CNN

Clinton's biggest failure? Monica of course..... it cost the entire country 8 years of incompetence by allowing Bush to win... sort of....

Clinton's biggest mistake? China MFN.... I said it then and I'll say it now.... MFN was a terrible mistake. It feeds into every economic problem we've had since. Even the Sub-prime mortgage crisis and the bank failures woul NOT have occurred (at least not so quickly) if we weren't selling our futures to China on the cheap..... What China doesn't "own" in toxic financial instruments, they drove the cost up on by being flooded with American Dollars.....

At the time, if Bush Sr. has pushed ahead and removed Saddam Hussein, he would have had the same problem on his hands as his son stupid Bush Jr. got: Al Queda was absolutely ready to jump in to fill the vacuum and be involved in Iraq (in fact, Al Queda suggested to the Saudis to let them remove Saddam at the time – an offer that the Saudis rejected in favor of help from the U.S.).
As most fathers do, Bush Sr. is trying to lessen his son's failures in the eyes of the world... Nice try...

RJ – Clinton had Bin Ladin on his radar before the public and other members of the senate and congress even knew the guy was a viable threat to our country. You point blame at clinton for things that occurred on GW's watch and also point at a pie-in-the-sky collapse with the dot com, but compare that to the great depression GW led us to now or the economic downturn during GW I reign.

Clinton disgraced the Oval Office
Clinton was impeached
Billary is no better and she only "stood by her man" because she wanted the White House and a divorced woman of an ex-president would find it impossible to win.
The Clintons are self-serving and Chelsea is being molded likewise.
Chelsea became fair game when Billary had her out stumping.
I dislike Billary so much, but I want her to succeed as SOS because it is the best for this country that I love so much. I am happy that Obama can keep her under his thumb and get rid of her if she "comes under fire in Bosnia."

I love how the republicans can screw us over under the guise of 'protecting us from terrorists' and the neocons continue to lap it up. The republi-cants wasted 200 FBI agents time trying to dig up dirt on Bill Clinton instead of investigating why some flight school applicants did not want to learn how to land or take off. Oh, and for the record, dub-yah did not protect us from an attack. The first attack was 1993, eight years later, under dub-yah's watch, attack number 2. Apparently, dub-yah was more interested in kinking back in Crawford than in doing his job.
No one died when Clinton lied. Bush is responsible for the death of thousands of Americans and innocent Iraq citizens.

let us separate personal business and country business
We all had a good run under Clinton, and the adultery business is between him and his wife period.
how many other Presidents did the same thing? especially 41!!
The major problem I have these days is having to still hear about Rush insignificant Limbaugh and his hateful rants.
He should be taken off the air already.
The other issue is still having to deal with the clown from Alaska ( and i Am giving clowns a bad name here).
Please please please stay in Alaska and lock yourself in the attic....

Robert Matheny....you are amazing

I THOUGHT WE WERE FINISHED WITH THE BUSHES. NFG

RJ – you are a simple-minded, naive, biased idiot.

Try thinking for yourself and forming opinions based on fact, rather than being devisive and listening to your moron talking head Rush Limbaugh.

People focus on Clinton's mistakes of adultery. That's fine. Can they prove that his cheating on his wife was the reason that he was a bad president and affected his decisions to decide what was right and wrong for a country? No. Honestly, it might offend people that as a leader he did something so immorral; but bottom line, can we say this was the reason or one of the reasons that made our country the way it is? No. Our country has practiced adulterly for years before Clinton. This just shows how human he was. We say we want a president who relates to the people... I guess he took that seriously.

You GOPers are so unbelievable! You are so insecure that Clinton was successful and had America's economy cruising that you actually try to convnce yourself that an adulterous affair was the worst thing ever in history. There are literally hundreds of things that both Bushes did that were significantly worse – morally, ethically, spiritually, financially, anyway you look at it.

