Foreign fighters are travelling into Iraq to make it a front line in the war on terror. And I would rather defeat them there than face them in our own country. George W. Bush More Quotes by George W. Bush More Quotes From George W. Bush The cornerstone of our policy in that part of the world is to help democracies. Lebanon's a democracy. We want the Siniora government to succeed. George W. Bush succeed democracy world We passed law that encouraged consumption through different purchasing habits like, you know, hybrid vehicles. You buy hybrid, you get a tax credit. We've encouraged the spread of ethanol as an alternative to crude oil. We have asked for Congress to pass regulatory relief so we can build more refineries to increase the supply of gasoline, hopefully taking the pressure off of price. And so the strategy is to recognize that dependency upon crude oil, in a global market, affects us economically here at home. And, therefore, we need to diversify away as quickly as possible. George W. Bush like-you different home I could have easily not run for president, and people would have come up and said, "Oh, man, you would have been a great president." Or even a lousy president. But I never would have known had I not chosen to run. Part of life is seizing the moment. George W. Bush running men people A number of people walk up to me and say, "You're much taller than I thought." George W. Bush walks numbers people I didn't try to be something I wasn't. George W. Bush trying The key thing about life is to be true to a set of beliefs. And to be genuine. George W. Bush keys belief life-is What mattered to me was that I didn't compromise my soul in order to try to achieve a kind of popularity. The only thing you can do is just live your life. George W. Bush live-your-life soul order I was popular at some times and not so popular at other times. But what mattered was trying to solve problems and deal with circumstances. Some of which I was able to anticipate. Some of which caught us totally by surprise. George W. Bush able problem trying In terms of what people think about me, the truth of the matter is, I guess I care to a certain extent, but not enough to try to go out in the public and plead for some kind of new understanding of me. George W. Bush understanding people thinking I served. And now it's time for the new man to serve. I have zero desire to be in the limelight. George W. Bush zero desire men Sometimes armchair quarterbacks are doing it to enhance their own image. I'm just not comfortable with that idea. George W. Bush armchairs sometimes ideas It's kind of the Washington, D.C., chattering class. They kind of talk amongst themselves. George W. Bush kind class In terms of trying to re-create an image, I think that's a waste of time. I have no interest in doing that. The decisions I made are done. George W. Bush decision trying thinking The decisions I made are done. And history will judge whether or not they were correct. There's no such thing as accurate short-term history. George W. Bush done decision judging I'm comfortable that I made the best decisions I possibly could. George W. Bush comfortable decision made I regret that we weren't able to reform Social Security. The fact that we weren't able to when we had majorities in the House and the Senate I think reflected poorly on our political party. George W. Bush regret party thinking People expect those in authority to take on big problems and to solve them. We had an opportunity to reform Social Security in a way that would have protected people's benefits and created a solvent system. Younger workers would be confident that the money they were putting into the system would be available to them when they retired. It was a missed opportunity. I regret that. George W. Bush regret opportunity people [The economic crisis ] gave people the option to put money into private accounts. George W. Bush economic crisis people I believe the world would have been a lot worse off if Saddam [Hussein] were in power today. George W. Bush hussein believe world I thought Colin Powell did a fine job as secretary of state. George W. Bush fine states jobs