By TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer
Friday, April 8, 2005
(04-08) 11:41 PDT ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE, (AP) --
President Bush on Friday said that attending the funeral of Pope John Paul II was "one of the highlights of my presidency" and made clear that he disagrees with former President Clinton's assessment that the pontiff leaves a mixed legacy.
"I think John Paul II will have a clear legacy of peace, compassion and a strong legacy of setting a clear moral tone," Bush told reporters on Air Force One as he flew from Rome to the United States just hours after the funeral. He said he wanted to amend his remarks to add the word "excellent."
"It was a strong legacy," the president said. "I wanted to make sure there was a proper adjective to the legacy he left behind, not just the word clear."
Bush, the first U.S. president to attend a papal funeral, led a U.S. delegation to the 2 1/2-hour funeral Mass that included his wife, Laura, his father, former President Bush, former President Clinton and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Clinton, on the flight to Rome earlier this week, had said that John Paul "may have had a mixed legacy," but he called him a man with a great feel for human dignity.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/04/08/national/w082221D55.DTL