Republican greed led to the Enron scandal & the sub-Prime mortgage melt-down; Republican leadership lead to weakened civil liberties and the crumbling of our moral standard; Republican rhetoric and politics led to Clinton not being able to go after Osama. The GOP is to blame for virtually every negative thing in America. Even your savior Rush admitted that he loves Republicans more than America. He would rather see America suffer than admit he was wrong. How is that stubborn pig-headedness a positive thing?!

Why do Republicans hate America so much?

Did Bill regret Monica? I bet his list stole the entire discussion.

RJ, I love that conservatives jump directly from the post-Clinton recession to the pre-Obama depression when you describe the financial mess we're in.

Way to own up.

At least liberals admit to Carter stagflation.

The far right and to an extent mainstream conservatives believe that humans cannot solve the problems that we face. We must leave it up to the two most sacred cows – Christianity and the Free Market. They would elect a monkey as president so long as he could be taught to say grace and salute the American Flag. We could have had a monkey in the white house over the last eight years to look the other way at Wall Street, cut taxes for the rich, burden our children's financial future with lies about needing to go to war. Americans are absolutely bizarre – Impeach a president for extra marital sex, and then praise another for killing brown muslim people by the thousands.

You know you would find conservatives blaming the last Democratic president for all of the countries woes even if the last Democrat president – hypothetically was elected 100 years ago.

MR. ELGIN;
DID YOU LOSE YOUR JOB UNDER BILL CLINTON I AND MANY OTHERS DID. IT APPEARS THAT THIS IS A SORE SPOT WITH YOU ABOUT BILL CLINTON AND HOW HE ACTED AS PRESIDENT.

Not a lot of constructive conversation here from either side.
Shame on you.

Wow, such hatred from the far left groups. Okay.. let's talk policy that failed under Clinton. Let's see, WTC attack (nothing done about that); USS Cole (nothing done about that), Al Qaeda growing ot of control (nothing done about that); Genocides; terrorists growing exponentially.... Gee and I was being nice at first about just labeling him a cheat... I stand corrected... he is a Idiot also... Thanks leftists for showing the true idiot he was in office rather than just a lying cheat. Thanks

Travis and co: it became a matter for the American people when the president went on tv and lied to our faces. Maybe truth isn't so important to lib-dem-fascists, but it is to others.

I would think that Clinton's biggest regret must be that he didn't do more to get Al Gore elected. The fact that a lot of his screw ups led to W getting into the White House is a travesty.

Bush-haters can say what they want, and disagreement over his polcies is one thing (so long as it is informed and not just hateful slander), but the man did not reduce the White House, the symbol of American leadership, to a sleazy motel room for adulterous sex. Clinton's main regret is getting caught.

Some of you think that Bill Clinton's wrongs made public don't matter except to him and his wife are wrong, wrong, wrong!!!! If you can't get your own morals right how can you lead a country and keep it's morals right? Yes, it seems as though Clinton did everything right while he was prez.. but when the poop hit the fan, all that really hit went GB's way and it takes longer than 8 years to fix 8 years of wrong and try to do right while your at it.
Some of those things that Clinton did are now affecting Obama also and he may never get them fixed while he is in office. Will he get blamed, probably not because most of you will be blaming GB. That's okay, nobody, even me, doesn't know exactly what went on and if we did we would all probably die of a heart attack. FYI: Google or Yahoo Clintons body count and yes, GB has one also.

All of them have regrets. Although I think Clinton should have resigned (an honorable choice), I think his indiscretions made him incapable of make correct choices, decisions, and actions – when one head is doing all the thinking it is harder for the other one to fulfil its duties.

Bush 41 should regret dropping Bush 43 on his head as an infant.

Regret is a tricky thing. You can't really regret doing/not doing something that was/wasn't available to you at the time. We all – Presidents included – make decisions based on the information we have at the time. It is unfair to suggest that Presidents should regret making a decision based on information they didn't have. You may argue that they should have tried harder to get the right information, but that is a pretty weak argument too. I see a lot of idiotic, emotional comments on this board and they don't help anything...except maybe your egos.

