By JENNIFER LUCE and DON GENTILE
Faced with the biggest
crisis of his political life,
President Bush has hit
the bottle again, The
National Enquirer
can reveal.
Bush, who said he quit
drinking the morning after
his 40th birthday, has
started boozing amid the
Katrina catastrophe.
Family sources have told
how the 59-year-old president
was caught by First
Lady Laura downing a
shot of booze at their family
ranch in Crawford,
Texas, when he learned of
the hurricane disaster.
His worried wife yelled
at him: "Stop, George."
Following the shocking
incident, disclosed here for
the first time, Laura privately
warned her husband
against "falling off the wagon"
and vowed to travel with
him more often so that she can
keep an eye on Dubya, the
sources add.
"When the levees broke in
New Orleans, it apparently
made him reach for a shot," said
one insider. "He poured himself a
Texas-sized shot of straight
whiskey and tossed it back. The
First Lady was shocked and shouted:
"Stop George!"
"Laura gave him an ultimatum
before, 'It's Jim Beam or me.' She
doesn't want to replay that
nightmare — especially
now when it's such
tough going for her
husband."
Bush is
under the
worst
pressure
of his two
terms in office
and his
popularity is
near an all-time
low. The handling
of the Katrina crisis
and troop losses in Iraq
have fueled public discontent and
pushed Bush back to drink.
A Washington source said: "The
sad fact is that he has been sneaking
drinks for weeks now. Laura may have only just caught him — but the
word is his drinking has been going
on for a while in the capital. He's been
in a pressure cooker for months.
"The war in Iraq, the loss of American
lives, has deeply affected him. He
takes every soldier's life personally. It
has left him emotionally drained.
The result is he's taking drinks here
and there, likely in private, to cope.
"And now with the worst domestic
crisis in his administration over Katrina,
you pray his drinking doesn't go
out of control."
Another source said: "I'm only surprised
to hear that he hadn't taken a
shot sooner. Before Katrina, he was
at his wit's end. I've known him for
years. He's been a good ol' Texas boy
forever. George had a drinking problem
for years that most professionals
would say needed therapy. He doesn't
believe in it [therapy], he never
got it. He drank his way through his
youth, through college and well into
his thirties. Everyone's drinking
around him."
Another source said: "A family
member told me they fear George is
'falling apart.' The First Lady has
been assigned the job of gatekeeper."
Bush's history of drinking dates
back to his youth. Speaking of his
time as a young man in the National
Guard, he has said: "One thing I remember,
and I'm most proud of, is
my drinking and partying. Those
were the days my friends. Those
were the good old days!"
Age 26 in 1972, he reportedly
rounded off a night's boozing with
his 16-year-old brother Marvin by
challenging his father to a fight.
On November 1, 2000, on the
eve of his first presidential election,
Bush acknowledged that in
1976 he was arrested for driving
under the influence of alcohol near
his parents' home in Maine. Age
30 at the time, Bush pleaded guilty
and paid a $150 fine. His driving
privileges were temporarily suspended
in Maine.
"I'm not proud of that," he said. "I
made some mistakes. I occasionally
drank too much, and I did that
night. I learned my lesson." In another
interview around that time,
he said: "Well, I don't think I had
an addiction. You know it's hard for
me to say. I've had friends who
were, you know, very addicted...
and they required hitting bottom
(to start) going to AA. I don't think
that was my case."
During his 2000 presidential
campaign, there were also persistent
questions about past cocaine
use. Eventually Bush denied using
cocaine after 1992, then quickly
extended the cocaine-free period
back to 1974, when he was 28.
Dr. Justin Frank, a Washington
D.C. psychiatrist and author of
Bush On The Couch: Inside The
Mind Of The President, told The
National Enquirer: "I do think that
Bush is drinking again. Alcoholics
who are not in any program, like
the President, have a hard time
when stress gets to be great.
"I think it's a concern that Bush
disappears during times of stress.
He spends so much time on his
ranch. It's very frightening."
