Ari Fleischer

After a short lived career as a high school gymnast, Ari Fleischer now walks the tightrope between the press and George W. Bush's White House.

"That's the tightrope a Press Secretary walks. My job is to serve both the president and the Press Corps, and that means every day I'm paid to walk a tightrope.".
Ari Fleischer

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Considering a career as a press secretary...

Are there issues that you're uncomfortable talking about?
Well, foreign policy was new to me. I had to really learn foreign policy. And I was very fortunate because the National Security staff has been fantastic in working with me early in the administration, and basically teaching me around the world about various foreign policy issues.

I have a superb staff. I have three deputies and several assistant press secretaries, who do a great job in helping me to anticipate questions and prepare for them.

Are you involved in a learning process on the job?
Absolutely, because my background is much more on domestic issues, having worked for Senator Pete Domenici and for the House Ways & Means Committee. My background is really focused on budget issues, on taxes, on Social Security, on health care, on Welfare, on trade, and that's as a result of what I did for years on the Hill. Foreign policy was new to me.

Has the switch in foreign policy been the biggest change in your job since September 11th?
Well, foreign policy was a big change for me beginning January 20th — the P3 incident with China, relations with Europe, missile defense. All of that was newsworthy in the foreign policy area. But since September 11th, obviously, everything changed.

Are you ever nervous about being on television?
No, I'm not. And I went up to Capitol Hill and gave a speech to some 150 Republican press secretaries, and these are people — you know, House press secretaries — it's what I used to do for a living, and I said to them that what it really comes down to is the very same skill that a House press secretary and answering the question for a reporter who works at a weekly newspaper, it is the same skill required to answer questions standing at the White House podium, and that is learn the facts, be thorough, be accurate, and do a good job representing your boss, when you answer that phone sitting at your desk with a person on the other end of the line who works for a weekly newspaper. If you do that, then there's really no difference between answering that person's questions on the phone and standing at a podium, other than the fact more people are watching.

It really is. And I thought about that when I started this job because I was - I'm just not nervous. You know, I think a lot more personality but it's just my nature. I've been doing this for my career. And I like it. I like reporters. I like discovering that balance between what goes on behind closed doors and what gets talked about publicly. But it did strike me that if you know - if you just are thorough and factual and gather information, it doesn't matter if more people are watching; you're still talking and answering a question.

What was it like the first time when you met George Bush?
Well, it was fascinating, because I was working for Elizabeth Dole, and I was at the Iowa Straw Poll in August of '99. And I happened to find myself backstage, very close to where Governor Bush was, when he was going to go out and speak. Elizabeth Dole was on stage, so I was backstage. And the Governor actually...he was walking by and I stuck out my hand and I introduced myself, and he said to me, "I really appreciate the way you handle yourself." And I said to him, "Well, we're all in this together."

Elizabeth Dole never attacked Governor Bush. I mean they were friendly rivals. So I never attacked Governor Bush. I had a few occasionally tart things to say - but I never attacked him. And there were Republican candidates who really attacked him, and so he thanked me for the manner in which I did my job, and that really struck me. And then after Dole dropped out of the campaign and I met with him in Austin, he just struck me as such a warm, able, smart, affable governor, and the type of man that I wanted to work for.

As press secretary for the president do you have to maintain a certain image in your private life?
I really try to separate my private life from my job. Either you're comfortable with who you are and what you do or you're not. And I enjoy my friendships. Most of my friends have nothing to do with politics or government. I play in an old man's hardball league on the weekends, and most of the guys on that team could care less about politics or government, and that's what I like.

What advice would you give to teens considering a career as a press secretary?
Read the newspapers every day. Read the newspapers and think about what's in those stories, also think about what's not in those stories. Think about what they see as facts in their life and what their political views are shaping up to be, and it doesn't matter if you're a Democrat or a Republican. Engage yourself in the news; engage yourself in the discovery of your philosophy for what policies can affect the news.

What's the life of Press Secretary after they leave the White House?
Not that I would know, but I hear people say it's got a lot fewer hours and a lot more pay.

-- interview conducted February 2002