Europe seems to have a tendency not to be very supportive of Israel. I don’t know if it has gotten worse or not. It appears to be from afar. I don’t know. If foreign policy is an issue [in a presidential election], the subject of Israel will of course come up and it will force candidates to commit one way or another to the defense of Israel, which is in Israel’s best interest.”
Who are you going to support in the 2016 presidential election?
I am out of politics and I am not going to political rallies, but if my older brother Jeb seeks my help, I will give it to him. I love him dearly. I think he will be a great president…. [M]y brother is somewhat complicating my staying out of politics because I am strongly for him, but I won’t be very active publicly.
You can say that I am for my brother. You can write this down: I am for my brother. My brother would be a very good president. Sometimes the name helps. But not always. When I ran [for president] I inherited half my father’s friends and all his enemies.
Jeb has good executive experience; he is very smart; he has a very good record, and he is a leader.
In your book you talk about the day after the presidency. How you returned to Texas, took your dog out for walks, and suddenly thought to yourself that yesterday you were the leader of the free world and now you are picking up after your dog. Do you miss being president?
No. I don’t miss the job. I don’t miss it because I poured my heart into it for eight years. You know, I miss certain aspects of the job. I miss my friends I served with. I miss being pampered. The White House is very nice. The food is excellent. Every morning, whenever I wanted coffee, someone would bring it.
The adjustment is an unusual adjustment. One minute you are the president and upon the oath of office [of your successor] you are not the president. Just like that. Now, we were very fortunate in that we knew where we were going – our home, and our ranch that we love. And so I flew to Crawford and woke up the next morning, and it was a strange feeling because a sense of responsibility that had been ingrained in your system was no longer there.
Men kind of adjust to the environment in which they live, and you don’t really realize the adjustment process until the environment changes drastically. And in this case it changed a lot. –
(Israel Hayom via JNS exclusively for The Jewish Press)