Correspondents hear Bush, the humorist

April 29, 2001
Web posted at: 2:22 p.m. EDT (1822 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President George W. Bush took irreverent digs at himself and just about everyone in his family in a joke-riddled speech that marked his debut at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, an annual rite that has become an occasion for self-deprecating humor from presidents.

Offering "a little slide show," Bush got the biggest laugh in addressing whether he was sore at brother Jeb, the Florida governor, for the drawn-out postelection struggle in that state.

Bush said he wasn't, then flashed a photo of a naked, though not completely revealed, Jeb as a toddler.

Making himself the butt of humor, Bush showed off his first-grade report card, all A's, and said, "My advice is, don't peak too early."

And he took a dig at his recent decision not to adopt Clinton-era controls on arsenic in drinking water.

Displaying a childhood photo of himself and his siblings all in a bathtub with their father, he cracked, "With all those kids in the tub, it's not arsenic in the water I'd be worried about."

He showed a picture of his favorite horse from his childhood, a surefooted and steady steed. "I trusted that horse totally," he said. "Here's the really weird part; his name was Dick Cheney."

Bush's steady vice president -- some say the White House's work horse -- watched from the head table.

The correspondents' dinner has become an occasion for self-deprecating humor from presidents. Bush's slide show was a little lower tech than last year's farewell video from Bill Clinton, who pretended to be at loose ends in the last lame-duck months of his administration.

In a brief detour from the laughs, Bush offered a hearty welcome and a salute to two members of the crew of the U.S. surveillance plane that had been held in China -- Lt. Shane Osborn, the pilot, and Lt. j.g. John Comerford, the co-pilot.

Bush also congratulated winners of the association's annual journalism awards.

Associated Press writer Sandra Sobieraj was given the Merriman Smith Memorial Award in the print category for her behind-the-scenes account of the drama of election night, including conversations between Bush and rival Al Gore.

Jim Angle of Fox News Channel won the broadcast award for his coverage of the Florida recount and Steve Thomma of Knight received the Aldo Beckman Award for his campaign stories. The Edgar A. Poe award went to Elizabeth Marchak, Dave Davis and Joan Mazzolini of The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, for a series on poor health care given to minorities in the United States.

Daniel Lyght, a high school senior from Rockville, Maryland, was presented with a scholarship to study journalism.

Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

-- Anonymous, April 29, 2001