"Bush said he would encourage his son, the governor of Texas, to make a bid for the presidency. "As a father, it would give me great pride to see him run for president.'' Bush: U.S. Presidency Will Recover PARIS (AP) -- Former President George Bush, on a French media blitz to promote his book, said he lamented the state of U.S. politics -- but that its institutions would stay strong, a local newspaper reported in Wednesday editions. ``Today in Washington, the atmosphere has no civility left,'' Bush was quoted as saying by Le Figaro newspaper. ``That's why citizens are turning away from politics.'' But, he said, ``the presidency will survive, and the Congress will, too.'' Bush has made a slew of media appearances in the past two days to promote his memoirs, ``A World Transformed,'' written with former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft. He has tried to deflect an onslaught of questions about the Monica Lewinsky scandal, not always with success. On Monday, he told French television that the scandal ``is not, as some say, a story about sex.'' Most French people are highly skeptical of the proceedings in Washington, believing that the Lewinsky scandal centers on sex and should have remained private. On Tuesday, Bush said he would encourage his son George W. Bush, the governor of Texas, to make a bid for the presidency. ``As a father, it would give me great pride and joy to see him run for president,'' Bush said in the radio interview. ``He has the capacity, the drive ... he's strong and he's honest.''
