What Bush Did on his Summer Vacation--August 11

President George W. Bush meets with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the Foreign Policy Team at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, Thursday, August 11, 2005. White House photo by Eric Draper


President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney listen Thursday, Aug. 11, 2005, to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld during a meeting with the Defense Policy and Program teams at the Bush Ranch in Crawford, Texas. White House photo by Eric Draper


President George W. Bush addresses the media at his Crawford, Texas ranch flanked by members of Defense Policy and Programs Team, Secretary of State, and Foreign Policy Team Thursday, August 11, 2005. White House photo by David Bohrer


President George W. Bush briefs the media after meetings with the Defense and Foreign Policy teams Thursday, Aug. 11, 2005, at the Bush Ranch in Crawford, Texas. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld look on. White House photo by Eric Draper 

At the Crawford Filing Center, National Security Advisor Steve Hadley briefed the press in the late afternoon. Before taking some questions, he gave a summary of President Bush's day.

Press Briefing

(Opening Statement)

MR. HADLEY: Good afternoon, everybody. I thought I'd talk a little bit about the President's day. He began early this morning. He had a meeting with his national security principals. For the first part of the meeting, he had on screen, Zal Khalilzad, General Casey, John Abizaid, to get a report on Iraq. Ambassador Khalilzad gave a update on the constitutional process, which is moving forward, in anticipation of this August 15 deadline to have a Iraqi constitution. He received a report from his commanders about the security situation and progress on the training of Iraqi security forces.

The principals then met and Secretary Rice updated the principals and the President on the status of the Iran nuclear issue and recent developments in IAEA Board of Governors in Vienna. She also talked about next steps with respect to the six-party talks dealing with the North Korea nuclear issue, and also talked about preparations for a Gaza disengagement, which will begin next week.

They then -- the President then met with Secretary Rumsfeld, the Vice President and other representatives from the Department of Defense to review current issues. He did that in the morning. There was a lunch and then he met with Secretary Rice and the State Department team. The purpose of that, it would allow the President to do -- to have a little more time and kind of take a step back, look at important issues for the Defense Department and for the State Department. He's done this every year and has found it useful.

In terms of the Defense briefings, they briefed the President on some of the things they are doing to manage the personnel, military and civilian personnel, in the Department of Defense. The President talked a little bit about that this morning -- things that they are doing to enhance the numbers of deployable units, for example, with respect to the Army; converting some billets from military to civilian; improving the procedures for calling up Guard and Reserve -- things of that nature.

There was then a good discussion about the QDR process -- the Quadrennial Defense Review -- the review that's done every four years of key defense issues. That is moving forward this year. The QDR will be completed at the same time that the budget -- that would be February of '06 -- so that the recommendations in the Quadrennial Defense Review can begin to be reflected in the '07 budget that would go up to Congress in February of '06. They talked to the President about some of the issues that they were addressing in that process.

And then, finally, there was a more specific discussion of some of the budget issues that are going to be presented to the Secretary of Defense and that he will be considering as part of the QDR process, but, more importantly, the budgetary process.

These, again, were not decision-making meetings. They were to give the President a better appreciation of the kinds of issues the Defense Department is grappling with, what the Secretary's thinking is on those issues, and what the thinking is of those who support him in that effort, and to get -- they, in turn, can get some indication from the President of his thoughts as they move forward.

There was then a lunch that involved both the Defense Department team and the State Department team, and that was a discussion of public diplomacy, the challenge that the country faces in getting a better understanding abroad of its policies, and some ideas that the State Department is considering about how to enhance the effectiveness of that effort.

And then, after lunch, there was a meeting that the President had with the State Department team, and it was really a review of a range of Middle East issues -- developments in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, a little bit more on developments in Iran and the like -- developments in the region, and then kind of a step-back review of where are we on the freedom agenda and advancing the cause of freedom in the Middle East which, as you know, the President thinks is a critical element in the long-term about winning the war of ideas that is at the heart of the war on terror, and also enhancing stability and progress in the Middle East.

It was a good day, a lot of back-and-forth. It really allowed the President to step back, ask some questions, interact with his two State and Defense teams, and I think it was a good day for all involved.

It sounds like a good day---of WORK.

I think the President needs to take some vacation time.