Author: Bush tapes not meant for public

Doug Wead says recordings were historical record

NEW YORK (CNN) - An author who secretly recorded his conversations with then-Gov. George W. Bush told CNN Monday that the tapes were a historical record that he never wanted made public.

Doug Wead -- a former aide to President Bush's father, George H.W. Bush -- said he was thinking about writing a book when he made the tapes, but would not say whether he thought the tapes would boost sales of his book about presidential childhoods.

"My book could have been released before the election," Wead said. "It would have been driven by partisan sales."


Doug Wead discusses taped conversations Monday in an interview with CNN.

Asked again whether the tapes would persuade readers to buy the book, "The Raising of a President," Wead said his publicist told him, "I lost a million dollars by delaying the book until after the election, where it would have been driven by partisan interests."

"I hope it sells," Wead said. "I'm a historian, and he's president and has to lead, has to set an example. I had to write about the Roosevelts, the Kennedys, the Bushes. I attempted to vet the stories with all three families."

In a segment of the tapes made available to CNN by ABC News, the president appears to admit to trying marijuana.

Bush says he "wouldn't answer the marijuana question ... 'cause I don't want some little kid doing what I tried."

"But you gotta understand, I want to be president, I want to lead. I want to set -- Do you want your little kid to say, 'Hey daddy, President Bush tried marijuana, I think I will?' " he said.

In a segment of the tapes played on ABC's "Good Morning America," Bush says the same holds true for questions about cocaine use, which have dogged him since the 2000 election.

"The cocaine thing, let me tell you my strategy on that," Bush said on the tape. "Rather than saying no ... I think it's time for someone to draw the line and look people in the eye and say, you know, 'I'm not going to participate in ugly rumors about me and blame my opponent,' and hold the line. Stand up for a system that will not allow this kind of crap to go on."

Bush also corrected Wead when he said that an evangelical leader had said Bush promised not to hire gay men and lesbians.

"No, what I said was I wouldn't fire gays," he said on the tapes. "I'm not going to discriminate against people."

Wead revealed the existence of the tapes to The New York Times. The Times hired a voice analyst who concluded after eight days that Bush was the speaker on the tapes. ABC News also concluded the voice on the tapes was Bush. (Full story)

CNN has not independently confirmed the speaker, but White House spokesman Ken Lisaius said that the tapes were "casual conversations with somebody (Bush) considered a friend."

Wead told ABC News that he had played the tapes for his publisher to confirm anonymous sources, and The New York Times somehow learned of their existence. But the Times report says Wead told the paper about the tapes to defend a passage in his book.

Wead told ABC that Bush, who has acknowledged past alcohol abuse, spoke about past drug use "often" in their conversations. But Wead told CNN that the drug use was "an irrelevant point to me."

"He's already said he was young and irresponsible," he said. "That established the point I needed to make in my book about the man in the shadow. My feeling was because of his indiscretions as a young person, it took the pressure off him, the expectations he'd have to achieve and live up to the Bush image."

With attention showered on his brother Jeb Bush, governor of Florida, George W. Bush "found Laura, he found his faith" out of the public glare.

"In a 10-year period, he became a millionaire, the governor of Texas, and the president of the United States," Wead said.