However, it looks like the second story is true:
Claim: In 2003, President and Mrs. Bush helped hand out Christmas presents to children of inmates.
Status: True.
Origins:
So often the stories about various politicians have nothing to them, but that is not the case here. Although not a great deal of information is available, what little we've been able to discover fits the account given above.
On 22 December 2003, President and Mrs. Bush did visit the Shiloh Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia, for the purpose of recognizing its "Victim to Victory Angel Tree Ministry," a program which provides Christmas gifts to more than 500,000 children of inmates each year. The Associated Press covered their visit, and Angel Tree itself issued a press statement about the visit from the First Family, saying that "The President and First Lady joined the young guests of honor in singing carols, and reading a Christmas story. They also helped hand out gifts to approximately 50 children of prisoners at the holiday event." Breakpoint also issued an account of the Presidential visit, which includes Mr. Bush's remarks to those assembled.
We can't tell from what little information is available how long President and Mrs. Bush spent with the families of inmates, which might well be the crux of things. Although Associated Press did mention this visit (but only in passing as part of a far larger article about George W. Bush attending a menorah lighting ceremony that same week), most news outlets didn't pick up and run the story. The e-mailed account was right about this story not getting circulated — we're not finding that news of it made its way into many newspapers. As to why the press would choose to pass over the story, keep in mind that Presidents and their wives reading to groups of children or visiting the needy and infirm during the holiday season isn't news in and of itself, because they all do it. It is therefore not surprising that the press would choose to expend their resources on what they deemed to be more exciting news stories than the standard festive season gladhanding. Yet if Colson's account is accurate ("They stayed long after the cameras were gone to greet every child, to have their picture taken with them, their mothers, and their grandmothers, to talk with them, and to ask questions"), this wasn't the standard 'smile for the cameras then run like heck' that has come to be expected from politicians; it was something more. (Although the press could hardly be expected to report the 'something more' part since, as described in the account quoted above, they were "ushered out" after ten minutes and therefore weren't around to witness it.)
A cynical way of looking at this Christmas visit would be to attribute the President's extra involvement to a desire to draw attention to a pet project — according to the Associated Press article, "White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the event was aimed at highlighting Bush's initiative for recruiting and training mentors for more than 1 million disadvantaged youth, including 100,000 children with parents in prison." A less cynical view would be to see it as an expression of real support and concern, an act of true charity that came from the heart.
Claim: In 2003, President and Mrs. Bush helped hand out Christmas presents to children of inmates.
Status: True.
Origins:
So often the stories about various politicians have nothing to them, but that is not the case here. Although not a great deal of information is available, what little we've been able to discover fits the account given above.
On 22 December 2003, President and Mrs. Bush did visit the Shiloh Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia, for the purpose of recognizing its "Victim to Victory Angel Tree Ministry," a program which provides Christmas gifts to more than 500,000 children of inmates each year. The Associated Press covered their visit, and Angel Tree itself issued a press statement about the visit from the First Family, saying that "The President and First Lady joined the young guests of honor in singing carols, and reading a Christmas story. They also helped hand out gifts to approximately 50 children of prisoners at the holiday event." Breakpoint also issued an account of the Presidential visit, which includes Mr. Bush's remarks to those assembled.
We can't tell from what little information is available how long President and Mrs. Bush spent with the families of inmates, which might well be the crux of things. Although Associated Press did mention this visit (but only in passing as part of a far larger article about George W. Bush attending a menorah lighting ceremony that same week), most news outlets didn't pick up and run the story. The e-mailed account was right about this story not getting circulated — we're not finding that news of it made its way into many newspapers. As to why the press would choose to pass over the story, keep in mind that Presidents and their wives reading to groups of children or visiting the needy and infirm during the holiday season isn't news in and of itself, because they all do it. It is therefore not surprising that the press would choose to expend their resources on what they deemed to be more exciting news stories than the standard festive season gladhanding. Yet if Colson's account is accurate ("They stayed long after the cameras were gone to greet every child, to have their picture taken with them, their mothers, and their grandmothers, to talk with them, and to ask questions"), this wasn't the standard 'smile for the cameras then run like heck' that has come to be expected from politicians; it was something more. (Although the press could hardly be expected to report the 'something more' part since, as described in the account quoted above, they were "ushered out" after ten minutes and therefore weren't around to witness it.)
A cynical way of looking at this Christmas visit would be to attribute the President's extra involvement to a desire to draw attention to a pet project — according to the Associated Press article, "White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the event was aimed at highlighting Bush's initiative for recruiting and training mentors for more than 1 million disadvantaged youth, including 100,000 children with parents in prison." A less cynical view would be to see it as an expression of real support and concern, an act of true charity that came from the heart.
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