Bush has said that he has "some recollection" of attending drills that year, but has not been more specific. Under Air National Guard rules at the time, anyone who did not report to required drills could be inducted in the draft to serve in Vietnam, according to the Globe. That never happened to Bush.
Another Clue
Ironically, another clue that Bush shirked his military duty emerged from U.S. government records about a week after the CBS memo flap, with the release of Bush's hand-written resignation letter from the Texas Air National Guard.
After moving to Boston to attend Harvard Business School, Bush was supposed to finish up his National Guard service in Massachusetts. Instead, in November 1974, Bush scribbled a note saying he wanted out of the Guard.
Bush explained that he had "inadequate time to fullfill (sic) possible future commitments." His request was granted. He was given an honorable discharge. [Reuters, Sept. 29, 2004]
Bush's note received little attention in the U.S. press, much the way the story about Bush's National Guard record usually was treated during his rise to power. Intermittently, the U.S. press reported on these gaps in Bush's record, but never in a sustained way.
Nor did the major American news media treat the Bush-Guard story as suitable for pundit show commentary. Similarly, Bush's implausible answers did not lead to questions from the media about Bush's veracity.
By contrast, during Campaign 2000, the press dwelled extensively on Vice President Al Gore's supposed exaggerations about the dangers he faced as a U.S. Army reporter in Vietnam. Gore volunteered for the war, although he and his father, a senator from Tennessee, opposed it.
It was never clear how today's reporters, who were not present with Gore in Vietnam, would have any way of checking how much danger Gore actually encountered. But they judged him a liar nonetheless.
Similarly, CNN and other major U.S. news outlets gave significant (and respectful) treatment to the anti-Kerry allegations from the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth during Campaign 2004.
No journalist who promoted those smears, which were later debunked by more careful examinations, was subjected to any known punishment. There was no high-profile humiliations like those meted out to Mapes and Rather.
A different press standard always seems to apply to the powerful Bush Family.
Putin's Complaint
Curiously, one world leader who dared confront George W. Bush with the issue of his (and America's) hypocrisy on the news media was Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In Decision Points, Bush recounts a meeting at which he called Putin on the carpet for a "crackdown on the free press" in Russia.
According to Bush, Putin responded by saying, "Don't lecture me about the free press, not after you fired that reporter."
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