Thursday, April 28, 2005

President Will Address Social Security, Energy in Primetime

ABC News
A Quick Look at Bush's Press Conference
President Will Address Social Security, Energy in Primetime

Apr. 28, 2005 - President Bush will hold a news conference today at 8:30 p.m. ET in the East Room of the White House, his first prime-time news conference since April 13, 2004.

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said the press conference has been planned for a couple of weeks and that it will address Social Security reform and energy policies. Bush's "60 stops in 60 days" tour ends Sunday. Bush is expected to declare the tour "a success," and to lay out some specific ideas for "moving the bipartisan debate forward."

President Bush's press conference today will be his:

sixth since Election Day, Nov. 2, 2004

fourth since Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, 2005

fourth prime-time press conference since taking office in 2001

Counting today, Bush has held 17 solo press conferences at the White House since taking office in January 2001. This figure counts only press conferences when the president appeared alone at the White House, not on a foreign trip or with a foreign leader. A full list of his press conferences appears below.

President Bush has notably increased the frequency of his time in front of the White House press corps since his re-election. He has held a press conference every month since Election Day, and in all, six of his 17 total solo press conferences have come since Nov. 2, 2004.

President Bush's Press Conferences

The president's last press conference came on Wednesday, March 16, before the president left for his ranch in Crawford, Texas, for a 10-day trip over the Easter holiday.

The last five press conferences have all come around a major event or just before he leaves for a vacation.

Nov. 4, 2004 (2 days after the election)

Dec. 20, 2004 (before leaving for Crawford for Christmas)

Jan. 26, 2005 (post-inauguration and before the Iraqi election and State of the Union)

Feb. 17, 2005 (before leaving for Europe)

March 16, 2005 (before leaving for Crawford for Easter)

Before Election Day, President Bush's last press conference at the White House was April 13, 2004, in the East Room in the evening.

President Bush's solo White House press conferences:

April 28, 2005

March 16, 2005

Feb. 17, 2005

Jan. 26, 2005

Dec. 20, 2004

Nov. 4, 2004

April 13, 2004 (prime-time)

Dec. 15, 2003

Oct. 28, 2003

July 30, 2003

March, 6, 2003 (prime-time)

Nov. 7, 2002

July 8, 2002

October 11, 2001 (prime-time)

May 11, 2001

March 29, 2001

February 22, 2001