Against All Odds: My Story (35 page)

One of the many qualities about the Bush family that I admire is their genuineness. Whether you like them or not, they are what and who they are; there is no pretense about them. They're just real folks.

Former President Bush and his wife, Barbara, invited Gena and me to spend the weekend with them at their home in Kennebunkport, Maine. When we arrived, President Bush was just getting ready to take his speedboat out for a spin. “Come on!” he said. “Come along with me!”

We looked at Barbara, and Gena asked, “Mrs. Bush, are you going?”

Barbara's eyebrows rose, as she said, “Oh, no! You go right ahead.”

We climbed into the boat, and the President said, “Gena, you stand up here, next to me.” Gena dutifully stepped up to the wheel where President Bush was standing. Meanwhile, I got in the back of the boat along with a Secret Service agent. Three more agents followed us, close behind in a small dingy.

President Bush had barely pulled away from the dock and into deep waters when he thrust the throttle forward! The speedboat's front end rose in the air, and we roared across the rough waters. Gena was hanging on for dear life! She was so scared; she started laughing hysterically! The President saw Gena laughing and assumed she was having a wonderful time, so he tromped down on the throttle even further! The speedboat was virtually flying across the waves!

I was hanging on the back with the Secret Service agent, who simply shook his head and rolled his eyes, as if to say, “Boys will be boys!”

When any of the Bushes see me today, they greet me with a big bear hug. If you're a friend of anyone in the Bush family, that's what you get. Regardless of your political persuasion, the Bush family is one from whom we can all learn and a family that we can be proud to have representing America. I am honored to call them my friends.

In 1999, I had starred in a CBS Movie of the Week called
The President's Man
that garnered high ratings for the network. I played Jonathan McCord, the President's secret agent who masquerades as a university professor between assignments. Two years later the network wanted another film with me playing the same character.

During the time I was trying to come up with a story idea for the movie, Gena and I had dinner in Dallas with our friends, Charles and Dee Wyly, and Ray and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. As I was talking to Senator Hutchison, I asked her what she thought was the greatest threat to America.

“Terrorism,” she replied straightforwardly. “Our greatest fear is someone like Osama Bin Laden sneaking a nuclear weapon into our country.” Senator Hutchison explained that we had allowed our nation to become vulnerable to such an attack. “During the last eight years under President Clinton's administration, our security measures and enforcement personnel have been drastically reduced,” she said. “That concerns me.”

It concerned me, too, and I thought that I might be able to shed some light on the problem. After dinner I called my brother, Aaron, and told him to get our scriptwriters to my house first thing in the morning. “I think I have the story line for
President's Man
,” I told him.

The story we developed involved a Bin Laden-type terrorist who contacts the President of the United States and threatens to escalate terrorism all over the world unless his holy warriors, incarcerated for their involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, are released. Of course, the President refuses to give in to his demands.

In our story a nuclear weapon is indeed sneaked into the United States. The President is threatened and told that the nuclear weapon will be detonated if the holy warriors are not released.

That's when I come into the picture, as the President's main man. I sneak into Afghanistan where the lead terrorist is hiding out. I kidnap him and bring him back to the United States for trial. Then the story really begins!

Interestingly, my conversation with Senator Hutchison took place nine months before September 11, 2001. I had finished my last episode of
Walker, Texas Ranger
in April, then plunged right into working on the sequel to
The President's Man
in May of that year. As we made the film, we thought we were creating a fictitious story; we shuddered at the possibility of something catastrophic happening in our country. We delivered the finished movie print to CBS on September 6, 2001, five days before that horrible day that none of us will ever forget. Ironically, when the print was delivered to CBS, the original title was
The President's Man: Ground Zero
. After 9-11, we changed the title to
The President's Man: A Line in the Sand
.

I pray every day that nothing like 9-11 will ever happen again. But only if we are prepared and our country seeks God in genuine prayer will we prevail.

Robert Urich played the President of the United States in
The President's Man
, and he was the perfect choice. Robert had the strength of character that we were looking for to portray our nation's leader, George W. Bush.

Robert had been fighting synovial cell carcinoma, a very rare cancer that attacks the joints and spreads to the lungs. He'd gone through chemotherapy treatments and had lost all his hair. But Robert was a fighter, and by the time we were ready to begin filming, he had been in remission and was feeling and looking great. He did a fabulous job acting as the president. Then, not long after our show was completed, Robert became ill again. His condition deteriorated quickly. As Robert was lying in his hospital bed fighting to hang on to life, his wife, Heather, whispered, “Let go, Robert. Let go, and come into my heart.”

At Heather's words Robert closed his eyes and peacefully passed away.

