Where a Future President Learned About the World

February 17, 1975
I [was] amazed, when I went back to the States, at the malaise, the tearing down of institutions, the discouragement there. I have more confidence in our country than the mood that was prevailing back home would have one believe one should have … So much depends on our own self-confidence in our ability to cope. If we project this confusion and failure and discouragement it will show up all around the world. People wonder anyway when they see commitments un-kept. I think of Cambodia, and I think of Vietnam, and I think of what that means to the Chinese government and others as they see us unable to fulfill commitments made … It is important to our relationship that they believe what we say and that we deal truthfully and openly and honestly with them. In spite of the fact that … much of their dealings have traditionally been through nuances and in great subtleties. I don't think we must adopt the same method in dealing with them. We must be Americans. We must be what we are.

April 30, 1975
Went to the National Day reception for the Netherlands and there I heard, not through the State Department telegrams but through gossip at a reception, that the big, big men in Vietnam had surrendered. The Vietcong were there, three little guys about four feet high that rushed happily out of the room. The Vietcong and the North Vietnamese embassies are bedecked in flags and having understandable celebrations. Firecrackers are heard. It is a rather sad thing and you can sense the hostility and certainly the tension when I walk by certain groups at these receptions … I am a little annoyed … hearing about the surrender … from a drinking party.

May 29, 1975
I am continually amazed at how hard it is to get close to the Chinese. It is difficult work. I am convinced we see more of them, have better personal relations than others, but you can get just so close and that's it … It is impossible to pick up the phone, ask somebody over, and have a meaningful discussion about Southeast Asia or Russia or someplace like that. It just can't be done. If they have some business they want to talk to you about, they call you up, but that hasn't happened on any major matters … for a long time.

July 30, 1975
Sounds that I will not forget. The early morning singing in the park—loud and usually very good tenor voices for the most part. The organized cadence of kids marching ("Y, er, Y, er"). The never ceasing honking of horns downtown in Peking, the jingle of bicycle bells, the laughter of the children as they play near the park, the blaring of the loudspeakers with the exercises of the propaganda whether it's on a train, in a park, at a building site, wherever. The July and August sound of the crickets.

From The China Diary of George H.W. Bush: The Making of a Global President, edited and introduced by Jeffrey A. Engel. To be published by Princeton University Press. 2008 by Princeton University Press.

© 2007