But, his parents were crazy enough to keep pushing him into the family business.
Little known gonzo intersection: Hunter Thompson and party animal, George W. Bush, during the summer of '74:
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2005/02/21/hst/print.htmlQuote:
Thompson claimed to know a thing or two about the president's partying past. In an interview with The Independent in 2004, Thompson said he remembered meeting Bush at Thompson's Super Bowl party in Houston in 1974. He said that Bush was "with a guy who had come to sell . . . " but then cut himself off. "Look, I'm not going to put this next sentence on the record. Let's just say that 'a friend of mine' was buying cocaine. I have friends in Houston from all walks of life. Lawyers. Professional men. Bush was hanging around with this crowd of what you might call gilded coke dilettantes."
Thompson's memory wasn't always the most reliable, and his story about his Houston encounter with Bush evolved over time. But in the 2004 telling of it, at least, Thompson said the future president had left an indelible impression on him.
"He knew who I was, at that time, because I had a reputation as a writer. I knew he was part of the Bush dynasty. But he was nothing, he offered nothing, and he promised nothing. He had no humor. He was insignificant in every way and consequently I didn't pay much attention to him. But when he passed out in my bathtub, then I noticed him. I'd been in another room, talking to the bright people. I had to have him taken away." -on meeting George W Bush at Thompson's Super Bowl party in Houston in 1974
Also referenced in the above link, a set of tapes reviewed by a NYT reporter (but never made it into print) of Dubya's admission to drug use secretly audiotaped by Douglas Wead, an old friend of Bush's, which ABC News reported as follows:
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Politics/story?id=518678&page=1On the tapes, Bush discussed strategies for stonewalling questions about past marijuana use.
"Do you want your little kid, to say, 'Hey daddy, President Bush tried marijuana; I think I will?'" said Bush on the tapes. "That's the message we've been sending out. I wouldn't answer the marijuana question."
In a taped segment played on "Good Morning America," Bush also addressed how he would deal with questions about cocaine use.
"The cocaine thing, let me tell you my strategy on that," Bush said on the tape. "Rather than saying no … I think it's time for someone to draw the line and look people in the eye and say, you know, 'I'm not going to participate in ugly rumors about me and blame my opponent,' and hold the line. Stand up for a system that will not allow this kind of crap to go on."
When asked if past drug use was a big issue to Bush, Wead said, "He brought the subject up often."