Bush has advice for presidential candidates:
In an interview with ABC's Charles Gibson Wednesday, George W. Bush said he thinks the 2008 presidential contenders don't understand how hard it is to be the president.
"I would tell you what I think, uh, these candidates don't really understand is how complex the environment is inside the Oval Office," ABC's transcript has Bush saying. "And how important it is, to have a set of principles from which you will not deviate, and, so that you can make good sound decisions. It is impossible I . . . maybe not, but I think it's impossible for anybody to fully comprehend, you know, how much incoming there is into the Oval Office, and therefore it's important, to have a very orderly . . . disciplined process, that enables people to come in and give you their opinion, in a timely fashion, so that there's enough data available for the president to deal with the problems in the world."
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Bush on how quickly his presidency is passing: "You know, just last year I was thinking about, how to deal with Iraq, I -- you know, I was, I was part of the people who didn't approve of Iraq. And when they asked the endless questions -- 'Do you approve of Iraq?' -- I was one, no, I didn't approve of what's going on. And wanted to do something about it and was confronted with a serious decision. It was just a year ago . . . that I was, you know . . . listening to people and getting ready to make the -- make the decision, and it just seemed like . . . it was just yesterday, I mean it's unbelievable how much time's passed."