“Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?“—Florence, S.C., Jan. 11, 2000

“This is Preservation Month. I appreciate preservation. It's what you do when you run for president. You gotta preserve.”—Speaking during “Perseverance Month“ at Fairgrounds Elementary School in Nashua, N.H. As quoted in the Los Angeles Times, Jan. 28, 2000

“If you're sick and tired of the politics of cynicism and polls and principles, come and join this campaign.”—Hilton Head, S.C., Feb. 16, 2000

GOV. BUSH: I talked to my little brother, Jeb—I haven't told this to many people. But he's the governor of—I shouldn't call him my little brother--my brother, Jeb, the great governor of Texas.
JIM LEHRER: Florida.
GOV. BUSH: Florida. The state of the Florida.
—The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer, April 27, 2000

“It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it.”--Reuters, May 5, 2000 (Thanks to Allison Fansler.)

“It's not only life of babies, but it's life of children living in, you know, the dark dungeons of the Internet.”—Arlington Heights, Ill., Oct. 24, 2000

“They want the federal government controlling Social Security like it's some kind of federal program.”—St. Charles, Mo., Nov. 2, 2000

“They misunderestimated me.”—Bentonville, Ark., Nov. 6, 2000

“I would have to ask the questioner. I haven't had a chance to ask the questioners the question they've been questioning.”—Austin, Texas, Jan. 8, 2001

“I believe the results of focusing our attention and energy on teaching children... will make America what we want it to be—a literate country and a hopefuller country.”—Washington, D.C., Jan. 11, 2001

“The California crunch really is the result of not enough power-generating plants and then not enough power to power the power of generating plants.”—Interview with the New York Times, Jan. 14, 2001

“Redefining the role of the United States from enablers to keep the peace to enablers to keep the peace from peacekeepers is going to be an assignment.”—Interview with the New York Times, Jan. 14, 2001 (Thanks to Rachael Contorer.)

“Then I went for a run with the other dog and just walked. And I started thinking about a lot of things. I was able to—I can't remember what it was. Oh, the inaugural speech, started thinking through that.”—Pre-inaugural interview with U.S. News & World Report, Jan. 22, 2001 issue

“There's no question that the minute I got elected, the storm clouds on the horizon were getting nearly directly overhead.”—Washington, D.C., May 11, 2001

“And so, in my State of the—my State of the Union—or state—my speech to the nation, whatever you want to call it, speech to the nation—I asked Americans to give 4,000 years—4,000 hours over the next—the rest of your life—of service to America. That's what I asked—4,000 hours.”—Bridgeport, Conn., April 9, 2002

“This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating.”—as quoted by the New York Daily News, April 23, 2002

“Do you have blacks, too?“—To Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso, Washington, D.C., Nov. 8, 2001

“I promise you I will listen to what has been said here, even though I wasn't here.”

“There's no cave deep enough for America, or dark enough to hide.”—Oklahoma City, Aug. 29, 2002 (Thanks to Michael Shively.)

“We need an energy bill that encourages consumption.”—Trenton, N.J., Sept. 23, 2002

“The law I sign today directs new funds and new focus to the task of collecting vital intelligence on terrorist threats and on weapons of mass production.”—Washington, D.C., Nov. 27, 2002

“I think the American people—I hope the American–I don't think, let me—I hope the American people trust me.”—Washington, D.C., Dec. 18, 2002

“I'm the master of low expectations.”—Aboard Air Force One, June 4, 2003

“Security is the essential roadblock to achieving the road map to peace.”—Washington, D.C., July 25, 2003

“I glance at the headlines just to kind of get a flavor for what's moving. I rarely read the stories, and get briefed by people who are probably read the news themselves.”—Washington, D.C., Sept. 21, 2003

“See, free nations are peaceful nations. Free nations don't attack each other. Free nations don't develop weapons of mass destruction.”—Milwaukee, Wis., Oct. 3, 2003

“[A]s you know, these are open forums, you're able to come and listen to what I have to say.”—Washington, D.C., Oct. 28, 2003

“One of the most meaningful things that's happened to me since I've been the governor—the president—governor—president. Oops. Ex-governor. I went to Bethesda Naval Hospital to give a fellow a Purple Heart, and at the same moment I watched him—get a Purple Heart for action in Iraq—and at that same—right after I gave him the Purple Heart, he was sworn in as a citizen of the United States—a Mexican citizen, now a United States citizen.”—Washington, D.C., Jan. 9, 2004

“The recession started upon my arrival. It could have been—some say February, some say March, some speculate maybe earlier it started—but nevertheless, it happened as we showed up here. The attacks on our country affected our economy. Corporate scandals affected the confidence of people and therefore affected the economy. My decision on Iraq, this kind of march to war, affected the economy.”—Meet the Press, Feb. 8, 2004