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Home , Ari Fleischer, Dana Perino, Jessica Yellin, Jody Powell, Marlin Fitzwater, Scott McClellan

AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE

AND THE GOOD NEWS IS … : A CONVERSATION WITH FORMER PRESS SECRETARIES AND MIKE MCCURRY

INTRODUCTION:

ARTHUR BROOKS, AEI

CONVERSATION:

MIKE MCCURRY, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY UNDER PRESIDENT

DANA PERINO, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY UNDER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015

EVENT PAGE: http://www.aei.org/events/and-the-good-news-is-a-conversation- with-former-white-house-press-secretaries-dana-perino-and-mike-mccurry-book- forum/

TRANSCRIPT PROVIDED BY DC TRANSCRIPTION – WWW.DCTMR.COM

ARTHUR BROOKS: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I’m Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute, and I’m delighted to welcome you to this afternoon’s wonderful event, a book event featuring Dana Perino with her new book, “The Good News Is...” and you’re going to find out the answer how that finishes. It’s a conversation with Dana Perino and Mike McCurry, two of the most prominent White House press secretaries of the past decades.

Dana Perino, as most of you know, today is the co-host of the wonderful Channel show “,” which if you’re not watching it, you should be. (Applause.) She served for seven years in the administration of former President George W. Bush and in several capacities, including becoming the first Republican woman to be the White House press secretary.

Mike McCurry is a principal at Public Strategies here in Washington, D.C. He has three decades of experience in Washington. He served in the White House as press secretary to former President Bill Clinton from 1995 through 1998 – tumultuous years to be sure. Be we won’t be focusing on that. We’ll be focusing on Dana’s book.

(Laughter.)

MIKE MCCURRY: Thank the Lord.

MR. BROOKS: We have a lot to talk about. We’re going to get right to it with them. I’d like you to note that here at AEI, we’re just delighted to have both of them from all perspectives. And once again, this is an example of a kind of conversation that is bipartisan, post-partisan in all kinds of important ways is what we pride ourselves on being able to provide. Please join the conversation if you’re following on social media or participating in it at #AEIGoodNews. And with that, I’ll turn it over to Dana Perino and Mike McCurry.

DANA PERINO: Thank you.

MR. MCCURRY: Great. Dana, I get to grill you. It feels like old times. It’s going to be a lot of fun. You know, there have been a lot of press secretary books written. Before I took the job, I read ’s book, “The Other Side of the Story” and ’s great book –

MS. PERINO: Love Marlin’s.

MR. MCCURRY: – “Call the Briefing.” Your predecessor went on and wrote one; so did your other predecessor, Scott McClellan. We may get into that a little bit later. But you’ve written an entirely different kind of book here. This is not – these other books usually go into the ins and outs of the relationship between the presidency and the press. They’ve got stories and war stories and things like that. But you’ve done something really remarkable because it’s a personal story. It’s a memoir. It’s also some fascinating stuff that I don’t think we’ve ever heard about George Bush before – some very, very private moments. And I’m going to ask you a little bit about that. But then, you’ve got this great stuff at the end, really advice for young people who may want to come and work in Washington or what should they know (or ?) go on and have the kind of career that you had.

So frame the book for us. How did you end up writing a book like that? How did you get the idea? Tell us a little bit about the process.

MS. PERINO: Well, first, thank you, Mike, and thanks to everybody for coming. It’s a little bit like a reunion of sorts. I’ve lived in New York for almost four years now, and I like coming back to Washington because I just feel like I belong here. New York, I feel a little out of place. And to have Mike, who came – and he doesn’t have any free time, but for you to make time to come to this is great. He and I have done some events together over the years and they’re always great. And we have such a – we have a bond. I think all the former press secretaries do because there’s few of us who understand what it’s really like to get up and to take those questions.

And I just remember one thing in particular, just to take you to a trip down memory lane, we won’t say what the subject was. But I remember watching Mike McCurry and being saw in awe of that job and the job you were doing and the pressure you were under. And I was watching on C-SPAN one day. You were doing a briefing. And they were giving you a hard time asking you a million questions that you weren’t able to comment on. And you finally said the best line that I’ve always remembered. You said, look folks, I’m double-parked in a no comment zone. (Laughter.) And that kind of charm and self-deprecation would actually be the best way to disarm a reporter to let you off the hook.

MR. MCCURRY: Now, when you – you were cool as a cucumber at the podium always, but you had a little trick. When you got – when you were – when they were asking you things that were really getting you a little testy, do you want to share with the audience what that was?

MS. PERINO: Yeah, so to answer your first question, which is how did this book come about –

MR. MCCURRY: Yeah, so let’s do that.

MS. PERINO: – but I – (laughter) – I’m going to clip it, though. I will explain the story because –

MR. MCCURRY: Before we get to the zesty stuff.

MS. PERINO: Yes. Well, I’m going to start there and I’ll go back and say why this happened. So in writing the book, I realized like, so why would anyone even bother reading it? And if I was only going to write one book, which is what I think this is, the one book I was going to write was going to have to be like my best writing, if I could write something longer than a press release, which I really hadn’t done. And it had to be candid and honest and there had to be some interest. And I thought, well, what do I have to lose at this point? I’m never going to be the White House press secretary again. So – and definitely not after this story.

So yes, I looked very calm on the podium, a lot of press secretaries do and inside you’re churning like a duck, right underneath, paddling. And there was times during the Bush administration where we had some tough press days. You’re supposed to laugh because – (laughter) – every day was really hard. And I also found out that because of my poor decision-making about allowing cameras into the briefing room, which was inevitable – I jest, but the cameras in the briefing room did change the whole tenor of the whole job. But how do reporters get on TV? So they have to like have some sort of dramatic moment and they have to basically show off in front of the cameras.

So there was one guy in particular who used to peacock around a lot. (Laughter.) And I would just sit there and look at him and one of the things I would always think to myself is if President Bush were watching me right now, if he was listening to me, would he be proud of what I was going to say? And if the answer was no, then I did not say it. But there were times when sometimes I just reached under the podium on a shelf with my hand holding my water and I’d flip them the bird. (Laughter.) Did you ever do that?

MR. MCCURRY: I – (laughter) –

MS. PERINO: It was like – it was like liquid courage without the beer.

MR. MCCURRY: My thing – my wife used to say, when I would start rubbing my nose like that, she knew I was really, really angry. Like, you know, but the idea –

MS. PERINO: That’s a Fox –

(Cross talk.)

MR. MCCURRY: – is you can’t let any of that come out. Now, you had had some interesting experiences growing up. It wasn’t like you had not confronted a little danger in life.

MS. PERINO: Yeah, for sure.

