White House Press Secretary
Although Fleischer served as communications director for Elizabeth Dole during her presidential run in the 2000 election campaign, he joined George W. Bush's presidential campaign after Mrs. Dole dropped out of the race. When Mr. Bush became the President in 2001, he tapped Fleischer to become the first press secretary of his administration.
Fleischer is credited with having been the first to introduce the phrase "homicide bombing" to describe what has also been called suicide bombing, in April 2002, to emphasize the terrorist connotations of the tactic:
| “ | The president…convened a meeting of the National Security Council, at which point, in the middle of the meeting, the president was informed about this morning's homicide bombing in Jerusalem.…The Saudi telethon, as they have told it to us, is to provide assistance to the Palestinian people, and that isn't – no money is going to go to provide the homicide bombers with any assistance from the Saudi government.
|
” |
On May 19, 2003, he announced that he would resign during the summer, citing a desire to spend more time with his wife and to work in the private sector. He was replaced by deputy press secretary Scott McClellan on July 15, 2003.
Read more about this topic: Ari Fleischer
Famous quotes containing the words white, house, press and/or secretary:
“We shall walk in velvet shoes:
Wherever we go
Silence will fall like dews
On white silence below.
We shall walk in the snow.”
—Elinor Wylie (1885–1928)
“If Hitler invaded hell I would make at least a favourable reference to the devil in the House of Commons.”
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965)
“[I] delivered the Introduction of it to Baldwin, that I might say my book was at if not in the press on New Year’s Day.”
—James Boswell (1740–1795)
“The truth is, the whole administration under Roosevelt was demoralized by the system of dealing directly with subordinates. It was obviated in the State Department and the War Department under [Secretary of State Elihu] Root and me [Taft was the Secretary of War], because we simply ignored the interference and went on as we chose.... The subordinates gained nothing by his assumption of authority, but it was not so in the other departments.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)