Why don't we all just say, "Hey, that's great when people admit mistakes. it makes them and us better people." Why do we have to be so immature and insecure?

Hey RJ, right on!!!!!

I bet Clinton regrets that whole budget surplus thing. Boy, that was terrible for our country wasn't it? It's a good thing he's gone, we might have actually dropped our national debt some more by now. We can't have that.

And the whole affair thing is so much worse that destroying the world.

@RJ January 27th, 2009 12:58 pm ET
___________________________________
I'm sure Dems' love how you forget that BUSH was the president when the WTC was attacked and had been TOLD an attack was imminent. They probably love how you are too ignorant to take blame for the deregulation of the market that allows secret crimes to be committed in broad daylight.

The blame goes both ways (that' BOTH ways, so yes, dems as well...Pelosi/Reid for instance), and until you can take your own portion of the blame (Bush/Cheney for instance), then you will be considered to have nothing of use to offer to the solution. Stubborn, ignorant people belong to one of the parties in this horrid two party system.

The wonderful thing about life is that hindsight is almost always 20/20. What many here fail to remember is this: Not one person is perfect and we all make mistakes daily. We crucified the only perfect person so what does that say about us? Presidents will make mistakes, some more than others, bottom line...they are our presidents; we voted for them, some twice, for good or bad.

Republicans stop being Idiots, Bill Clinton private life is none of your or my business. The republican smear job only cost the american people millions, and informed us that republican were just as unfaithful as democrats. Question how many republicans fell or were outed during the impeachment trail? Ha Ha Ha

Greg:

Nice. Way to have some perspective there.

The Monica scandal landed Ken Starr a Dean's position at Pepperdine University. Is that what all of this is about???????

I love how you Dems forget that the housing crises was caused by the CRA that Clinton signed into law.
Or how easily they forget the Dot com bubble, or the first WTC attack or the fact that he let Bin Laden get away MORE THAN ONCE.
Most of the issues that came to fruition under Bush Jr. were started long before he took office.
How short a memory you Democrats have.
Welcome to Clinton 2.0 with Obama thinking he's running the show.

Who cares?
Let's focus on the present and future. Not the past.

Greg Elgin, Does Bill Clinton's personal life really matter that much to you? He was a great president and if he desides to sleep around that is between Bill and Hillary, not the American public.

You know, folks...
I felt very safe living in the USA under the Clinton Administration... and lived in fear during the W years. I am now again feeling safe with President Obama... and am now looking forward to bin Laden's public execution under Obama's watch.
Say what you will about W's policies or Clinton's personal life. But safety/security (including economic security) trumps everything.

And I never felt secure with W at the helm. But that's just me (and the 53% of the country who voted for Obama).

I agree with former President Bush and Clinton on several issues. It would have been great if Clinton had done more to stop the Rwandan genocide, and if Bush had been able to get rid of Saddam Hussein earlier, we may not be in the war we are in now.

The fact Bill was with Monica has nothing to do with it... It is the FACT that he LIED,LIED LIED under oath! Do you want to trust your future to a known adulterer and LIAR thats your business. But I dont. The fact he cant even practice law in his state of AR because he lied under oath BROKE THE LAW..dont you people get it? The people from the World Trade Center died because of him.. He had the facts about Osama...I guess his appt with Monica was more pressing. He could have acted... he didnt.

can you people not stop crying about one thing or another. You have Bwood who evidently does not realize that this is only a small lip of the whole interview but because his "S&L" wasn't mentioned he feels the need to cry. You have Montclarion that hasn't exactly grasped that they were asked about past regrets...so if #41 regrets not solving the Iraq issue prior to getting out of office. I think most people would agree that if he had, a lot of the mess we are in now could have been avoided.