MR. MCCURRY: Rattlesnakes and other things, but –

MS. PERINO: Indeed.

MR. MCCURRY: – tell us a little bit –

MS. PERINO: So the book – this is actually a book that – if you’ve been – (inaudible) – the White House, everybody else had books. So , , President Bush, Condi Rice. I worked on three of those books doing the publicity tour. And that was always my scene, right, I was much a behind the scenes person. And one of the publishers around that time had asked me, well, what about you? Are you going to write a book? And I said, well, no, not really. Really, I don’t have – I said, I don’t have anything – I don’t have any gossip. I’m not going to be like a political tell-all book about the Bush administration. I don’t have anything to say.

But along the a Acela track one day, I had written out on a piece of paper, if I were to write a book, what would it look like. And I wrote it all out. And for some reason, I tore that page out and I put it in my wallet and forgot about it. So I’d described then, I said, well, actually, the only book I ever thought of writing is this book that’s here. And they said, that’ll never sell. So I said, we have to – so I just abandoned the idea for three year or so. And then, a guy, Sean Desmond, who was the editor for “Decision Points,” President Bush’s book, moved to another publisher. And he had always liked the idea for this book. So he called me and said, why don’t we do it here? And I said, well, do you think that anyone’s going to want it? I was kind of shy. Like, well, they already said it’s not going to sell.

And he said, no, let’s do it here. So they took a chance on it and basically what I was trying to do with it is provide one-stop shopping for everybody who asked how does somebody like you, who grew up in a rural environment, cattle ranch background, with no political connections end up working as the White House press secretary and the things that you learned along the way?

In speeches since I’ve left the White House, I get this question a lot. Or what was it like to work in the Bush White House? So I just basically try to put everything into one place, using anecdotes and stories that also provide the advice that I would give through – the Minute Mentoring is something you may have heard of. Dee Martin is here. She helped me found it. It was an idea I had because I went to an event where these women would ask me – 80 women would say, could I have lunch or coffee with you because they wanted career advice. And I had a supply and demand problem with my time. So I came up with an idea of doing like speed dating, but mentoring with young women.

And I really needed someone to help me put it together. And I ended up on a flight next to Dee Martin and Susan Molinari. We were coming back from the Fortune Women’s Conference in San Diego. We had Twizzlers and diet Cokes. And we sat and talked about this idea and Susan said, well, what’s stopping you? I said, oh, I got to find a venue and I got to find a sponsor and I got to – all these things. And she said, we’ll do that.

And so Bracewell & Giuliani became the sponsor of Minute Mentoring. And a lot of the advice in this book is advice that I would give at those events or that I heard from some of the others and I’d break it down into things you could do today at work and things you could do for your career and what you could do in your life, and also some advice on civility.

And I actually stripped out the gender-specific advice because I realized that really young people could all benefit from these types of things. So I put it all together and guess what – it’s selling. (Laughter.)

MR. MCCURRY: It is number one on Amazon at this very moment. (Applause.) But it’s such a terrific read because you weave in all of these things growing up. You weave in the things that you learned from George Bush, working for him. And then you kind of put it all together in a format that then gives you – you know, this is what you want to pass on to people who are coming along. So it’s a very, very interesting way to write a press secretary book. But share with us some of those stories. Maybe, you know, we were talking about press secretary books, tell us what President Bush told you about Scott McClellan’s book when it came out. Tell us that story.

MS. PERINO: So Scott McClellan was the president’s second press secretary. He’d been with the president from – since even before the campaign got started in 1998. He I got to know each other when I was at the Justice Department after 9/11, and then I was at White House Council of Environmental Quality. And then he makes me the deputy press secretary on Inauguration Day for the – of the second term.

And we were great colleagues and we were also great personal friends. My husband and I spent a lot of time with Scott and Jill and we were very good friends. His briefings had become ineffective, not entirely his fault. A lot of that was circumstantial, but the temperature in the briefing room was going up and up and up and the effectiveness was decreasing. And around that time, the Bush administration, as a lot of administrations often needed to have a recharge, Andy Card leaves the chief of staff position. Josh Bolten comes in and he wants to make a change in the press secretary position. And he does and he brings in a totally outside the box choice of , who was a giant at the podium in every way. It was just fabulous. There’s few people in Washington who get along with everyone. Everyone loved Tony Snow.

So that was a great choice and Scott was disappointed, but I thought that when he first left – and I kept in touch with him a lot. I knew he was intending to write a book. He never indicated to me that it would be one that was very critical of the Bush administration, but I write in the book that I was at Camp David with the president, on Thanksgiving. I was with Ed Gillespie, who many of you probably know. And we’re doing the “Good Morning, America” Thanksgiving Day show and then I’m going to be going back to the White House.

Well, all of a sudden, right before I left, there was a message on my BlackBerry at the time, and it said, there’s all these reports of this description – marketing description of Scott’s book that’s going to be a tell-all and take down Bush administration type of book. So I’m looking at the BlackBerry and we’re about to leave. And I said to Ed Gillespie, don’t you think you should tell the president about this before we leave. And he said, I absolutely think you should. (Laughter.)

Pushed me forward. And I said, OK, sir, before we go, I just want to let you know you might see a little thing. And he said, Scott wouldn’t do that to me, would he? And I said, no, I don’t think so. I don’t think so. I think this is something that’s overwritten, taken out of context. And he says, well, let’s call him. (Laughter.) And I said, right now? (Laughter.) And he says, yes. And I look behind him, Jarred Weinstein was his personal aide. He’s behind the president going, hmm-hmm. (Laughter.)

And so I said, right now, OK. And I looked – I didn’t have Scott’s number. So I said, I’ll tell you what, I’m going to get in the van, I’ll have the White House connect me. I’ll get this solved by the time I get back to the . And I – but inside I’m like, this is bad. Finally reached Scott. He said, well, it’s a little bit overwritten. And I get the sense, I’m like, OK, Scott, well, maybe then do you want to have them correct it? And he says, no.

I call the White House and my team is here. Were you guys there that night? I made you stay. I think I made you stay. Well, I called the deputies and I said, can you guys stay and I’m sorry, it’s the night before Thanksgiving, but we’ve got to deal with this. So I get there and they’re all there. And I call Scott one more time. And you’ll read in the book that I didn’t put it on speaker phone, but I listened and he just vented at me and – because I said I was concerned about his future career. I said, I don’t think you understand what you’re doing to yourself, and that didn’t go over very well.

