President Bush rolls out red carpet for Bennett family

by Peter Jakey, Managing Editor

Dick and Paul Bennett of Rogers City, along with other family members, met President George W. Bush in a rare Oval Office visit in late October.

It was set up by Dick?s daughter, Elizabeth, a recent graduate of Vanderbilt University, who became a member of the White House staff during the summer, writing special letters in the communications department.

Elizabeth sent an E-mail to her family September 26, informing them that there was an opportunity to meet the president at the White House Friday, October 24.

?Nearing the end of the administration, President Bush and his aides have decided that as a reward to the remaining staffers, he will be taking departure photos with each of us,? she stated. ?As you can imagine, this is very rare ? so it?s pretty exciting.?

She also said the picture could be taken with four immediate family members (parents or siblings).

Dick and Paul picked up Dan Bennett in Detroit and Mike flew into Washington, D.C. from Houston.

Once at the White House, they were given a tour of the Rose Garden. ?IT WAS A nice day,? said Dick Bennett. ?There is a lot of security, a lot of security, let me tell you.?

From the Rose Garden, they waited in the Roosevelt Room, adjacent to the Oval Office, for about an hour.

?There are probably 40 or 50 people waiting to visit the president in groups,? said Dick Bennett. ?The usual time was about 10 minutes.? The Bennetts had the largest of the groups.

?We were in the Oval Office for about a half hour,? said Dick Bennett. He talked to each person individually, calling each by name and asked questions, and when he shook each of their hands, he wouldn?t let go right of way.

And when Bush found out that the entire Bennett clan wasn?t there, he wondered why. Dick responded, ?Mr. President, the invitation said we could only bring four.? ? ?If you would have called me, I would have waived that,? ? Bush told him.

Bennett also showed the president a group picture of some locals that campaigned for him four years ago. It was at a fundraiser for Dick Cheney in Traverse City. The picture included Dick Vogelheim of Rogers City, seasonal resident Wayne Hawkins, along with Dick and Paul.

Dick said the president really appreciated the efforts, saying, ? ?that was right kind of you.? ? It also may explain why Bush wouldn?t let them leave right away. ?I TRIED TO go two different times and he said ?I’m not done with you yet,? ? said Bennett. ?I wasn’t nervous. My daughter was very nervous that I might say something, or do something. I told her, don’t worry Elizabeth!?

As is the case with most people, Paul didn?t want to say something silly. ?The only thing I could think of saying was ?thank you for your service.? There are several other things that I wanted to asked him about, but I didn’t want to ask the wrong thing.?

?So what does he do?? said Dick with a laugh, ?the president throws a fist bump at Paul, and Paul almost missed it.?

Bu

sh also talked with Mike Bennett about the recession the country has plunged into the last few months. Mike Bennett manages an endowment fund for Baylor University Hospital.

?He said, ‘Mr. President, we’ve lost 20 percent of our assets in the last couple of weeks,? ? Dick relayed. ?He (Bush) said, ?I understand, we are going to be in a recession. It won’t go to a depression.? ?

Part of the Bennett?s trip to the White House included a send off of Marine One. The president boarded the helicopter and waved to everybody. The Bennetts were in a roped off area with 60 to 70 people.

?This was when all this stuff was going on with the economy,? said Dick. ?He looked as happy as can be.? And that?s how he left the Bennetts, during their special day in the nation?s capitol.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.