I believe they’ve moved that sign, “The buck stops here,” from the Oval Office desk to “The buck stops here” on the Lincoln bedroom, and that’s not good for the country. It’s not right. We need to have a new look about how we conduct ourselves in office.
George W. Bush
First Presidential Debate
October 3, 2000
President Bush opened the White House and Camp David to dozens of overnight guests last year, including foreign dignitaries, family friends and at least nine of his biggest campaign fund-raisers, documents show…
At least nine of Bush’s biggest fund-raisers appear on the latest list of White House overnight guests, covering June 2002 through December 2003, and-or on the Camp David list, which covers last year. They include:
Mercer Reynolds, an Ohio financier, former Bush partner in the Texas Rangers baseball team and former ambassador to Switzerland. Reynolds is leading Bush’s campaign fund-raising effort. He was a guest at the White House and the Camp David retreat in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains.
Brad Freeman, a venture capitalist who is leading Bush’s California fund-raising effort, has raised at least $200,000 for his re-election campaign and is also a major Republican Party fund-raiser. Freeman stayed at the White House.
Roland Betts, who raised at least $100,000 for Bush in 2000, was a Bush fraternity brother at Yale and a Texas Rangers partner. Betts stayed at the White House and Camp David.
William DeWitt, a Bush partner in the oil business and Texas Rangers who has raised at least $200,000 for Bush’s re-election effort, stayed at the White House.
James Francis, who headed the Bush campaign’s 2000 team of $100,000-and-up volunteer fund-raisers and was a Bush appointee in Texas when Bush was governor. Francis was a White House guest.
Joseph O’Neill, an oilman and childhood friend who introduced Bush to Laura Bush and raised at least $100,000 for each of Bush’s presidential campaigns, stayed at the White House.
Colorado Gov. Bill Owens and New York Gov. George Pataki, who each raised at least $200,000 for Bush’s re-election campaign, were White House guests.
James Langdon, who raised at least $100,000 for Bush, is a Washington attorney specializing in international oil and gas transactions. Langdon, whose clients include the Russian oil company Lukoil, is a member of Bush’s foreign intelligence advisory board and served on Bush’s 2000 presidential transition team on energy policy.
Bush Fund-Raisers Among Overnight Guests
Associated Press
March 10, 2004