So six months later, the book comes out. And it’s very negative and I’m eaten up. And I feel a personal betrayal because we were such good friends, but I also thought this is terrible for the president. I mean, the coverage was awful. And I was consumed with it. How am I going to answer all of these questions that the press is going to have and you know, Mr. Peacocking around is going to be there and getting on TV. And so I was trying to read all and to prepare. And I used to have a meeting every morning at 6:30 with Steve Hadley. And I didn’t go. And I sent Gordon Johndroe, the deputy.

And next thing I know, Steve Hadley is knocking on the door and he says, may I come in? You know Steve Hadley. He’s very gentlemanly. And I said, yes, of course. And he says, OK, look, I understand you’re upset about this book, but I’m going to tell you I worked for Reagan, 41 and 43. And every president is going to go through this. They’re not going to know who is going to be, but everyone’s going to write a book. So they just have to make their decisions knowing that and not worry about it. I was like, yeah, yeah, OK, fine.

So I’m still like going through the papers and it’s 6:40 in the morning. We had an early White House. And my phone rings and it’s the . And I picked it up, they said, the president wants to see you. Oh, OK. So I put on my jacket and I’m walking in the Oval Office and Hadley is coming out. And I just looked at him like, you rat. (Laughter.)

I went in. The president usually spent that time between like 6:15 and 7:00 to go over personal correspondence. And that’s when he would write letters to families of the fallen. So my problem seemed really small. And I walk in. The president has glasses on the end of his nose and he said, so I hear you’re upset about this book. I’m like, yes, sir, I am, and I want you to know that the coverage is bad. I tried to be very honest to him. I was like, well, you know, how bad it is. And I’m obviously kind of spun up, not calm. And he says, I want you to try to forgive him.

And I said, well, can I – but. He says, no but. I said, can we throw him under the bus first? (Laughter.) And he said, no. He said no one’s going to remember this book in three weeks. I appreciate what you’re trying to do for me. You’re trying to protect me, but I’m fine. And you – if you can try to forgive him, you won’t live bitterly. And I said, OK, you’re right. Thank you, sir.

And as I’m walking out, he nailed it because he said, hey, by the way, I don’t think you’d ever do this to me. And I realized that that’s what I was really upset about. Because the relationship was so close and I thought if he thinks that he needs to be guarded around me, then I’m not going to be able to do my job effectively. And you know that.

And so that lesson of forgiveness was what I write about in the book is lessons of leadership from a follower’s perspective that help explain and inform history about George W. Bush as not just a commander-in-chief and a boss and a political decision maker, but as a man who was not just my boss, but he became like a second father to me. And now he’s a friend and a confidant and I’m really glad that people are going to have a chance to read some of these stories, even if, you know, they paint me in a light that showed weakness.

MR. MCCURRY: Well, he was right because you did not do that to him. In fact, the portrait of President Bush in yours is flattering and affectionate, but it’s also fairly intimate. I mean, you share some moments that I think most of the (public ?) hadn’t heard about before, including the last hour, I guess, in the Oval Office. And I was like – tell us some of those stories.

MS. PERINO: There’s a few. There’s one you probably have read about or heard on NPR. And if you haven’t, I encourage you to go to – the Daily Signal ran a piece about the president’s visit to a wounded Marine and the miracle that happened there while we were there, where the Marine opened his eyes for the first time since he’d been injured, while the president was there having the Purple Heart presented. And that was an amazing moment that I talk about.

I also talk about being in Israel, where there was some tension on the other side of the tables. The president was trying to help the Israelis come to grips together, in which I –

MR. MCCURRY: Those were members of Olmert’s cabinet.

MS. PERINO: Olmert’s cabinet and there was somebody there who definitely disagreed with the plan going forward. And this story I loved because it really showed me that this is a president who stuck up for America when no cameras were there, when no one was watching. Throughout this dinner and Olmert’s going on and on like, Mr. President, it means so much to have you here. Thank you so much, blah, blah, blah. And the president finally says, thank you so much. I’m honored to be here, too. But I’m going to tell you one thing, if there’s anybody sitting across this table from us right now who’s just waiting to attack this man politically as soon as he makes a tough decision, please tell me now because I’m the president of the of America and I will not waste my country’s capital on you if you aren’t serious. And I was like, wow! (Laughter.)

And then, he says, well, tell me who here was born in Israel? Only one person raised their hand. He said, I’d love to hear your stories. How did you get here? So he started going down the line. It’s like, well, my dad came from because they fled such and such. I was in Ukraine, Hungary, Poland, Argentina. And all of a sudden, across the other side of the table, all the Israelis were saying, wait, your dad was in Poland, because that’s – we have all these connections. And the president lets us go on for a while. And then, he finally says, I had a feeling you all had forgotten why you were here in the first place and got up and left.

And the next day, I got to go on Air Force One, of course, I’m traveling with them. And I needed something signed off. We’re headed to Kuwait. And I knocked on the door and he said, come on in. I said, oh, I don’t want to bother you, personal time. He says, no, sit down. So I did and I just said, so about last night. And he said, pretty cool, huh? (Laughter.)

And I said, yes, sir, pretty cool. I always tell – one of the pieces of advice I say is always take the deputy job because that’s where you get to know the boss. You work weekends, holidays, you have the worst hours, and that’s when you get to know the boss. I tell this – one of my favorite stories, I was going to tell a different one, but I’m going to go a different direction.

One of my first responsibilities was to go with him to the Boy Scout Jamboree. It was a chopper ride, a kind of a longer chopper ride down to . And I was new, junior birdman. And I didn’t even know where to sit when I got on the helicopter. And actually, Scott McClellan was so nice to me, I remember I was so nervous. And he drew a diagram for me of the plane and he showed me, when you get on, sit here. Nobody’s going to yell at you. I’m like, OK.

And we get on the plane. We go to the jamboree. Boy Scouts go crazy. And we’re on our way home. And it was one of those beautiful June nights in Virginia, where the sun is setting and it’s orange and pink sunset. The president had a box dinner, like a box lunch, and he says, you want one of these peanut butter and honey sandwiches. I said, oh, no, I wouldn’t take your – I couldn’t take your dinner. He said, come on. So I said OK. And then, he had Sun Chips and he hated cheddar Sun Chips. It had to be plain Sun Chips. And then we sat there for 40 minutes on our way home and he just asked me all about myself and my family.

And later on – one of the things I had told them eventually, as we got to know each other, is that my parents divorced when I was 28, so even though I was an adult, I really had felt abandoned. Sounds weird, but it is how I felt. And the president’s there, so I’m telling him everything. And this story is pretty amazing to me because the president knew I hadn’t been in touch with my dad for a while. We’d email occasionally, Christmas presents, birthday presents, but I hadn’t seen him. The president had not come to – my dad had not come to the White House to see me brief. And I wouldn’t say estranged, but it was uncomfortable.

