Monday December 18 10:29 PM ET
Bush Pledges Healing, Interviews Job Prospects
By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect George W. Bush (news - web sites) on Monday pledged to help heal ``whatever wounds may exist'' from the bitterly contested election as he introduced himself to the powerful elite who could make or break his presidency.
Bush sounded a humble, bipartisan theme on his first visit to Washington since officially becoming president-elect on Dec. 13 when Vice President Al Gore (news - web sites) conceded the election to him after a 36-day legal war over Florida's electoral votes.
``I look forward to listening and occasionally talking, to work with both the Republicans and the Democrats,'' he said.
Bush, setting a hectic pace during a three-day visit, interviewed prospective Cabinet appointees at the Madison Hotel as electors across the United States officially picked Bush as the 43rd president of the United States.
Normally the Electoral College (news - web sites) count is routine but this year took on added drama, although the final tally was not in doubt.
Bush won 271 electoral votes, just one more than needed to become president, when Nevada cast its four votes in his favor. Democrat Gore should have won 267 votes but one elector in the District of Columbia cast a blank ballot in protest of not having representation in Congress.
Advisers who asked to remain unidentified said Bush was meeting Alcoa aluminum company head Paul O'Neill, who is emerging as a top contender for Treasury secretary but is a Wall Street unknown and is getting a lukewarm reception there.
He also met former Republican Sen. Dan Coats of Indiana, a former member of the Senate Armed Services Committee who is now believed to have the inside track for Defense secretary.
They also said Bush was meeting former California agriculture chief Ann Veneman as a possible agriculture secretary and New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman has been under consideration for a Cabinet post like Labor secretary.
Bush expressed confidence in Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan (news - web sites), who is credited with helping push the U.S. economy to its longest peacetime expansion. The two men had a breakfast meeting and Bush said they focused on high energy costs.
May Be ``Head-Knocking''
At a news conference after his talks with the two Republican and two Democratic leaders of Congress, the Texas governor playfully said he might have to resort to ''head-knocking'' and arm-twisting.
``I told all four that there are going to be some times where we don't agree with each other, but that's OK. If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator,'' he chuckled.
But turning serious, he said he wanted to work with both parties because the closeness of the election ``should make it clear to all of us that we can come together to heal whatever wounds may exist, whatever residuals there may be.''
Even some Democrats who felt Gore was probably the rightful winner but had it taken away from him by the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites) were willing to give Bush a honeymoon greeting, calling him now the legitimate president-elect.
``It's an opportunity for us to wipe the slate clean, to begin anew, with a recognition that we have many, many challenges ahead,'' said Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota.
Senate Republican leader Trent Lott of Mississippi and House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois said they hoped Bush would improve what has been a partisan tone during Bill Clinton's presidency.
``This is a time for a new beginning, a new atmosphere, a new tone,'' Lott said.
Clinton told reporters at the White House he would ``do what I can to help President-elect Bush have a good transition.''
But while the White House predicted a meeting between the two on Tuesday would be cordial, the outgoing president told CBS News that after eight long years in Washington he wasn't surprised the Supreme Court halted the contested vote recount in Florida because ``they had the power to do it and they did it.''
While stopping short of saying outright he felt the 5-4 high court decision was politically driven, Clinton said, ``I think most lawyers, or a lot of them, were surprised they took the case. Even those that were surprised they took the case were shocked when the vote count was stopped.''
Laura Bush At White House
At the White House, Bush's wife Laura paid a visit to first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton (news - web sites) for talks about the Bush transition to the venerable old mansion.
``I'm glad to see you,'' Mrs. Clinton told Mrs. Bush after the Texas first lady overcame a jammed door and finally managed to get out of her limousine.
It was unclear whether Greenspan told Bush about his concerns about the president-elect's proposed 10-year, $1.3 trillion tax cut that Bush discussed as well on Capitol Hill, where Democrats have expressed concerns.
Greenspan also differs with Bush on the need for across-the-board tax cuts, saying surplus tax revenues should go toward paying down the national debt. Bush's father, former President George Bush, complained that Greenspan did not take steps to revive the U.S. economy in the early 1990s, helping seal Bush's re-election defeat by Clinton.
``I talked with a good man right here. We had a very strong discussion about my confidence in his abilities,'' Bush said.
He conferred later with French President Jacques Chirac -- his first face-to-face talk with a foreign chief of state since becoming president-elect -- describing it as ``a great meeting.''
``Mr. President, I am so honored,'' Bush told Chirac.
Besides Clinton, Bush was to also meet Gore on Tuesday before returning home to Austin, Texas, where a Bush news conference is possible on Wednesday. |
