Bush pleaded guilty 25 years ago to drunken driving

WEST ALLIS, Wis. - Texas Gov. George W. Bush said Thursday he was arrested and pleaded guilty nearly 25 years ago to driving while under the influence of alcohol. ''I'm not proud of that,'' he said.

Confirming reports that surfaced in the media five days before Election Day, the GOP presidential nominee said in a hurriedly arranged news conference, ''I've often times said that years ago I made some mistakes. I occasionally drank too much, and I did on that night. I regret that it happened.''

The Sept. 4, 1976, incident was first reported by Fox News, based on a report prepared by a local affiliate in Maine. Bush, who was 30 years old at the time, said he had chosen to keep the incident private, but his hand was forced by the news outlets.

Suggesting that politics may have played a role in the incident surfacing now, Bush said, ''I think that's an interesting question. Why now? - (five) days before the election.''

''I've got my suspicions,'' said Bush, not sharing them with a crowd of reporters surrounding him.

For months, the GOP nominee has refused to answer questions about any ''youthful indiscretions,'' including whether he used illegal drugs in the 1960s and early 1970s. He continued to avoid specifics Thursday night, saying he has ''been straightforward with the people, saying that I used to drink too much in the past. I'm straightforward with people saying I don't drink now.''

Chris Lehane, spokesman for the Gore campaign, said, ''We had absolutely nothing to do with this.''

Bush's campaign staff jumped into action after the news broke, tracking down the arresting officer and quickly arranging a rare news conference for the Texas governor - his first in a month.

Aides said Bush was pulled over near his family's Kennebunkport, Maine, summer home after visiting a bar with friends and a family member during the Labor Day weekend, aides said.

Spokeswoman Mindy Tucker said Bush, who had been drinking beer, paid a $150 fine and had his driving privileges revoked in the state of Maine for a short period. His drivers' license in Texas, where Bush lived at the time, was not revoked or suspended, she said.

''I didn't want to talk about this in front of my daughters,'' said Bush, who is father of 18-year-old twins.

Calvin Bridges, identified as the arresting officer by the Bush campaign and documents made available by the Bush campaign, said in a telephone interview that he recalls driving home from work after midnight and spotting a car slipping briefly onto the shoulder before getting back on the road.

Bush, the driver, failed a road sobriety test and a second test in the police station, registering a 0.10 blood-alcohol level - the legal limit at the time, Bridges said.

Asked about Bush's demeanor, the retired officer said, ''The man was, and I say this without being facetious, a picture of integrity. He gave no resistance. He was very cooperative.''

Bridges said Bush spent about 90 minutes in custody. He said he was contacted Thursday night by two Bush aides and asked if he would accept a telephone call from a reporter.

Bridges, 51, said Bush was accompanied by two women and a man. Bush spokeswoman Karen Hughes said they were Bush's sister, Dorothy, the Australian tennis player John Newcombe and his wife.

The GOP presidential nominee, 54, has said he quit drinking the day after his 40th birthday - July 6, 1986. Alcohol ''was beginning to compete for my affections,'' he told an interviewer in September.

A year before the incident, Bush earned his Masters of Business Administration and returned to Texas to get into the oil business.

In the summer of 1977, he met his wife, Laura, and married her in November. A year later, he launched an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Congress.

Kevin Kelly, news director of WPXT-TV, the Fox affiliate in Portland, said that a reporter received a tip from someone while covering a court case in Cumberland County Superior Court. The reporter drove to Kennebunkport to get the arrest report, Kelly said.

WCSH-TV News Director Mike Curry says one his reporters also was tipped by someone while at the Cumberland County Courthouse. A WCSH-TV reporter drove to York County retrieve copies from Biddeford District Court and from the Kennebunkport Police Department.

Bush's running mate Dick Cheney, 59, had two driving while intoxicated offenses when he was in his early 20s, in 1962 and 1963, according to his press secretary Juleanna Glover Weiss. She couldn't provide details.