Robert Urich was only fifty-five years old. I was deeply saddened that Robert had to leave his family and friends at such a young age, just as many others had on September 11, 2001. We never know what a day will bring, but we can know the One who brings the day. Robert's death was a strong reminder to me that a man's life is not built on the years he has lived but on the accomplishments he has achieved and the difference he has made in other people's lives. Only what is done for God will truly last the test of time.

I'm a conservative, politically speaking, and I'm not bashful about saying so. I believe in less government interference in our daily lives and each person taking more responsibility for his or her own actions. I'm convinced that the American people are good people, and if we will stand on our heritage as a nation founded upon Christian values, we can overcome any obstacles that face us.

One day while watching TV, I saw Sean Hannity interviewing David Frum, author of a book on President George W. Bush. Mr. Frum commented that the President doesn't have a good memory and he lacks curiosity, but he has tremendous resolve.

I couldn't vouch for George W.'s memory, but I know his father had an incredible ability to recall details. Once I was at a congressional party with President Bush, and he introduced me to more than forty members of the House of Representatives, by name, without ever having to be prompted. If his son's memory is anything similar, Mr. Frum's opinion is based on misinformation.

The morning after I'd heard Mr. Frum's comment, when Gena and I sat down to read the Bible together, as we do every morning, she turned to Proverbs, chapter 4. Interestingly, the Scripture was about wisdom! The writer of the proverb said that if you want wisdom, you must willfully decide to go after it. It takes resolve, a determination not to abandon the process once you begin, no matter how difficult the road may be. The verse also said that determination is not a once-in-a lifetime step but a daily process of choosing between right and wrong. That is wisdom! And nothing is more important or valuable than attaining it.

Television interviewers often ask me what I would do if I were president. Most likely I'd follow a path similar to that of George W. Bush, praying and seeking God for wisdom to make right decisions. Many of my own values and personality characteristics are similar to those of George W. Bush. I don't have the greatest memory in the world. I'm impatient if something isn't getting done efficiently. If something doesn't interest me, I don't have the slightest inclination to learn about it. But, if I'm focused on something that I want to accomplish, then I have the tenacity, resolve, determination, and perseverance to keep working until the job is done.

I'm proud, too, of George W. Bush's fearless espousal of his Christian faith. He is not afraid to declare his faith in Christ, not simply some ambiguous “god.” Don't think that doesn't cost him political votes. But the man has the courage to tell you what he believes; I like that in a person.

How would I handle difficult issues such as drug addiction and the related crimes that surround the sale of drugs? I concur with a suggestion made by Bill O'Reilly in his book,
The O'Reilly Factor
. Bill posits his belief that all convicted drug suspects should be given a choice: forced drug rehabilitation in a prison drug facility or a longer sentence to be served within the general prison population. This program was instituted in Alabama, and Bill states that hundreds of pages of statistics on this new program already prove its unusual effectiveness.

Just as Bill O'Reilly believes in forced rehab for convicted drug offenders, I believe there is a better way to punish our juvenile offenders, rather than incarcerating them in a facility that makes bad kids worse. When a juvenile is convicted of a crime, perhaps we ought to consider the benefits of sending him or her on a mission trip, where the young person is obligated to help the starving, the sick, or the disabled, working alongside such benevolent organizations as Larry Jones's Feed the Children or Franklin Graham's Samaritan's Purse. Instead of wasting away behind bars, let kids convicted of crimes work off their time by helping to feed other children. I recognize that organizations such as the ones I mentioned see their mission as part of a spiritual commitment, not merely a deep sense of altruism, but every organization helping to alleviate human suffering needs help, and if juvenile offenders are influenced spiritually while they are helping these modern-day saints, so much the better! I believe that the crime rate would go down, and hurting people would be helped in the process.

Most juvenile offenders are so obsessed with a “the world owes me” attitude that if they were forced to help the less fortunate, they would soon see that life has not really been that hard for them. I believe they would get a whole new positive perspective about their lives. And that would help make our communities better for all of us.

CHAPTER 29

GOD HAS PLANS FOR YOU!

G
ena and I enjoy traveling to various countries around the world. It is always an eye-opener when we encounter the different cultures on the planet. We return home to the United States, thanking God for the many blessings he has bestowed on our country.

During a recent trip to Russia, Gena and I visited a number of countries formerly under the control of the communist rule of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. We were invited to visit a country called Kalmykia, a small autonomous country south of Kazakhstan. It is still under a dictatorial form of government, although a much more benign one than that of the previous leaders.

Apparently the people of that nation had seen some of my movies or television shows because they treated us as heroes. The dictator, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, arranged to have us flown in by private jet. As we deplaned in Kalmykia, we were greeted by a welcoming party of government officials and some of the local population. With cameras rolling, one of the greeters gave us one of their local delicacies to sample, a bowl of something that looked similar to milk. Wanting to be cordial, I took a sip.