Bush was plugging some fact or factoid into a speech to make a good sound bite without much thought as to WHAT he was SAYING. Presumably, he meant to say that the majority of Earth's coal deposits were laid down 250 million years ago, but that is not how it came out.

By the way, I did NOT attempt to learn how much coal we do actually have.

Answer: Can find in our neighborhoods

According to the online resource called, American Presidency Project, this quote is from (then) "President-Elect Bush's News Conference Announcing the Nomination of Paul O'Neill as Secretary of Treasury" (December, 2000). It is really not clear what he meant by this statement.

Answer: Be able to pass a literacy test

Not to be distracted by the incorrect grammar usage of the pronouns, would you still read this statement and say to yourself, "Huh?" Seriously, I had to think, "That IS what a literacy test would be, right? To test if one could read (and, write)"? This quote was taken from a Bush speech titled, "Remarks at Townsend Elementary School in Townsend, Tennessee".

He spoke there February 21, 2001.

Answer: And a mom or a dad

If you want to read this entire speech - it is not that long - it is available online. In his defense, the area of education in America was very important to George W. Bush. It is unfortunate that he gave the media so much fodder to jab him with his own earnest efforts.

Answer: Peace, prosperity, and incumbency

This statement is attributed to George W. when he was in a meeting with Prime Minister Persson. President Bush was in Göteborg, Sweden, to solidify partnership between the United States and the European Union. Whether you accept he was being amusing ironic and self-depricating (or not) probably depends on your view of him in general.

Answer: Predecessors as well

This quote taken from Remarks Following a Meeting With Congressional Leaders and an Exchange With Reporters on January 29, 2001. True, President Clinton was his predecessor but it would be very unlikely Clinton would ever need executive powers (again) since he has served his maximum terms allowed as our President or that a CURRENT executive could preserve the powers of anyone in the PAST. AHHH. I have confused myself even trying to write it. Honestly, though, George W. almost had this correct - he presumably just meant "successors" rather than "predecessors".

Answer: Were getting nearly directly overhead

According to the online publication, "The American Presidency Project", this quote is a part of a response to the following question: "Given what's going on with energy prices and the difficulties in the economy, can you assure the American people at the start of your term that they'll be better off at the end of it than they are today? And if they're not, should they blame you?" Then President George W. Bush responded with this answer: "Well, I certainly hope they're better off.

There's no question that the minute I got elected, the storm clouds on the horizon were getting nearly directly overhead.

In other words, the economic news started to deteriorate." We would need to hope that he never stopped to think about the cliché he was using - if clouds are on the horizon they are NOT overhead - nearly or directly or at all.

Answer: Of everybody

I do not recall that the President of Everybody was a title that he was ever bestowed but perhaps George W. Bush had attained "an everybody situation" in his own way of thinking. Or, at least in his own manner of speaking. All we can really say (or, think) is "What did he say?"