Online Journalism

Visiting the VFW was a great in site to veterans of our military.

Learning the history of our country and military vets was a true eye opener. You never know how much our soldiers do for us until you sit in a room with them and they tell their stories of their lives as a soldier.

The struggles for a vet to get their benefits was something I had never known about. Getting their benefits is always an ongoing process. Even when they can retire, recieving benefits is a constant fight. I feel this information will definitally, keep people form joinging the military. Which, is not something anyone wants. our country.

In my opinion how can the government make is so difficult for vets to get their benefits? Do they not realize that, that will make it difficult to keep getting people to join the military?

Andy Card knew more information than the President of the United States. Each day he would get up and receive official reports and then he would decide what was the most important information out of it all and tell it to the POTUS ( aka President of the United States), and that is what the Chief of Staff to the president would do.

Card, who was George W. Bush’s Chief of Staff from 2000 to 2006, joined students participating from the George Mason University Video Studio along with Steve Scully, the political editor for the C-SPAN networks, and students from the Georgetown University and  Purdue University.

The distance learning course, which is produced by C-Span, is a unique opportunity for students to interview guests via video conference. The course airs on C-SPAN3 on Fridays at 5 pm and also streams online (http://www.c-span.org/Distance_Learning/).

Card’s job entitled him to have more knowledge than our own President, which is astounding because you would think the President would have to know everything. This heavy flow of daily information, called the President’s Daily Brief (one of the most secret documents in Washington), is what Andy Card said he missed the most about working in the White House. That brings us to a point though, a point that one student asked Mr. Card in the form of a question: What don’t we as normal citizens know?

“It’s scary,” said Card about the information that he received, “the enemy really wants to get us.” Card was not only the Chief of Staff to W but was also appointed head of George W. Bush’s White House Iraq Group, and talked greatly about the ‘War on Terror’ and what the country was going through during his time at the White House.

Card was the man who infamously had to tell the president during his talk at a Florida elementary school that the country was attacked on September 11, 2001. He recounted the moment when he heard that a private plane had hit the first tower, and then the stunning news that a second plane had hit as well. Hearing that it wasn’t a private plane after all, but two commercial planes, Card had to break protocol and interrupt the president by whispering in his ear “a second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack.”

Card said that September 14, 2001, just three days after the 9/11 attacks, was his most memorable day at the White House when Bush made his speech and spoke the words “our country was attacked with deliberate and massive cruelty…You are not alone.” Card recalled how they couldn’t allow emotion of 9/11 cloud the decision making process that was going on in the White House at that time.

Card’s detailed recounting of 9/11 was extremely fascinating, as the students got a first hand account of someone who was right in the middle of it, someone who got the information first. Now, I will always think of Chief of Staff’s and know that they are probably the most knowledgable person in the country when it comes to what issues are facing our country and national security.

Summary: The former White House chief of staff discusses his admiration for the 43rd President of the United States and Obama’s appointment of William Daley as White House chief of staff.

Image provided by The Reid Report

“What I miss the most about being chief of staff is the information I have…I found the information to be scary,” Andrew Card said today. Though he has served under three U.S. Presidents, Card is best known for delivering to news of the attack on the World Trade Center building to President Bush while he was reading “My Pet Goat” to a group of second grade students.

“I decided to tell him two facts,” Card said “a second plane hit the second tower, America is under attack.” Card describes the situation as the only time a chief of staff speaks to a president during an event. “Its rare for me to walk into the room after the President walks in.”

Card said that the Bush administration is misunderstood and that history will judge it better.

“He lead with Presidential courage,” Card said of George W. Bush.

Card spoke to senior executive producer and political editor Steve Scully during an interview joined by students from George Mason University, Perdue University and the University of Denver.

When asked about his opinion of Obama’s appointment of William Daley, Card said, “I do not believe that Congress should second-guess the President decision to hire an assistant,” he said, “yes he (Daley) is from the Chicago crowd..but he brings a good vision to the office.”

A native of Holbrooke Massachusettes, Andrew Card’s record of public service began in the Massachusettes House of Representatives from 1975-1983.   Card served under the Reagan and both Bush’s Administrations. He was the Secretary of Transportation for George H.W. Bush from 1992-1993 and chief of staff to George W. Bush from 200-2006.

Card recently joined the business advisory board of Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics, and adult stem cell technology company.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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.”

Andy Card, former chief of staff to George W. Bush, discussed his position at the White House, his views on the September 11 terrorist attacks and his relationship brotherly relationship with Bush during a C-SPAN interview on April 7 with political editor Steve Scully and students from George Mason University, Purdue University and the University of Denver.

The role of being a former chief is not easy, according to Card, whose typical day began at 5:30 a.m. and ended when he knew the president had gone to bed for the day. Like all other former chiefs of staff, Card was expected to serve for the sole pleasure of the president, which meant that his decisions of bringing certain issues to the president were very important.

“One of the tough issues is delivering information to the president,” Card said. “You need to get all the information that the president needs – not wants.”

Although Card’s goal was to make sure Bush had the “time to eat, sleep and be merry,” certain terrible news, such as the national attack on September 11, could not be withheld from the president.

Bush was reading to students at Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida on the horrible day. He had learned about the first crash, and had thought that it had been an accident of some sort. However, after the second plane crashed into the second tower, Card had learned that Osama bin Laden was behind it all.

Card first asked himself if Bush needed to know about the second attack, and then decided to walk up to the president during his reading and said, “America is under attack.”

“I tried very hard on 9/11 not to allow emotion to get in the way of the challenge,” Card said. I tried to be objective that day… The day did change me, and today I will never forget.”

The next few days after the attacks were very emotional, and Card recalled one of the speeches to be very memorable. On September 14, Bush visited Ground Zero and reminded citizens that they were not alone, that he was able to hear them and the whole world was able to hear them.

“I think it was one of the best speeches the president gave of his tenure as president,” Card said.

The events of September eventually led to America’s war against Iraq, a war and decision that Card still supports today.

“His [Bush’s] obligation under the constitution to protect us gives him an awful lot of authority to do what he thinks is necessary to protect the people in the United States,” Card said. “… I am still comfortable with the president doing the right thing. President Bush made a great contribution to that part of the world by giving democracy real roots.”

Card expressed that he felt that Bush was “misunderstood” throughout his presidency, but he believed that he led with “great presidential courage.”

Card spoke with a lot of admiration toward Bush, and said that they were able to speak very candidly toward one another.

“I never felt afraid to talk to him about anything, even if we did not agree,” Card said.

Card shared many experiences with Bush, and watched him grow as an individual throughout his presidency. One of the most important personalities he noticed about Bush was his discipline.

“George W. Bush is one of the most disciplined individuals I’ve ever met,” Card said.