folks; MONICA LEWINSKY was part of the problem the plagued Bill Clinton,,,, HOW SOON EVERYBODY FORGETS............THIS WAS THE PRESIDENT WHO SIGNED NAFTA INTO LAW....... YOU PEOPLE WHO LIKE TO MAKE HIM OUT AS ONE OF THE BETTER PRESIDENTS.YOU SEEM TO FORGET THAT THIS GUY CAUSED THE LOSS OF THOUSANDS OF JOBS OVERSEAS. HE COULD HAVE VETOED THIS FOLKS. AND TODAY WE WOULKD STILL HAVE JOBS IN THIS COUNTRY. I ASK YOU DID YOU LOSE YOU JOB WHEN THIS HAPPENED...... MANY OF US DID THE RUBBER INDUSTRY WAS THE FIRST ONE TO GO TO MEXICO THERE WENT THE JOBS ALSO. FACTORY SHUTDOWNS. NEVER TO COME BACK TO THE USA

NOW THE UNIONS ALL BACKED YOUR PRESENT OFFICIAL IN WASHINGTON. HOW WILL THE JACK- GET BACK THE JOBS BACK THAT WENT OVER SEAS. HOWEVER HE SEEMS TO THINK THAT HE WILL CREATE THOUSANDS OF JOBS AND PUT AMERICA BACK TO WORK...

THERE IS FAR MORE TO THIS PROBLEM THAN THE ELECTED OFFICIAL IN WASHINGTON THINKS THERE IS

BUSH SHOULD REGRET HE HAD GEORGE.

WE REGRET HE HAD GEORGE.

THE WHOLE WORLD REGRETS HE HAD GEORGE.

Clintons three regrets should be:

1. Ignored terrorism and allowed it to become more powerful than ever.

2. Encouraged the ease of credit policies which ended up putting us in the housing crisis we are in now.

3. Lied to America's face about his affair.

No MikeMaz, It wasn't that he had an affair that hurt this country. Its that he lied to a grnad jury about it. Pitiful excuse for a World Leader.

@Unbelievable

1993 was the first foriegn terrorist attack. Name the building and the president. Here's a hint... He likes big chicks as interns.

And it was never about adultry. It was about lying to the American people under oath.

Sorry I missed Bush's comments, but there was an interesting YouTube video of Paris Hilton that I needed to watch, so I missed Bush. Darn.

Yes, they both have regrets, but the idiot who just left the White House had only one regret – that they had not used the banner claiming "Mission Accomplished". Just one more piece of evidence of what a real loser Bush was.

Too bad we have to extend him FREE health care for the rest of his life since he cared so little for hard working Americans that are not insured or underinsured.

God help America and save us from those who believe that he was a good president – ignorance is hard to overcome.

It is certainly important to learn from the past and I am certain all past Presidents have some regrets. I don't understand why we can't be a bit more optimistic and hopeful about the future. I was not an Obama supporter but I am willing to put aside my doubts and see what the future brings. It is not helping in the least to bash the leaders of your country endlessly. You dont have to respect the person but for heaven's sake respect the office!!!

Humored In Texas:

is Right. I don't know what to say, man. 4000 american lives.and all these ordinary folks out there who died and has nothing to do with
anything. And all those young man who were wounded. God. I would not be able to sleep if my decision waste one man's life unnecessily.
4000!!!

Just because the guy stay longer than 1 second, not fast enough.

is this crazy world??? one second change the world history.

When will you all understand that dick Chaney was the president from 2001 until 2009, and Jan. 20 2009 he was a replica of his tenure as president and the shape he has left this country in:

Every time Clinton's name comes up the Monica scandal follows with "disgraced our nation." What about Eisenhower, Kennedy, and many before them.America's largest disgrace just left! Sufficent proof on Clinton? Did Starr's witch hunt leave doubt? Was Monica truthful, or a blue dress planted? Was tripp paid? Many worked tiredlessly to ensure # 41 got elected, Florida particularly! If not for Monica N Constitution America would have elected BIll again! Disgrace?

To Unbelievable:

You are incorrect about the first foreign terrorist attack on US Soil. It is sad, but a lot of Americans forget the 1993 Bombing of the World Trade Center. Six people were killed and over 1000 injured. I believe that happened during President Clinton's tenure.

