Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/author-discusses-bush-administrations-faith-based-initiatives Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript President Bush began a faith-based initiative office in the White House. The former deputy, David Kuo, now accuses the administration of manipulating its religious base for political purposes in a new book, "Tempting Faith." Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. RAY SUAREZ: When the Bush administration came to office in 2001, it touted its faith-based initiative as a top domestic priority. The agenda included more money and improved access to federal funding for faith-based organizations and tax credits to spur charitable giving.The Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives was created to oversee the agenda and still exists. But a new book by David Kuo, who served as the second-in-command in that office, argues that the administration often used its faith-based initiative for political gain. David Kuo joins me now.You write in your book, "I fell in love with my fusion of Christianity and politics in 1987." So, really, this is also the education of a movement conservative.DAVID KUO, Author, "Tempting Faith": It absolutely is. I mean, in some ways, the title, "The Story of Political Seduction," it's a story of my political seduction, which I trace throughout the book, making a journey from being more of a social gospel liberal when I was growing up to being very much a card-carrying member of the religious right. RAY SUAREZ: When you got to what became the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, you went there wanting it to work, didn't you? DAVID KUO: Yes. I went there — I entered the Bush White House after having thought I was done with politics. You know, I got a call to go in from a friend, and I went in because of the extraordinary promise that Governor Bush had made, this $8 billion-a-year promise to help the poor, I mean, this extraordinary new political philosophy of compassionate conservatism that he articulated so eloquently throughout the campaign.I felt like being able to fight for that was this fulfillment of my Christianity and politics, the opportunity to really fight on behalf of the poor, which is something I very much felt that Jesus would probably like.