GEORGE W. BUSH SPEAK

GEORGE W. BUSH SPEAK

FRAZER CHRONICLE

(All the News That Nobody Else Will Print)

How much does it cost to have former president George W. Bush speak at you’re fund raiser, banquet, or organizational event…”hold on to your panty-hose,” $250,000, that’s right, Mr. Fumble-Fingers who, on occasion hacks and dices the English Language. Yup a quarter of a million, plus transportation, and expenses…it seems kind of pricy to me, but who am I anyways?

 

As Benjamin Sarlin once said, “The lecture circuit is the fate that awaits all ex-presidents of the United States.” Before Bush left office he was talking with D.C. lawyer Robert Barnett, who helped managed Bill Clinton transition from the White House to the “gilded podium.”  In a 2007 interview with Robert Draper, Bush wondered what he’d do to replenish the ol’ coffers, and figured to accomplish the feat on the lecture circuit, where he could make “ridiculous money.”

 

Most experts figured that President Bush might have an initial problem with selling himself on the speaking circuit because he was hugely unpopular directly after his term in office ended. There was initial distance from Bush, and his administration members who were looking for speaking engagements.

 

However as everybody knows, Americans have short attention spans, and generally are a forgiving lot, and by 2012 G.W. Bush was earning $100,000 an engagement. Not to be outdone, first lady Laura Bush expects between $20,000 and $50,000 for her melodic tones.

 

Today George W. Bush’s asking price has risen to a quarter of a million for almost any speech that he gives. It would not be a stretch to figure that Mr. and Mrs. Bush annually knock down several million a year talking to people about…I’m not sure.

 

I have never been a fan of inspirational or motivational speakers,  to me they are mostly two faced with their subject matter and  lack substance, and have little to add to any political conversation. The one area I do think that these ex-presidents can pay for themselves is at a fund raising dinner or speech. But here again, organizers need to balance their fund raising levels with the price of their speaker…in some cases the initial layout is not worth the effort.

 

SPEAKING TO VETERANS FOR $120,000…WHATS UP WITH THAT

The crux of my blog is the fact that Bush charged $100,000 as well as a private jet to travel to Houston where the Texas based Helping A Hero is located. The charity, which helps provide specially-adapted homes for veterans who lost limbs and suffered other severe injuries in the “war on terror” in Iraq and Afghanistan, said that the expenditure of $170,000 was justified because the former President and First Lady offered discounted fees and helped raise record amounts in contribution at galas that were helped in 2011 and 2012.

 

However Politico stated that the Bush’s charges were, during this time, (2011-2012) around the $170,000 figure. As one veteran said, “you sent me to war, I was doing what you told me to do, and I did so gladly and I have no regrets. It’s kind of slap in the face when you speak at a function and get paid to do so.”

 

Former U.S. Presidents have turned the speaker’s circuit into a major source of income in their post-presidential years. Ronald Reagan once accepted $2 million dollars for speeches in Japan. Bill Clinton has brought in more than $100 million dollars in speaking fees.

 

It used to be different, George H. W. Bush never charged a fee to address any military event, whether a fund raiser, or just addressing military members. Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has been the featured speaker at numerous military charity fundraisers, as has Jimmy Carter, and neither charges a fee for these functions…makes you wonder doesn’t it?

HAVE A NICE DAY!