Author Robert Draper has succeeded where most journalists have failed—he's convinced Bush to go on the record and open up about his presidency. Over the course of six hour-long interviews, Bush discussed some of his past decisions, his personal feelings about holding public office, and his plans for the future. Draper's book based on the interviews, Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush, came out today.

The New York Times has a good review, but what I find interesting are some of the direct quotes from Bush. Some reveal his human side and remind me that, regardless of how much I disagree with his decisions, his job is one of the hardest in the world and the last few years must have taken a toll. Others, such his belief that Iraq had WMDs as late as 2006, add to the evidence that this administration is incompetent, blinded by ideology, and reckless. Some quotes are below:

On his plans for after he leaves office

“I’ll give some speeches, just to replenish the ol’ coffers. I don’t know what my dad gets — it’s more than 50-75 [thousand dollars a speech] Clinton’s making a lot of money.”

“We’ll have a nice place in Dallas,” where he will be running what he called “a fantastic Freedom Institute” promoting democracy around the world. "I can just envision getting in the car, getting bored, going down to the ranch.”

On his hopes for the surge

“I’m playing for October-November." His goal is "to get us in a position where the presidential candidates will be comfortable about sustaining a presence," and, he said later, “stay longer.”

On the stress of his job

“I can’t let my own worries — I try not to wear my worries on my sleeve; I don’t want to burden them with that. Self-pity is the worst thing that can happen to a presidency. This is a job where you can have a lot of self-pity.”

“Of course I do [have a shoulder t cry on], I’ve got God’s shoulder to cry on, and I cry a lot. I’ll bet I’ve shed more tears than you can count as president.”

“That guy who said if you want a friend in Washington get a dog, knew what he was talking about.”

On leadership and unpopular decisions

“I made a decision to lead. One, it makes you unpopular; two, it makes people accuse you of unilateral arrogance, and that may be true. But the fundamental question is, is the world better off as a result of your leadership?”

On the war in Iraq

“One interesting question historians are going to have to answer is: Would Saddam have behaved differently if he hadn’t gotten mixed signals between the first resolution and the failure of the second resolution? I can’t answer that question. I was hopeful that diplomacy would work.”