Bush says he is not haunted by ghost of presidents past

WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (AFP) - US President George W. Bush jokes in an interview to be broadcast Sunday that there is a simple explanation for why he does not see the ghosts of past presidents: "I quit drinking in '86."
Bush also told C-SPAN public affairs television that he and his father, former president George Bush, like to chat by telephone but don't talk much about decisions facing the current White House occupant.
"It may come as a surprise to you," he said. "I like to check in with him, ... he likes to ask about this trip where you saw so and so, or (ask) how'd that go, particularly when I've been overseas.
"But we really haven't gotten to the stage yet where we're sharing common experiences in the White House," the younger Bush said in the interview, which was conducted Thursday in the Map Room of the White House.
Asked whether, as he embarked on his second four-year term, he saw ghosts of past presidents, the president quipped: "Well, I quit drinking in '86."
Bush said he "tried to empathize, at times," with Abraham Lincoln, whom he dubbed "the country's greatest president" for steering the United States through its bloody 1861-1865 Civil War.
"But it's just really hard to project back into somebody else's shoes. So, no, I guess I don't see ghosts," said the president.

01/28/2005 19:38 GMT - AFP