Bush Drunk-Driving Record Uncovered November 3, 2000
News Summary
GOP Presidential candidate George W. Bush was convicted of drunk driving in a 1976 incident near his family's home in Kennebunkport, Maine, the Boston Globe reported Nov. 3. The future presidential candidate was found to have a .10 percent blood-alcohol content at the time of his arrest.
An investigation by a reporter for WPXT-TV in Portland, Maine, revealed records of Bush's arrest and conviction, which the candidate subsequently acknowledged. "I'm not proud of that," said Bush, who had previously alluded to his 'irresponsible youth' while refusing to provide details or answer questions about allegations of past illicit drug use. "I made some mistakes," he added. "I occasionally drank too much, and I did that night. I learned my lesson."
Bush said he was suspicious about the timing of the revelation of his DUI record, coming just days before the election. Asked why he hadn't disclosed the incident himself, Bush replied that he "didn't want to talk about this in front of my daughters."
When asked about other drug use after news of the DUI conviction broke, Bush spokesperson Karen Hughes replied, "The governor has acknowledged in the past that he has made mistakes," but did not elaborate.
Bush was pulled over while driving with three passengers: his wife, Laura, tennis star John Newcombe, and Newcombe's wife. Bush pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of drunk driving and paid a $150 fine.
Bush was 30 years old when the DUI arrest occurred. The candidate has said previously that he has had problems with alcohol and quit drinking after his 40th birthday. CNN reported that during a Oct. 31 visit to a California addiction treatment program in San Jose, Calif., Bush said, "I was able to share with some of the men and women here that I quit drinking in 1986 and haven't had a drop since. And it wasn't because of a government program, by the way -- in my particular case, because I had a higher call."
The Gore campaign denied any link to the revelation of Bush's impaired-driving conviction.
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