MATT LAUER, co-host:
Now our -- to our interview with
President George W. Bush
, his first since leaving office. He talked extensively about his presidency as he gets set to release his new memoir, "
Decision
Points," tomorrow. And he told me how his
decision
not to pardon a type -- a top
White House
aide almost cost him his friendship with
Vice President Dick Cheney
. I think,
President Bush
, you're going to get a lot of attention for a story you put in the book about the last portion of your presidency when you had a
decision
to make concerning
Scooter Libby
.
President GEORGE W. BUSH:
Yes.
LAUER:
And he had been convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice and sentenced to 30 years in prison. And you had a choice, you could've done nothing.
Pres. BUSH:
Right.
LAUER:
You could've commuted his sentence or issued a full pardon. You thought long and hard about it.
Pres. BUSH:
I did.
Scooter
is a loyal
American who
worked for
Vice President Cheney
who got caught up in a -- in this
Valerie Plame
case and was indicted and convicted.
And I
chose to commute his sentence. I felt he had paid enough of a penalty.
LAUER:
Critics immediately said, you know, if you're loyal to
Bush
, you don't have to go to prison. So you -- so it didn't come without a price.
Pres. BUSH:
That's right
.
LAUER:
And yet
Vice President Cheney
wanted more.
Pres. BUSH:
He did. He wanted me to pardon him. And this is a
decision
that was -- it was the last
decision
of the presidency, really.
And I
chose to let the jury verdict stand after some serious deliberation. And it -- the vice president was angry and...
LAUER:
Yeah. When you went to him and you told him, you said he was furious. He said, 'I can't believe you're going to leave a soldier on the battlefield.'
Pres. BUSH:
Yeah, he did.
LAUER:
Has your relationship with
Dick Cheney
ever recovered from failing to give the pardon?
Pres. BUSH:
It has. I'm pleased -- I'm pleased to report it has.
LAUER:
You're friends today?
Pres. BUSH:
We are friends today and he gave a very gracious speech on the way out of town there, at
Andrews Air Force Base
, and yeah, we are friends. I went by to see him, I've seen him since and talked to him and I'm pleased to report we are. I was a little concerned at one time, but, no, it was a hard
decision
to make. But that's what you do when you're president, you make hard decisions.
LAUER:
President Bush
also took me to the church where
he married his wife
,
Laura
, and he talked about he called the most important
decision
of his life, his
decision
to quit drinking years ago. In the book, you say, you know, faith is a walk.
Pres. BUSH:
Yeah, it is.
LAUER:
It's a journey and -- toward greater understanding. You said you can't prove that
God exists
, but that shouldn't be the standard of belief because you also can't prove that
God
doesn't exist.
Pres. BUSH:
Yeah. Exactly.
LAUER:
What was it in your life,
President Bush
, that made you re-examine your own faith and take a deeper look at it? Please, have a seat.
Pres. BUSH:
Thank you. I didn't like the person I was. I was drinking a lot. My parents did me a great favor, they planted the seed of faith, but I, you know, I'd go to church so I wouldn't irritate my mother.
LAUER:
President Bush
says his faith helped him quit drinking cold turkey just after his 40th birthday.
Pres. BUSH:
Yeah, I'd have a beer and so the book starts out with
Laura
saying can you tell me a day in which you haven't had a drink?
LAUER:
Right.
Pres. BUSH:
And when you drink too much, the answer's, yes, I can. And then I couldn't remember a day. And you know, I could easily have a beer or two or a martini before dinner, bourbons,
B&Bs
, I was a drinker. Now I wasn't a knee walking drunk.
LAUER:
You were like a habitual drinker as opposed to an alcoholic.
Pres. BUSH:
Exactly. Nevertheless, in either case, alcohol becomes central to your life and I finally woke up and realized that I did not want to live a life where alcohol was central.
And I
'm convinced, I really am convinced, had I not quit drinking, I wouldn't be sitting here as a former president because I chronicle a few incidents...
LAUER:
Sure.
Pres. BUSH:
...where alcohol made my quick tongue not only quick, but caused me to be stupid.
LAUER:
He'll actually share one of those stories during the interview. You can catch the entire interview with
President Bush
tonight, it's a one-hour
prime-time special, "Decision Points:
A
Conversation
with
George W. Bush
." It airs at 8, 7
Central time
right here on
NBC
. And then he will be here live in our studio on Wednesday morning. If you'd like to submit a question to
President Bush
, you can just go to todayshow.com or you can also give it to us on
Twitter
or
Facebook
.
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