my eyes off, so I had to stay till five in the morning.
Which was okay, because we weren’t leaving until six.
So I got back to my hotel and made one mistake, which was to sit down on the bed, and I obviously fell asleep.
And I’m telling you, you don’t know anxiety until you’ve woken up as the White House Press Secretary on your first foreign trip, at six-fifteen in Moscow, without a passport, knowing you’ve missed Air Force One.
The only good thing that I could think of was the day couldn’t get worse. I was wrong.
When I finally caught up with the traveling party, I was immediately surrounded by reporters who said, “How do you feel about being the first White House press secretary to ever miss Air Force One on a foreign trip?” And a strange phrase caught in my head, and I couldn’t lose it.
About a week earlier, the President had been at a prayer breakfast, talking about his affair with Monica Lewinsky, and he said, “I’m really sorry for what I did. And I’m working very hard to make up for it, particularly to those I’ve hurt the most.”
So when I got the question “How do you feel?” I said, “I’m really sorry for what I’ve done wrong, and I’m working hard to fix it, particularly to those who I’ve hurt the most.”
Now, mocking the President of the United States when you make a mistake isn’t always the best idea, but it came to my head, and I said it.
But the day went on, and we finally had a little break where the President had some private meetings, and I went to the back of the Irish ambassador’s residence to go to sleep.
I hadn’t been asleep for more than five minutes, and was actually pretty hungover, which is why I needed the sleep, when the President’s personal aide came back and said, “The President’s in a meeting right now, and he needs you to come into it.”
Now, I’m not the smartest guy in the world, but this had practical joke written all over it, and I said, “Get lost.”
About three minutes later, he came in again and said, “Hey, the President’s in with the band U2, he’s with Bono, and they want to talk to you.”
I said, “Well, if the President wants to see me, he can walk his presidential ass right back to this room and ask me himself.”
Well, about sixty seconds later, the presidential ass showed up and said, “What is your problem? These guys want to meet you.”
So I walked into the meeting, and this guy, this rock star, Bono, comes up and gives me this big hug and says, “I really wanted to meet you.”
And I said, “Well, that’s great, Mr. Bono, but, um, why?”
And he said, “Anyone who can handle world affairs, andMonica Lewinsky and all that, and still has time to stay out all night drinking is my kind of guy.”
Now, most people would think, you know, Bono, U2, telling you that they like your work, that’d be great. Only problem, I’d spent most of the day making sure the President
didn’t know
I’d missed Air Force One, and Bono busted me.
But after that inauspicious start, things started going pretty well. We reached a historic budget deal, and I got to talk about that. We made peace in the Middle East temporarily, and I got to talk about that.
But still looming above everything was this unresolved Monica Lewinsky investigation and what was going on in Iraq. And I’ll always remember a very bizarre plane ride on Air Force One.
We’re coming back from the Middle East, having done some peace talks, and the plane is divided into three sections. In the middle section, the President’s political advisors were all gathered. We were getting near the impeachment vote, and we were very aware of who we needed with us to avoid being impeached. And it struck me as sort of a game of political Bingo, because people were calling members of Congress from the plane, and people kept shouting out, “Congressman Quinn, we lost him!” And people would write it down—
Quinn, yes on impeachment.
And we figured out in this
Which was okay, because we weren’t leaving until six.
So I got back to my hotel and made one mistake, which was to sit down on the bed, and I obviously fell asleep.
And I’m telling you, you don’t know anxiety until you’ve woken up as the White House Press Secretary on your first foreign trip, at six-fifteen in Moscow, without a passport, knowing you’ve missed Air Force One.
The only good thing that I could think of was the day couldn’t get worse. I was wrong.
When I finally caught up with the traveling party, I was immediately surrounded by reporters who said, “How do you feel about being the first White House press secretary to ever miss Air Force One on a foreign trip?” And a strange phrase caught in my head, and I couldn’t lose it.
About a week earlier, the President had been at a prayer breakfast, talking about his affair with Monica Lewinsky, and he said, “I’m really sorry for what I did. And I’m working very hard to make up for it, particularly to those I’ve hurt the most.”
So when I got the question “How do you feel?” I said, “I’m really sorry for what I’ve done wrong, and I’m working hard to fix it, particularly to those who I’ve hurt the most.”
Now, mocking the President of the United States when you make a mistake isn’t always the best idea, but it came to my head, and I said it.
But the day went on, and we finally had a little break where the President had some private meetings, and I went to the back of the Irish ambassador’s residence to go to sleep.
I hadn’t been asleep for more than five minutes, and was actually pretty hungover, which is why I needed the sleep, when the President’s personal aide came back and said, “The President’s in a meeting right now, and he needs you to come into it.”
Now, I’m not the smartest guy in the world, but this had practical joke written all over it, and I said, “Get lost.”
About three minutes later, he came in again and said, “Hey, the President’s in with the band U2, he’s with Bono, and they want to talk to you.”
I said, “Well, if the President wants to see me, he can walk his presidential ass right back to this room and ask me himself.”
Well, about sixty seconds later, the presidential ass showed up and said, “What is your problem? These guys want to meet you.”
So I walked into the meeting, and this guy, this rock star, Bono, comes up and gives me this big hug and says, “I really wanted to meet you.”
And I said, “Well, that’s great, Mr. Bono, but, um, why?”
And he said, “Anyone who can handle world affairs, andMonica Lewinsky and all that, and still has time to stay out all night drinking is my kind of guy.”
Now, most people would think, you know, Bono, U2, telling you that they like your work, that’d be great. Only problem, I’d spent most of the day making sure the President
didn’t know
I’d missed Air Force One, and Bono busted me.
But after that inauspicious start, things started going pretty well. We reached a historic budget deal, and I got to talk about that. We made peace in the Middle East temporarily, and I got to talk about that.
But still looming above everything was this unresolved Monica Lewinsky investigation and what was going on in Iraq. And I’ll always remember a very bizarre plane ride on Air Force One.
We’re coming back from the Middle East, having done some peace talks, and the plane is divided into three sections. In the middle section, the President’s political advisors were all gathered. We were getting near the impeachment vote, and we were very aware of who we needed with us to avoid being impeached. And it struck me as sort of a game of political Bingo, because people were calling members of Congress from the plane, and people kept shouting out, “Congressman Quinn, we lost him!” And people would write it down—
Quinn, yes on impeachment.
And we figured out in this
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