President Bush knew all of this. Getting towards the end of the administration, my dad still hasn’t come, and there’s an invitation to the dinner for Prime Minister Berlusconi. And my husband loves every event in America. He’s British. He would go to anything, baseball, football, a game. Like he just loved to go to the White House. And I tell him, I said, I think I should invite my dad. And if he says, no, that’ll be fine, but if he says yes, then at least he’ll have come to the White House as I was press secretary.

And so my dad says yes. So Peter gets him a plane ticket and he rents him a tux. My dad’s never wore a tux before. And it’s all in the preparation. And one day before that, about two weeks before, I’m seated in my seat on Marine One so I don’t get yelled at. And the president gets on board. South Lawn, he’s waving to all the people outside. And he says, so I see you invited your dad to the White House. He doesn’t look at me. I’m like, yes, sir, I did. He’s waving. He says, that’s a big deal. Yes, sir, it’s a big deal. And then, just as we pass the Washington Monument in the air, he looked right at me and said, and I am so proud of you.

Two weeks later, my dad shows up. First person we see is Rudy Giuliani. Then, there’s Justice Alito. You have no idea how many are running America. (Laughter.) It was an impressive group of people. And they’re all giving me hugs and Scalia is there. And I think it was very overwhelming for my dad. I grew up on a cattle ranch and now he’s here with his daughter at the White House. And we go through the photo line and just as the military was going to announce us, the president says, oh, no, they need no introduction. This is Leo Perino.

And he takes my dad off my hands and says, you want to meet Condi Rice, you want to go to Cheney? You want to see this? And he goes all around. And I say that, you know, the president gave me back my relationship with my dad. So those are the kind of stories that are in here.

MR. MCCURRY: That image, I mean, there many, many cool things about being White House press secretary, but taking off from the South Lawn in Marine One and swirling around the Washington Monument as you go out to Andrews Air Force Base to get on Air Force One is about the coolest trip you can ever take.

MS. PERINO: Yeah.

MR. MCCURRY: You mentioned your husband Peter, and there’s a lot about him in the book. But tell us about the flight you almost missed.

MS. PERINO: Yeah. So if you’re a woman, you’ve gone through this. If you have a wife or an employee or a daughter who’s around the age of 24 to 26, she’s going through it and it’s called a quarter life crisis. And you don’t even really know you’re going through it till the end. But I was going through when I worked on Capitol Hill as a House press secretary.

There’s probably some people here who I worked with along the way. Cathy Van Way is one of them. And I was the spokesperson for the chairman of the House Energy and Power Subcommittee. I basically had the best chief of staff who taught everything. And I learned the job fairly quickly. So I was kind of bored. I’m like, what am I going to do next? And I hadn’t dated anybody for so long. And you probably saw that thing in the “Washington Post,” where I said there weren’t that many datable guys in D.C. (Laughter.) And I know that offended a lot of guys in D.C., but it wasn’t meant to because it leads to a love story.

I had been at a church service – I went to church – Lutheran Church of the Reformation on 3rd, right behind the Supreme Court. And this one woman told me like, it’s OK, you’re going to get through this, fear not. So I’m sort of relaxed. Next thing I know, I get assigned seats from to Chicago and then I had to come to D.C. I’m the last person to get on the plane. I’m sitting on assigned seats. So the last two people to get on the plane were assigned seats together. I almost missed the flight.

This guy almost took an earlier flight. I sit down at the window. He says, may I put your bag up above, British accent. And I look over. I’m like, accent? Accent, handsome, no wedding ring. Quick scan, every woman can do it. (Laughter.) And he sat down and he was reading “The Tailor of Panama.” And so I asked him about the book and then two hours later, as we’re descending into Chicago, I remember looking out the window saying, OK, Lord, I know I asked you to help me meet somebody, but he lives in England. He’s 18 years older than me. He’s been married twice before. Did I mention he lives in England? (Laughter.) This is not happening.

And then, I was sick to my stomach for like 10 days. I was absolutely in love. I couldn’t eat, sleep, drink. I didn’t tell anybody, except for Helen Morrell (sp), who worked in our office as the scheduler. And 10 days later, I still hadn’t heard from him and so I think, I’ve got to get over it. I tell Helen, I’m going to go read my book and I will never think about him again when I get back from lunch.

Remember when you could check out books from the Library of Congress and they’d bring them around? They probably still do that. That was the best perk working on Capitol Hill. I get back, fire up my computer, and there’s an email from Peter. And 10 months later, I moved to England and that was 18 years ago. So we’re still together.

So he’s very integral to the book. And one of the pieces of advice I gave is that because of all those reasons I just listed, I had this great job, he lives in England, married – I’m only 25. He’s 43. What are we going to do? And this can’t be possible, I had a lot of reasons to talk myself out of it. But I got advice from a family friend that I consider the most important piece of advice in the book. And that is for young people to understand that – or not even so young that choosing to be loved is not a career-limiting decision. It was the best decision I made. It had nothing to do with my career. But he is so integral and I love the fact that I hear from people like Jean Becker, the chief of staff for George H.W. Bush, who read the book. And she said, I love Peter. (Laughter.) She said, I had no idea because he helps me all along the way.

The day I got the job as press secretary was the day I went to resign. And Ed Gillespie – I said to Ed Gillespie – this is July of – August of ’07, early August, ’07. I said Ed, could I see you after your senior staff meeting or your communications meeting. He says, yes because I need to talk to you, too. And said, OK, great. And I was so nervous. I didn’t really want to leave the White House, but I knew I probably should. And I sit down and he says, can I go first? And I said, OK. And I sat back. And that’s when he said the president would like to make you press secretary on Monday.

Can you imagine if I had gone first? (Laughter.) And I just told Peter. I wouldn’t have gotten the job. Honestly, I – and did you know that Ed Gillespie didn’t know that until he read the book last week? (Laughter.) Because I never told anybody. And I snuck down the stairs and I called Peter. And I’m whispering into the phone. And I said, OK, that plan we had about going to Target on Saturdays and taking a little road trip, like, that’s not going to happen. (Laughter.) I’m going to be the press secretary. And he said, whatever you need, I will make it happen.

MR. MCCURRY: Yeah. He – you tell the story also, when you’re in , you decided to come back to Washington because he got on a whiteboard and –

MS. PERINO: The whiteboard incident, changed my life. I was so bored. This is like a theme. I’ve been bored. (Laughter.) I wasn’t bored as press secretary. That’s probably good that that was – it’s a good thing there was an end date to that job or I’d still be there. I loved it. “The Five” is actually the longest job I’ve ever held. It’s been four years. But usually, I either move on or up or over.

