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 Entertainment | Books | September 2007 
Did Fox Call Bush Cocky? He's Mum
 Hugh Dellios - Chicago Tribune
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| | Revolution of Hope, out next month, is a well-written, well-researched book about Fox's political career and presidency, which coincided with George W. Bush's. While he expresses a kinship with W, he breaks with the prez on the war and slams the GOP's immigration platform. |
To the world, they were the "dos amigos," but their private impressions may not have been so chummy.
In an interview with Tribune editors Tuesday, former Mexican President Vicente Fox refused to confirm or deny reports that he calls President Bush "the cockiest guy I have ever met in my life" in his new memoirs, scheduled to come out next month.
"You have to read the book," Fox said. "There are a lot of pages dedicated to Mr. Bush, a lot of pages dedicated to other leaders. ... What is written is written."
Fox was in Chicago to deliver several speeches to business groups and promote his latest venture since leaving office last year: The Fox Center, Mexico's first presidential library, which will host a think tank and an archive of documents from his 2000-2006 administration.
The former president, lauded for ending Mexico's one-party rule in 2000 but criticized for failing to capitalize on his enormous popular mandate, took advantage of the Chicago visit to lobby for U.S. reforms that would benefit Mexican immigrants. In the Tribune interview, he criticized proposals to build border walls as "crazy."
"I really don't understand the U.S. building a wall ... the champion of democracy, champion of freedom now hiding behind a wall?" Fox said. "Fear seems to be dominating the scene here in the U.S."
Fox singled out efforts in the Congress to roll back funding for a pilot program allowing Mexican trucks to travel throughout the U.S., as promised under the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement. Opponents say the Mexican vehicles would bring pollution and safety problems.
"I bet you we have much better drivers than the ones you have here," Fox said.
After Bush first took office in 2001, he and Fox gave the impression they had struck up a close friendship and vowed to push for immigration reforms together. The relationship cooled off after Sept. 11, when Bush shifted his attention to the war on terror.
On Tuesday, The Washington Post reported that Fox, in his memoirs "Revolution of Hope," calls Bush "the cockiest guy I have ever met in my life" and "a windshield cowboy." Citing an advance copy of the book, the Post reported that Fox praises Bush for his "cultural sensitivity," but asks if the U.S. can afford "invading every nation with which it does not agree."
U.S. News & World Report also reported this week that Fox expresses a kinship with the president in the book but calls Bush's Spanish "grade-school level." The remarks have been repeated on blogs and cable TV news shows.
On Tuesday, when told his words about Bush had been broadcast across the U.S., Fox turned to an adviser, who explained to him in Spanish what the English word "cockiest" meant. "That's OK, right?" Fox asked the adviser, who then quickly joked that it was time to end the interview.
Before leaving, Fox again insisted he would not divulge the memoirs' contents.
"I'd like people to read the book," Fox said, adding that he and Bush "had, have and will have a great relationship, and I touch upon that in the book." |
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