KID REPORT
August 30, 2004
Talking with Doro Bush Koch
TFK Kid Reporters interview President George W. Bush's sister
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TFK: If President Bush is re-elected, what do you think will be his biggest educational priority?
Bush Koch: Well, I think he’ll try to get the No Child Left Behind law all around the country. It’s been very successful up to this point. We need to spread the word among teachers and parents and families that No Child Left Behind is all about accountability and making sure that students and teachers are accountable to parents and that’s what makes it successful.
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Bush Koch: I sit on the board of the George H.W. Bush Library. He was the 41st President who was my father and so I sit on the board and help them raise money and do things like that. And now I help the Barbara Bush foundation for family literacy raise money in the state of Maryland and all of the money that I raise goes back to existing family literacy programs in the state and so those are the two charitable organizations, in my own family, that I work for.
TFK: What are you doing to try to get your brother re-elected?
Bush Koch: Well, I’m traveling the country. First of all I’m here at the convention thanking people. I’m thanking all the people from all the different delegations. I’m trying to motivate them to do absolutely everything they can to help in the fall. Because everything they do, because it’s a close election as you know, will make an enormous difference.
This fall I’ll travel the country and I’ll speak to people and I’ll again thank people and help motivate people. And try to convince people in speeches and by going to different kinds of events. A lot of times candidates and surrogates will come to barbecues or whatever’s happening in that particular area. I’ll go to all the toss-up states like Ohio, and Michigan, and you know all the ones that are close.
TFK: I’m sure most of the kids around America are wondering ‘What’s it like to be the sister of the President on the United States?’
Bush Koch: I know it. Can you imagine I’ve been the daughter of a President and the sister of a President. I’m the only person in the history of the country to have that...I have kind of a unique place in history and a unique perspective on the Presidency. It’s really just a privilege. I’ve been able to witness history up-close. I’ve been included in lots of things in two different administrations. I got married at Camp David, that’s pretty special. I spent a lot of weekends at Camp David with the President and whenever something exciting is happening at the White House, I’m invited. So, it’s a privilege I would say.
TFK: Can you tell us, from a sister’s perspective, something about the President that maybe readers don’t normally hear about?
Bush Koch: Well, he was very bossy growing up and that’s why I knew he was going to be something like a President. I wasn’t surprised. He and I are thirteen years apart. So you know, I was sort of his, I’m not going to say servant, but, you know, close to it. I was the little sister, and I ran around and did everything for him for many, many years and I’m still working for him to this day. So, what does that say about big brothers and little sisters. I don’t know. Things don’t change. That’s what it says.
TFK: So you call him President or George, or…
Bush Koch: I call him, you know out of respect for the office and because I’ve had a father be President and I have a huge respect for the office, I call him Mr. President. In private, I call him George. I might refer to him as George, but I really call him Mr. President. Because it’s not really him that I’m calling Mr. President, it’s the office he’s holding. And it’s really a magnificent and special thing.