In San Diego, I’ve been working for three years. We’d left England. We thought that’s where we were always going to be. And I’m so bored. And I’m watching the first nine months – well, actually, to go back a little bit, I got a call in March of 2000. I had just gotten a full time job with benefits. I got a call, in March of 2000, from Mindy Tucker, who you know, a lot of people know her from Republican circles. And she says, hey, you’re out in California. We could really use a spokesperson for the last six months out there. Would you be willing to be George W. Bush’s campaign spokesperson? And I have to tell her that I can’t do it because my husband was starting a business. I was the only one with a steady job. And at that point, I thought that that was the only way you could have health insurance.

And I hang up the phone and I cried. And I said, now, I’m never going to get to work for George Bush. And I’d never met him, but I wanted to work for him, a compassionate conservative that spoke to me. I know a lot of conservatives didn’t like that label, but it was smart because it brought me – people like me into the fold.

MR. MCCURRY: Just think if he’d had Obamacare, it may have turned (out differently ?). (Laughter.)

MS. PERINO: Just think how disastrous the country would be, as it is. And now I am dealing – as an independent person, I could tell you about “Obamacare,” but that would another event at AEI.

So, as my husband can tell, I’m restless. And the first nine months of the administration – Bush administration, were really mostly about energy and water and air issues. It was Kyoto, new source review, like the worst policy name ever. I’m looking at Dee Martin because she’s like, I know, we had to explain it to her over and over again. Arsenic in the water, all sorts of things like that. And I said, no, they can do a better job. There’s a better way to communicate this.

And so I’d let people know – I’d kept in touch with people – it’s part of my advice. Keep in touch with friends, send a note every once in a while. Choose five people a month that you can be in touch with. And Mindy Tucker happened to have been one of them.

Peter gets out this white board one night. He says, I can’t take it anymore. Let’s talk about you. He gets the white board, he says, what are the things you want to do in a job? He lists them all. What are the things you don’t want to do in a job? He lists all of those. And he says, let’s assign a numerical value to these, because he’s kind of like that. And he says, look, any job in D.C. far outweighs what you’re doing now, so let’s go.

So I reached out to Mindy. I said, I think I’m going to come for an informational interview on the week of September 17, 2001. And 9/11 happens. And Mindy Tucker is the communications director for the Justice Department, which was completely overwhelmed and under siege. And she calls me and says, would you be willing to come and be a spokesperson at the Justice Department? I said, I’m packing now. And I left and I never went back to San Diego. And, Peter, of course, had to leave his surf board behind. He was like looking in the rearview mirror the whole time, but it was a good move.

MR. MCCURRY: At the end of the book, you talk a little bit about what’s happened to the political culture in Washington and how we’ve lost that capacity sometimes to have a conversation like this, just two people, different points of view who probably disagree on a lot of things but can talk. Would you come back to Washington now, the Washington that is here today, if you had that kind of opportunity?

MS. PERINO: I had such a positive experience in Washington that it breaks my heart in a way to go to Capitol Hill. I did an event about a year ago with Senate press secretaries. This is before the 2014 midterms so they’re deep in the minority. And I just came to town to have a chit-chat with everybody. I wanted to see how things were going. I wanted a feedback about the show.

And I was right in this room, just having sandwiches, and nobody else is talking. They all looked so miserable. And I finally stopped and I said, excuse me, but is anyone having any fun here? Because this is the best job I ever had in my life. It was so fun. There’s so much opportunity. You meet so many people. You can laugh about things like “Obamacare” with a Republican or a Democrat. It’s foreign to me – this distance. It’s not a part of what I experienced.

And one of the things I do is I write a section called “Democrats Are People Too.” And I tell this great story –

MR. MCCURRY: Tell us about your two favorites that are in your book. Tell the story you were going to tell.

MS. PERINO: About the Gridiron?

MR. MCCURRY: About the Gridiron. Yeah.

MS. PERINO: OK. So in February, 2005, I got invited to the Gridiron for the first time. And I thought that was a big deal. So I go to the Gridiron. I was sitting at the USA Today table. And I arrive and then the person that’s sitting across from me arrives. And it’s Senator . And he had just been in two for about two weeks. He was a new senator.

And he and I laughed our butts off for four hours. We had so much fun. And he took me over in one of the intermissions to meet . He says, oh, it’s so great to be in town. We had so much fun. I get home and my husband says, so how was your night? And I said, it was a great. I said, Peter, I got to sit with Barack Obama, and I’ve got to tell you, I think he could be president in like 20 years. (Laughter.)

MR. MCCURRY: I knew that punch-line was coming.

MS. PERINO: No. I really did say that. And so, three years later – remember when John McCain suspended his campaign and they come to the White House and these are like, don’t have flashbacks in the front row because they had to manage all the press corps. Like every reporter in the world wanted to be there for this moment. And so I was the last person to file into the room.

And Senator Obama was shaking hands with everybody. And he turns towards me and I went to introduce myself. And he says, Dana Perino. I was like, wow, he even knows who I am. That’s amazing. He’s charming, OK? So I said, hi. I said, you might not remember. And he wraps me in this big hug, and he says, not remember? That was my favorite night in all of Washington. (Laughter.)

And so I’m blushing. And I sit down at the meeting and Joel Kaplan leans over and he says, what was that all about? (Laughter.) And I said, I’ll tell you later, but I just might vote for him, too.

MR. MCCURRY: But you didn’t.

MS. PERINO: I didn’t. (Laughter.)

MR. MCCURRY: I get this question and I know you get this: what are the things about the job that people would be most surprised to know?

MS. PERINO: About the press secretary job?

MR. MCCURRY: About the job of the press secretary.

MS. PERINO: I think I tell a lot of these behind-the-scenes moments, where the press secretary – I feel like the press secretary’s job is 50/50. So this is how I approached it. I think this is how a lot of press secretaries, like present company, approached it, which is that, yes, your job is to advocate and defend the president and the administration to the press corps, but it’s also to advocate for access for the press to the president.

And you have to constantly remind people like, no, that’s a pool event. We have to have the pool in. The photographers are coming in. No, Mr. President you’re going to have to take two questions aside because that’s what we do. And I like that tradition. And I wanted them to have more access. I felt like more access was better. I think closing yourself in is actually a bad thing and I think it’s bad for democracy. And there’s a lot of different reporters now. It’s good.

MR. MCCURRY: You don’t settle any scores in this book with reporters. I know – we all know that.

MS. PERINO: That’s true. I don’t.

MR. MCCURRY: I mean, it gets – gets a little –

MS. PERINO: No, but that was –

MR. MCCURRY: But that’s a cute story.

MS. PERINO: Shall I tell that story?

MR. MCCURRY: Tell that story.

MS. PERINO: Do we have time?

