So I went to George and told him I had the opportunity to become the figurehead of a government safety campaign, and he agreed to give me the week off and reschedule shooting!
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I didn't do this for the President. When I had this opportunity, not only was it work, but it was something that I could do, as an actor, for the victims and their families. Something I could give back.
When you were a volunteer for the Bush-Cheney campaign, you came in the morning; you had a supervisor who gave you a list of calls to make and a time to do it in.
I was planning, I told everybody, to take him on the road with me. At the very least I fully expected to keep up my hectic pace, and my passion as a war correspondent.
I wrote the script of Patton. I had this very bizarre opening where he stands up in front of an American flag and gives this speech. Ultimately, I was fired. When the script was done, they hired another writer and that script was forgotten.
I decided that I was going to leave State House, and I was going also to step up and step aside so that I give President Peter Mutharika an opportunity to run the country without my interference.
I thought I could make a difference, so I ran for office.
I had a 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington' experience as governor.
He convinced me that if we're going to have honest government that you can't leave it up to the crooks and that honest people have to get involved in government. So I did. I got involved as a criminal prosecutor with the U. S. Justice Department.
The president and I sat down in the Oval Office, and he expressed very clearly that what he wants from me is my best professional military advice.
I worked in the White House on 9/11, where the vice president was given the authority to, if he deemed necessary, shoot down an American passenger jet.