Our former President George W. Bush loved alcohol and describes his decision to quit drinking in his new book. I am looking forward to reading Bush’s memoir called Decision Points, where he openly discusses his work while in the White House and life before making it to the office.
After reading a little about the book on MSNBC, I’m even more intrigued to read what he was like before. To hear he had a problem with booze just blows me away. Coming from a family that has challenges with drinking, I want to know how he did it.
Bush quit drinking in 1986 and has not picked up the bottle since. Any person that’s been around someone that drinks or drinks himself or herself knows there is always an awkward moment the drunken person regrets the next day. A similar thing happened to Bush while at a dinner party with his parents. He made an inappropriate remark to an attractive older woman at the table that sounded the crickets and handed him daggered stares. I’m sure he felt extreme embarrassment and years later the woman he offended was sure to send a note with the same remark to him, bringing the shame back to the surface.
Our former President also received a DUI in 1976. If anyone remembers, he did not disclose the DUI when he was running for president, but it came up days before the election. This was a huge controversy at the time. To me, this shows me he is human. He made a mistake and really didn’t want to have people criticize or judge his childish behavior.
In 1986, Bush told his wife Laura about drinking.
“I’m through,” Bush said.
Laura responded with, “I’ve heard this before,” which is a normal response to hearing someone say that they are never drinking alcohol again. This time Bush was serious. He quit cold turkey and hasn’t had a drop of alcohol since. Even when communion is offered in church and there is wine, he does not partake.
Anytime I hear of someone putting the booze down for good, it genuinely makes me happy. I struggle with alcohol myself, and I’ve said many times I will never drink again. I know quitting is a very difficult thing to do; you sacrifice a lot for yourself, which is a good thing.
When someone who has a problem with alcohol makes the decision to stop wasting time, money and self-respect on booze, they have to accept the reality that a total lifestyle change must occur. You lose friends and you find yourself bored. I’ve experienced this and honestly was proud of myself for quitting but sad I didn’t have friends to spend time with anymore. Unfortunately, I still have a few drinks every weekend, but nothing like I was before I temporarily quit. I know when to cut myself off now and I can. I still believe I don’t need to drink at all though.
There have been so many negative remarks about Bush. Knowing that a leader of our country had similar challenges as I’m going through now gives me hope for my future. After Bush quit drinking, his life started going in the positive direction and his career took off. I’m excited to read his book and to learn how he was able to never pick up the bottle or the martini glass again. Maybe his memoir will enlighten people and the ignorant remarks will stop. After all, the former President is only human.