MR. MCCURRY: Yes.

MS. PERINO: Am I talking everyone’s ear off?

MR. MCCURRY: Listen, you know, I’m hogging the time here. We are going to–

MS. PERINO: We’re going to take some questions.

MR. MCCURRY: – invite you to become part of this conversation in exactly two minutes.

MS. PERINO: OK. After this story.

MR. MCCURRY: Yeah.

MS. PERINO: One of my pieces of advice for young people and others is stick up for people even when they don’t know it.

And this story had to do with , who was the “Good Morning, America” reporter for a long time. She had to be at the White House, camera ready, every day at 5:00 a.m. And because I was an early morning person, between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., I would often e-mail with her, provider her information. She was diligent. She was trying. She tried to learn a lot. And she had not been in a position to be able to ask the president a question in about six months.

I’m looking at Carlton because he was there. He was part of this. We call a press conference. And Tony Snow sent me to brief the president. It just worked that way with us. So I go in there, and Carlton brings in the RSVP and the sitting chart for the reporters that are going to be there. So I’m going over to the president, and I would say one thing I was really good at is that President Bush was never surprised by a question in a press conference because I was obsessed with over preparation and making sure – I could even imitate how a reporter would ask the question.

All of a sudden, right before we were about to go out, Carlton knocks on the door. He says, I’m sorry, ma’am, to bother you, but there’s a new sitting chart. And I said, well, what’s different? And he said, well, ABC News called and they’re switching out Jessica Yellin for Jake Tapper. And I said, they did what? Why did they do that to her? That’s not fair. And President Bush says, who the hell is Jake Tapper? (Laughter.) I said, well, sir, he’s a reporter from and he just got hired by ABC and I assume that they’re just trying to give him some access but I think it’s unfair to Jessica. She’s been here for six months every day. And the president said, well, do we have to call on him? And the tradition is we always called on the networks at a press conference, and the wires, and the main daily papers. But he says, well, do we have to call on him? And catching his drift, I said, no, sir. I don’t think you do.

So we got to the press conference. Jake Tapper has his hand up like this the entire time. And the president’s like asking you, asking you, asking you, you and you. (Laughter.) And we finish the press conference. I go back to my work.

Six months later – I didn’t tell anybody. Six months later, Jessica Yellin and I were at a dinner in Palm Springs – Ann Compton had put it together. We were having a nice chat. And I said, hey, Jessica, do you remember that day that Jake Tapper came for the press conference? She said, oh, yeah. He was furious. He came back to the desk and he was mad. And he called Tony Snow. He demanded to know why he was not given a chance to ask a question. But the beauty of it was Tony Snow had no idea either.

But I thought I – I will always remember that, that the president and I saying, we could stick up for somebody, we don’t have to tell her. We didn’t do a big press conference about, ooh, we protected a woman today. We just did it. (Laughter.)

MR. MCCURRY: (Inaudible) – full of women. All right. Let’s see now. Are there microphones in the – yes, we do.

MS. PERINO: But I hope that Jake Tapper doesn’t take that negatively.

MR. MCCURRY: You burned him already. Let’s – if you could stand up, grab one of these mics, brief question. And remember, you know, we prefer questions for Dana rather than speeches. OK.

Q: This is real quick. You mentioned in the beginning about a rattlesnake story. I’d like to hear that.

MS. PERINO: So Newcastle, Wyoming – how many of you have been there? Exactly. Exactly. This is my hometown, OK? This was my great-grandparents walking in one side of the American dream, a homestead in Newcastle, Wyoming, and 100 years later, I walk out the other as the White House press secretary. It’s one of the things I talk about in chapter one is this like remarkable childhood that is very American.

The rattlesnake story is – my grandfather required us to take care of the innocent, except for snakes. My uncle, Tom, had a trailer that was up on some risers. And one summer, we were there for my cousin’s birthday. And I was about seven, and I was the oldest grandkid so all the other kids were – I don’t know. I was leading some group around – I don’t know. We were playing follow the leader or something. And, all of a sudden, my uncle’s Australian cattle dog yelps, cries. And we realize that she’s been bit by a rattlesnake that was under the trailer. So my uncle Matt and Aunt Donna get Robin, get her into the pickup and they start racing down the road for Sundance, where the veterinarian was.

And, in the meantime, my Uncle Tom got the rifle, and he was a very good shot and amazing cowboy. He, unfortunately, passed from cancer. But he got down on the ground and he just shot that rattlesnake’s head off. And I said – one of the things I was – I don’t know why we’re telling that story. But it was about the rattlesnake. (Laughter.) You asked about the rattlesnake.

MR. MCCURRY: I tell you why. Because there are moments in the White House briefing room when that’s exactly what you wish you could be able –

MS. PERINO: Right. But I wanted to –

MR. MCCURRY: Blow their heads off.

MS. PERINO: But instead I’d flip them the bird.

MR. MCCURRY: All right. Another question. Way in the back, we’ve got someone with a hand up.

You also have to tell how the story opens with a great story about Dana getting a black eye. You have to remind me to ask her that story. Yes.

Q: Hi. I was going to ask, what was your biggest setback and what did you learn from it and how did you overcome it?

MS. PERINO: As press secretary or in life?

Q: In life.

MS. PERINO: My biggest setback. Well, one of the things that I think is a theme throughout the book is this repeated thing about – I’m human, just like everybody else, and I’m filled with self-doubt. And if I had – it’s hard to look back now after having success and go, what was my biggest setback? I don’t know. And I guess that’s kind of the good news, right?

So there’s a lot of adversity, but because I had people that helped me along the way, including my husband, my grandmother, the president, and now my colleagues, even . (Laughter.) I couldn’t say that I had a huge setback that mattered so much that it comes to mind.

MR. MCCURRY: Question over here.

MS. PERINO: Hi. How are you?

Q: Nice to see you, Dana. I love your book.

MS. PERINO: Thank you.

Q: It’s like eating chocolate pudding when I was a kid. You know, I think everyone wants to know why the press has become so openly biased. And just to focus that more.

When I was at , way back in the Watergate days, it was never acceptable to write the openly biased stories and dishonest stories that you see all the time today, you know, where they ignore – the other side ignore a fact that would totally undercut a story. And this, of course, erodes viewership and readership. And I’m sure you’ve gotten some hints from friends in the press about what goes on, but also I’d like to get your insights into why.

MS. PERINO: One of my favorite retorts to the press when there would be new poll numbers out that showed President Bush dropping, I would say – they would say, what are you going to do to improve the president’s approval ratings? And I’d say, well, what are you going to do to improve yours, because yours are worse than ours. The media’s approval rating is so low.

