George W. Bush To NatGeo: ‘I Felt A Sense Of Closure’ Upon Learning Of Bin Laden’s Death

by Alex Alvarez | 9:13 am, July 27th, 2011

» 15 comments

Former president George W. Bush is set to give his reaction to the capture and killing of Osama Bin Laden — a name that loomed over much of Bush’s presidency — in an upcoming special for the National Geographic Channel set to act as the cornerstone for programming commemorating the 10th anniversary of the attacks on September 11th.

In an interview that took four months to negotiate and which eventually happened to be scheduled two days after the world learned that SEAL Team Six members had found and shot the terrorist mastermind at his Abbottabad compound, Bush shares his first thoughts on the day the World Trade Center fell and the Pentagon collapsed. The Hollywood Reporter was able to obtain exclusive quotes from the film:

One of my concerns, like the concerns of other husbands and wives, was, “Was my spouse okay? Was Laura okay? And my second concern was “Were our girls okay?”… And I finally found her [Laura]. She was in a secure location. And it was awesome to hear her voice. And she had talked to the girls. And they were secure.

Bush also recounts that his reaction to news of Bin Laden’s death, which he discovered after rushing home from a Dallas restaurant to take a call from President Barack Obama, was more somber and meditative than outright joyful:

I didn’t… feel any great sense of happiness. Or jubilation. I felt a sense of closure. And I felt a sense of gratitude that justice had been done.

The documentary, directed by Peter Schnall, a New York-based filmmaker who had previously gotten to know President Bush when the two flew together on Air Force One in preparation for an earlier documentary film, was also able to get the former President to open up and give a rather lyrical account of his visit to Ground Zero in the days following the attacks:

From the air it looked like… a giant scar. But when I actually got to the site, it was like walking into hell.

George W. Bush: The 9/11 Interview premieres August 28th on the National Geographic Channel.

h/t The Hollywood Reporter

911, documentary, George Bush, George W. Bush, National Geographic Channel, Osama bin Laden, September 11

Anonymous

Psychotic Bush hate in 3…. 2…. 1….
Valerie

Dear President Bush-

President Bush your country needs your voice of moderation. Ever since you left office you have been pretty quiet and yes maybe you do deserve some peace but please the right wing of your party is destroying this country and you need to speak up for the moderates in the middle. Your duty to your country is not done yet and I implore you to stand up to the Palins and the Bachmanns before they do more irreparable harm.

You understand the game of politics which is why you need to get back in the ring and become the Bill Clinton of the right.

I am a liberal and never voted for you but I know you can see past the partisanship-just like your dad and bring the GOP back from the edge.

Thank you and God Bless
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_RSLEVQBMJKCHPALYRG4FM2LFPQ Chuck

For all the drama and constant Bush bashing since the Iraq war started, he was exactly the President the country needed in the days and months after 9/11. Reassuring, compassionate and determined to seek justice. Its terrible the wars didn’t end in his second term (no, I don’t think he should have quit the wars and brought the troops home). If not for the wars I think his legacy would be better remembered. As it is I’m confident history will be far kinder than the hate filled far left that curses every breath he and Darth Cheney take. An honerable and compassionate man – too bad someone like him isn’t President now.
Anonymous

Fact: Bush did do a good job at cornering Osama but didn’t attack inside a fake friendly allied country to US. Obama on the other hand attacks all friendly allies of the US in one way or the other. But again Kudos to Obama’s group in the actual act of the kill.
GoNavy

Yeah, that’s it the GOP is destroying the Country…….. where have you been for the last 2 yrs? When was the last budget passed? Thanks for the laugh, it made my morning.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ECYBIXNKAG5E46BC3GCJQPA7CQ well_its_no_cannibal_holocaust

He probably didn’t feel a sense of happiness or jubilation because he let a Democratic President get him.
Anonymous

You’re a dumbass. That’s all.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ECYBIXNKAG5E46BC3GCJQPA7CQ well_its_no_cannibal_holocaust

It is true I am a dumbass, but Obama still got Osama.
Anonymous

The CIA & the Navy SEALS got Osama. Credit to the POTUS for signing off on it but it was years in the making by people who’s names you’ll never know.
Anonymous

I didn’t vote for bush in 2000, but he was clearly the right President to take on such a tough 8 years as the steward of the US. What I miss most of all is he always put the country ahead of his needs, and made the tough decisions based on what was right, not what was politically popular.
Ganymede

Is this an alternate universe on this thread? Bush and Cheney almost destroyed this country, both financially and morally. They have more innocent blood on their hands (at least half a million Iraqi civilians have been killed), possibly than any other Americans in our history. If there is justice in this world (and there is), Bush and his cohorts wll someday be prosecuted for war crimes. Of course, many of you think he was a swell guy. You might say that rightwingers are poor judges of character, and illiterate when it comes to understanding history.
Anonymous

Bush should have felt a moment of “closure” the instant he was born.
Jerry Baustian

Was George W Bush a great president? Probably too soon to tell. But he was the right man at the right time, like Harry Truman. The Democrats blocked his main goals, like tax reform and entitlement reform, and of course 9/11 changed everything. But he did pretty well, considering the challenges.

Any president who gets elected twice is automatically in the top 50% in the presidential ranking and has to be considered reasonably successful. More than that, however, he was (and is) a very good man, without the character flaws of his predecessor or successor.
Andy S

Who give’s two shits about our military we’re all fucked no matter how you look at it.
Bushell1012002

Am I the only one that noticed that in the documentary Bush stated “When we got to Barksdale Airforce Base in Louisana it looked like something was going on, everybody had guns. They rushed me into a SUV and we took off for the bunker. The young fella driving the car was going about 100 miles an hour. “I tried to lighten things up and told him to slow down Alquida (sorry for the spelling) wasn’t here.
Not the ememy but ALQUIDA! He couldn’t have known at that time, that it was Alquida! Or could he!