It’s Not Just the Clintons – George W. Bush is Making Tens of Millions on the Speech Circuit
Toward the end of his presidency, George W. Bush told Robert Draper, reporting for a book called Dead Certain, that he intended after vacating the Oval Office to “replenish the ol’ coffers.” He said he could make “ridiculous” money on the lecture circuit.
Since 2009, POLITICO has found, Bush has given at least 200 paid speeches and probably many more, typically pocketing $100,000 to $175,000 per appearance. The part-time work, which rarely requires more than an hour on stage, has earned him tens of millions of dollars.
“The post-presidential industrial complex at work,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston.
– From the Politico article: On Talk circuit, George W. Bush Makes Millions but Few Waves
By now, it’s pretty clear that the U.S. Presidency represents little more than a 4-8 year period in which the chosen puppet proves his or her worthiness to America’s billionaire class. After this time, the lucky individual will be handsomely rewarded for sufficiently supporting and protecting the entrenched, corrupt status quo.
This is precisely why Obama has continued (and builded upon) all of the heinous polices of his predecessor’s legacy with ruthless enthusiasm. The Presidency is not the pinnacle of American power, as many people uncritically believe. In reality, the office is primarily for show. A marketing trick to make the unsuspecting, divided and conquered public think they have a choice in how the country is governed. For the office holder, it represents a stepping stone to the real goal — unimaginable riches.
This is well known when it comes to the Clintons, but less so as it relates to George W. Bush. Naturally, this doesn’t mean he hasn’t earned ten millions from making speeches since he left office. AsPolitico reports:
Toward the end of his presidency, George W. Bush told Robert Draper, reporting for a book called Dead Certain, that he intended after vacating the Oval Office to “replenish the ol’ coffers.” He said he could make “ridiculous” money on the lecture circuit.
“I don’t know what my dad gets, but it’s more than 50, 75” thousand dollars a speech, he said.
“Clinton’s making a lot of money,” he added.
Since 2009, POLITICO has found, Bush has given at least 200 paid speeches and probably many more, typically pocketing $100,000 to $175,000 per appearance. The part-time work, which rarely requires more than an hour on stage, has earned him tens of millions of dollars.
Relative to the Clintons, though, he’s attracted considerably less attention, almost always doing his paid public speaking in private, in convention centers and hotel ballrooms, resorts and casinos, from Canada to Asia, from New York to Miami, from all over Texas to Las Vegas a bunch, playing his part in what has become a lucrative staple of the modern post-presidency.
“Evil is real,” he said at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, Texas.
This is actually a topic on which I consider Bush to be an expert.
“The post-presidential industrial complex at work,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston.
George H.W. Bush was asked about the paid speaking circuit in 1989. “Everybody’s got to make a living,” he said.
Bill Clinton was asked about it last month. “I gotta pay the bills,” he said.
“Pay the bills” he has…and then some. As I highlighted in the post, How UCLA Tried to Negotiate a Lower Speaking Fee, but Hillary Clinton Refused and Demanded $300,000, the Clintons have made $25 million from speeches since January 2014. Not bad for less than two years of “work.”
Bush seems not to make as many foreign trips, either, preferring Texas and Mandalay Bay and the Golden Nugget in Vegas to the rest of the world.
The second Bush president, as of May 2011, had given some 140 talks, for at least $15 million, based on an estimate from his office, according to the Center for Public Integrity. Since then? “I don’t have such a record of his speeches,” current spokesman Freddy Ford said. His non-paid speeches given under the auspices of his library and foundation are logged with transcripts at bushcenter.org. His paid speeches, though, are much harder to track, forcing interested parties to collect snippets from local media and company websites to paste together an invariably incomplete list.
Last month, at SMU, Bush gave the commencement speech.
He applauded the honors graduates. “And as I like to tell the ‘C’ students,” he said, “you, too, can be president.” More laughing. More cheering.
I can’t hear you…(USA! USA! USA!)
For related articles, see:
Obama’s ISIS War is Not Only Illegal, it Makes George W. Bush Look Like a Constitutional Scholar
University of Denver Plans to Give George W. Bush the “‘Improving Human Condition” Award
Jeb Bush to Present the “Liberty Medal” to Hillary Clinton
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