And yet, Ron, I know what you’re talking about because I lived it. However, I really felt like – let me just talk about the White House briefing room itself. I felt like those reporters were very fair, or tried to be. I think their editors weren’t necessarily. I think pictures and captions and headlines matter a lot. And now the media is so diverse. There’s so much of it that you kind of have to be a really good, responsible news consumer.

The other thing that’s happened is I used to love to get home in time to watch the network news. I still like to watch the network news. But by the time I watch it now, I’m like, hey, I know that. I’ve already heard that. I want to know what people think about that, which is one of the reasons I love “Special Report” because I have a little challenge with myself. I try to walk home after “The Five” in time to watch Special Report without having the press rewind. I make sure I walk really fast.

So I actually think in the White House briefing room that they tried to be very fair, but I recognize that there is opinion and bias that does come with some. Part of it is in the questions as well.

MR. MCCURRY: Do you think the press has – I mean, we’ve talked about this before, how much the press has changed because of social media, but do you think it’s even changed –

MS. PERINO: I’m going to tell you, there’s some good news on that front.

MR. MCCURRY: Yeah?

MS. PERINO: And I think that that is because social media has actually increased the peer pressure on . Let’s be honest. A lot of reporters write for each other, OK? Do you know what I mean? They’re like, OK. I want to make sure that he – you watch it on all day long. They all talk amongst each other, too, as if they’re the only people in the room.

So what happens with social media is that if they get it wrong, they’re going to get creamed, and they don’t want to do that. So I actually think that the social media, it’s taken a while, but now I think there’s benefit in having lots of different voices and everyone’s sort of self-policing.

MR. MCCURRY: Yes. Way in the back.

Q: Hi. Leon Peace (sp), Peace Group Consulting. I was a lobbyist during President Bush’s term and one thing we noticed – and I was always wondering about, we talked about the fact that President Bush appears to have appointed more African- Americans in positions of significance in the administration than all the other previous presidents combined. Why did he never say anything about that or why didn’t he –

MS. PERINO: That’s an interesting question. I mean, it’s sort of like when I just said, we didn’t have to put out a press release to say that we invited a gay couple to the state dinner. They just came because they worked for us. We didn’t do a press release saying, oh, President Bush supported Jessica Yellin today. It just didn’t occur to me. And maybe I think even if I had done that, the press would have said, oh, how cynical. Right? If a Republican does it, it looks like you’re trying too hard.

So President Bush didn’t worry about that. He just did the right thing. And he didn’t appoint somebody because they’re black or Hispanic or a woman. He appointed them because they were the best people for the job.

And I was on “The View” on Tuesday, and I was asked about – if I thought that Republican women would be more likely to vote for in 2016 because she’s a woman than they would be for a Republican. And I said, this is the craziest notion. But Democrats tell me this all the time, they’re like, oh, yeah, I talk for Republican women who say that. OK, well, maybe you do. I don’t talk to anybody. The polling I’ve seen doesn’t show. It could be that in November 2016, it will come down to that and maybe women will make that decision.

But I said, I certainly hope that nobody thinks that I got the job as White House press secretary because I was woman, that I was the best person for the job. And, actually, I actually thought I just was the convenient choice because I happened to be there. There was only a year and a half left, couldn’t really train anybody else.

But President Bush made me feel a lot better when he went to give the remarks about me taking over for Tony. He had a speech. And he was going through it. And this has all happened to all of you. I’m sure your boss is like, I’m not reading this. And he said to Dan, he says, look, I chose her because I know she can handle you all and I trust her to give me really good, frank, sound judgment in the Oval Office. And then that’s all I needed.

MR. MCCURRY: Yes. Over here. I’ll work this side of the room now.

Q: As an avid viewer of “The Five,” it’s the most magnificent show, and it is just magnificent.

MS. PERINO: Thanks. I’m sure you like me the most. (Applause.)

Q: What makes it so magnificent, of course, is the dynamics between you and Greg and even Bob and Kimberly. And can you describe a little bit about what’s happening at the commercial breaks and before the show and after the show? Speak about the dynamics because I’m enamored not only with your great message and the great banter and the news and so forth, but it’s the biggest and best portion of my day.

MS. PERINO: I love that. Thank you. So when I first got called to do “The Five,” it was just supposed to be a temporary show. I thought, oh, I don’t live in New York, it’s a big pain in the rear. And then I get there and I sit down – I’d never talked to Greg Gutfeld before, and I’m like, oh, my gosh, who is this guy? And he became the brother I never wanted. (Laughter.)

There’s a chapter – chapter four starts off with – chapter four is about “The Five” and my career transition which, again, is the doubts and fears that come to be because, for 15 years, my professional life was to speak on behalf of somebody else. I had never, ever said my personal opinion on public until “The Five.” And it took me a while to get used to it.

The chemistry on the show is great. We don’t talk to each other until about 4:40 p.m. Well, actually KG and I have chit-chat in makeup room, and she’s a great girlfriend to have. And if I ever get in trouble, she will definitely be my lawyer.

Eric Bolling, I will say that if ever – let’s just say something totally uncharacteristic for me would be, I’m out in a bar late at night, I get picked up by the cops and I end up in jail and I get one phone call, I would call Eric Bolling because he’s got the money and he would come get me no matter what. And so we have this great chemistry. And I think Rogers Ailes’ brilliance is that he knew that we would. And you either have it or you don’t.

And, actually, one thing that I was saying to Mike is that when we get to do events together, even though I’ve not even let him say a word during this hour is that we have chemistry. And you can see it and feel it, and that means something to the audience.

The commercial breaks are gold. And if you ever got to see them on camera, it would ruin it because that’s when we laugh or we can say, my God, Bob, do you really believe that? Do you really believe that? Are you crazy? Or we’ll talk about, hey, did you guys see the game last night, or whatever it might be. Or sometimes we yell at producers, like why are we doing this topic? It’s really the most fun job I’ve ever had.

MR. MCCURRY: Let’s get a few more in before we close. Here. Yeah.

Q: Hi, Dana.

MS. PERINO: Hi.

Q: I do comms for a rep, and I’ve overwhelmed by all the stuff I’m supposed to keep up with, breaking news, policy. So what’s the best tip you have for trying to keep up with everything besides just putting in a lot of hours?

MS. PERINO: Yeah. Well, the hours is key, right? And I do write about that. If I ever had to do it over again, I’d reveal some personal stories about the state of my health at the end of the White House. I’ll just – one of them was I developed a ringing in my ear that was so loud that my husband, out of empathy, would say, I know, honey – even I can hear it. (Laughter.) But part of that was because I didn’t take care of myself.

