President Bush was “overcome with emotion” on Nov. 4 while watching TV coverage of everyday Americans rejoicing over the election of the nation’s first black president, White House press secretary Dana Perino said Friday morning.
“We saw so many people that were telling the news cameras that they never thought they would see this day,” Mrs. Perino said at a breakfast with reporters that organized by the Christian Science Monitor.
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“President Bush was overcome and delighted that people would now realize that this is a country for everybody,” she said.
“The sincerity with which he called President-elect Obama that night has now been borne out in the transition,” she said.
Mrs. Perino also recounted how one of the president’s aides asked him this week how he felt about criticism from Mr. Obama on how the first $350 billion of the economic rescue package was spent.
“The president said, ‘Look they’re trying to get the second half through Congress,’ ” Mrs. Perino said.
Mr. Bush, she said, is ”able to focus on the big picture and recognize politics for what it is.”
Mrs. Perino will conduct the last White House briefing Friday morning at 10:45.
