Former White House Chief of Staff Andy Card joined students from George Mason University in a C-SPAN video conference to discuss his political career.

For more information on Card, check out his background here.

Card began by explaining his relationship with the Bush family. He met George Bush Sr. at the height of the Watergate scandal, and said that the rhetoric was very tough. Card and the Bush family became very close, and Card said that before he became chief of staff, he and the president were very good friends.

When asked to assess the Bush administration, Card discussed that the president  had to face unprecedented challenges, and demonstrated the courage to make tough decisions. Card said that Bush was “one of the most disciplined individuals I have ever met.”

One of these challenges Bush had to face were the September 11th attacks. That morning, the president was visiting a second-grade classroom to read to some elementary school children. When Card heard of the first plane flying into the tower, he thought it was a tragic accident. Upon hearing of the second plane, however, Card interrupted the president from his speech — something extremely rare. He then spoke these words to the president, “A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack.”


Card also noted that Bush’s speech at the National Cathedral on September 14th was a dramatic day. The president gave, according to Card, one of the best speeches that he ever heard. Soon after, the president traveled to Ground Zero to give a speech, which was mostly unscripted remarks that evoked the president’s passion, resolve and concern for the country. Card said it was a dramatic conversation with the American people.

Before the events of September 11th, the Bush administration was focused more on domestic issues such as the No Child Left Behind Act, which Card said Bush worked very hard on to get bipartisan support. However, the agenda soon switched to an international focus.

Despite criticism, Card said that Bush is still very confident of going into the Middle East and removing Saddam Hussein from power. Regarding the Afghanistan election, Card said in a democracy, outsiders don’t get to pick the winners — the people do. Despite the new democracy, corruption is still a very big problem in Afghanistan and Card questions the time table for removing troops from Afghanistan.

Another foreign policy issue a student brought up in the conference was Africa’s situation in the playing field. Card said that most of the challenges in Africa center around leadership, healthcare and economic opportunity. He stressed that humanitarian concerns are greater than those of democracy, and that one of the most important things to be done is to bring freedom of the press to more African nations.

Regarding the pending government shutdown, Card said he hopes the two parites work very hard to prevent it from happening, although he is not afraid of it. He said it would definitely cause disruption and cost more money than it saves, but he noted that with everything, perfection is almost never the result.

Card also said he believes “the president should get the benefit of the doubt.” Congress should not step in on issues like the government shutdown — they are there to help the president do his job, not do it for him.

Card talked briefly about the chief of staff position. He said that it’s necessary to learn how to survive on little sleep, and that you almost become a “vampire,” often working late into the night. It’s a very tough challenge and it’s important to make sure the president has what he needs, but not everything that he wants. Card tried very hard not to let his emotions get in the way of his job.

One of the most intriguing things about the chief of staff job is the information you can receive. Card said that the information in the daily briefings is scary. Often, he knew more of what was going on than the president did. With that note, Card explained that he couldn’t always tell the president everything, while the president had a tremendous job to do. He said, “I respect the burden the president carries.”