The other thing was I loved to consume information. I think the best communicators are actually the people who understand policy. You can tell a communicator that can only do a quick response to the media a mile away. The most valuable press people are the ones that actually love the policy as well. And I was fortunate to have people like Cathy (sp) and others who would sit down with me and explain to me retail wheeling and things like that so that then I could translate that into language that I thought was effective as a communicator.

I do think it is difficult – and I noticed this even when I was writing my book, if I – as I was writing, you know, I’d see in the corner, new e-mail, new message, and it’s so distracting. And trying to figure out a way to prioritize is really important. And I think that part of that is having a really good team around you. As a House communications guy, you probably don’t have a lot of extra staff.

But one thing I did at the White House with my deputies is I had a requirement. I said, I should never be surprised by a question at the podium. And if I am, someone’s going to be in a lot of trouble. And then we would do a couple of things.

And I learned this from Marlin Fitzwater, and I think also you had told me to do this as well, which was you have to – the press secretary has to act like a reporter, which I was for a short time. So you have to triangulate your sources. So sometimes, if I thought there was something funny going on, I’d tell Gordon, call the CIA and see what they say about this. And I’d tell Freda (ph), and you call DOD, and let’s meet back up here and see if it matches up. And if it doesn’t, I’m going to Steve Hadley, because they’ve got a problem. So I had trust in my deputies.

The thing I miss about the White House the most is my team and I dedicate the book to my Bush administration colleagues because without them, none of this would have been possible.

MR. MCCURRY: That was actually Marlin, and he writes about the verifying the information that you get is the single most important thing and knowing when you’re not getting the information that you need because it’s not whatever you know that’s going to get you in trouble. It’s what someone forgets to tell you.

MS. PERINO: A story that doesn’t make it into the book that I’ll tell you here has to do with the president and . Charles – I had gone out on a limb one time and I was under pressure at 6:00 a.m. in the morning to answer reporters who were in Baghdad. It was about Maliki sending ships into Basra and everyone in the administration is furious. But I knew what the president – I thought that I knew what the president would say. And, under pressure, I answered a question on a major national security issue without checking with him first.

And I thought, holy crap, I am going to get fired because, all of a sudden, he’s not here, but this young man that used to send clips around, he’s sending, and there’s David Petraeus, he’s furious with Maliki; and Condi Rice is unhappy; and Gates is unhappy. And I thought, oh, my gosh, what have I done?

Get to a senior staff meeting. says, I’m going to tell everybody right here, if anybody says that President Bush doesn’t back Maliki on this, they are wrong. And, of course, I have my AP story. I was like, oh, I said it. I said it. Now I have to be the good student.

Two years later, two years later, Charles Krauthammer came to do an interview with the president on his last week in office. And he asked him a question – of course, I’m just a staffer. I’m sitting off to the side. And Charles says, Mr. President, when did you know the surge was going to work? And the president says, great question. I would have to say it was the day that Maliki sent troops into Basra. And you know what, Charles? Nobody on my team was with me except for Dana. (Laughter.) And he remembered that. And that meant a lot to me.

MR. MCCURRY: That’s probably – oh, there are too many hands. How are we doing on – maybe one more?

MS. PERINO: Let’s do one more and then we’ll do black eye.

MR. MCCURRY: One more and then we’ll wrap up. Yeah. Over here. We could keep this going all afternoon.

Q: Hi, Dana.

MS. PERINO: Hi.

Q: So, as press secretary, you spent a lot of time traveling with the president.

MS. PERINO: Yeah.

Q: Are there any memorable Air Force One stories that you might –

MS. PERINO: OK. So this is perfect because that’s how we’re going to wrap this up and keep on time.

My most memorable story is the one that I opened with. And which of you two was on that trip to Baghdad, the last trip? Gordon. Because those were secret trips so we had skeleton staff. We did a secret trip to Baghdad in December of 2008. And then we were going to go on from there to Afghanistan. The president wanted to see the troops. Also, he had business to try to finish with Maliki and Karzai.

We go on the trip, spiral down, everything’s fine. We go to the press conference at the end of the day, and the president gets up there, and I’m sitting to the side, and the shoes were thrown at the president’s head. Thank God he ducked. He showed like such great reflexes, I thought, that’s an American president. He goes like – (laughter). I was so relieved.

But what happened at that team was the lead Secret Service agent was behind the interpreter, and he lunged forward to get to the president and that swung the steel arm of the boom mic around and it caught me here, in the face. And I had never felt any sort of physical violence like that in my life. And I screamed. You can hear it in the video, if you look at YouTube. And I had my hand over my eye. The president’s finished the press conference. I’m like, I’ve got to get out of here. I’ve got to go to the doctor. I’m trying to leave and the security guards – Iraqi security stood at the door. And I said, I need a doctor. And this man says, I am doctor. (Laughter.) I was like, my doctor.

I get the doctor, the president comes and he finds me. He puts his arms around me. It’s one of my favorite pictures in the book. And he says, why are you crying? I thought you were just crying because the guy threw a shoe at me. And I said, Mr. President, I love you but I grew up in Wyoming. I’m a little tougher than that.

So we get to Air Force One. The conference room’s taken up. And, actually somebody pointed out on Twitter, like, why didn’t anybody give you their seat? I don’t know. But, anyway, I needed a bed. And I decided to lie down on the floor. I just needed some quiet time to myself so I – nobody told me not to lie on my side. I don’t know anything about black eyes.

Four hours later, we’re coming into Kabul, and I get up, I go into the conference room, and Marc Thiessen, who you all know, he says, oh. I said, what? (Laughter.) He said, did you lie on your side? I said, well, yeah. I was sleeping. He said, all the blood pooled right here. So I had this huge black eye, which, of course, finishes the last six weeks of the Bush administration. Oh, the irony.

And we get to see Karzai, and the president says, walk with me. So I walked with him. And, Karzai, who was totally corrupt but very charming, says – oh, he’s so worried about me. And I said, don’t worry, you should see the other guy.

The neat thing about the reporters – and we can end on this before you want to wrap it up – my favorite members of the were the photographers. They do not get enough credit for being journalists. They have to capture moments. They have to know that it matters when Putin looks cross-eyed at Obama, and they’re like, I got that moment, right? Because that helps inform all this. They don’t get enough credit for that. And these guys knew that we cared a lot about them. We called them the photo dogs. That was a 41 reference. And they made a pact, the three of them, on this secret trip, that they would not take a photograph of my eye on the trip. And then, of course, we landed and that didn’t last. But I always thought that that was a good expression of the relationship that even though it was at times often antagonistic, I never flipped the photo dogs the bird. (Laughter.)

MR. MCCURRY: Ladies and gentlemen, and that is the good news. The good news is that Dana survived. Thank you. (Applause.)

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