I also cannot blame #44 for Americans buying homes they cannot afford, spending more than they make, and companies falsifying records. People got greedy and thought they could make a quick buck. He didn't force them to do it.

Clinton has his presidential regrets in the proper perspective. Being unsuccessful at brokering peace in the Middle East or reforming health care affects millions of Americans for generations to come. Cheating on your wife, "regrettable" as it may be on a personal basis, affects nobody outside of your family and is nobody's business outside of your family unless some idiots decide to turn it into a public circus.

George H.W. wonders whether he should have gone after Sadam. I have wondered ever since 1991 why we went to the aid of Kuwait over a territorial dispute between Iraq and Kuwait. Does anybody believe we would have cared about Kuwait if they didn't have oil wells every 100 feet. This whole mess began then, also our presence in Saudia Arabia brought about Asama Bin Laden's eventual attack on 9-11 It's all about oil, oil, oil. 4350 young men and women have died in a sensless war because we wanted to force democracy on them; we say now. God forgive us.

josie, phila, pa. get your numbers correct. bush 43???? bush 44????

SoCalGal:

No one died when Clinton Lied:

Rush Limbaugh wants president Obama to Fail: What would constitute a President Failing: A terror attack in a major U.S. city that kills thousands of americans? For Thousands of American service men and women to lose their lives abroad? for the Economic system to go into total chos and millions more lose their homes, and savings. Hmmm. this fool shouldn't even fix his mouth to say he is an American: The only people that want President Obama to fail are the likes of Osama Bin-Laden, so I guess Rush is in the same political idology as Bin-Laden

Why are all of you so persistent on making Clinton's biggest failure out to be a simple BJ? Seriously, why that's reflective of someone's legacy, I don't know. That's a personal matter, the press never should have gotten involved to begin with. President Clinton had a successful eight years in office, BJ and all.

One thing you'll never hear a GOP president admit to – we should stop nation building because we (GOP) handle it wrong!

What damage did the Monica scandal bring to the country? Did it cause the collapse of the housing and credit market? Did it create the largest crisis since 1929? Did it kill thousands of innocent americans?

All those who still speak of Mocia Lewinsky are nothing but a bunch of illiterate individuals who cannot see further than their nose.

I know something Bush should have "pulled-out" of, but I can't express it on these boards!

If he had, there's no last 8 years, get it?!

ADULTERY has everything to do with your wife and nothing to do with your country. I didn't understand all the attention it got then and I don't understand it now. Judge Bill on what he did for the country, not what he did to his family.

Hey Greg,

There is nothing I could care less about than Bill Clinton's personal life. I never asked him if he had an affair, because I do NOT CARE BECAUSE IT DOESN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. It only wasted our money and time because political agendas were pushed forward to prosecute him for that by people who CALL themselves conservatives. Real conservatives like myself would never waste our money chasing some hounddog to find out what we already know....he's a hounddog.

His biggest regret should have something to do with the presidency, and NOTHING to do with his pants.

Now let's get back to policy...

That I didn't have s_x with that woman.
Couldn't resist!

To southern_belle,

Calling #41 an idiot only shows that you don't know much about the 1st Gulf War and what 41 did. You need to brush up on your history and perhaps you'll realize that 41 was smart on he handled the war and more importantly, what he did with our Servicemen and Servicewomen.

It's folks like you who really need to brush up on their Presidential History before posting blogs....educate yourself...it's all free on the web.

You cannot blame 41 or call him an idiot because of what his son, 43 did with the war in Iraq. Also, don't you people have any respect anymore when it comes to the highest office in the land?

So Bill has no regrets about the NASDAQ bubble of the Enron or Worldcom scandals that broke during his admin?

Gee, Greg. You think that Bill Clinton's regret of not saving thousands of lives in Rwanda should be less important than his regret about cheating on his wife just like millions of other people in this country have done?

What did the people of Rwanda ever do to you?

Bill Clinton talk about the "you can make same mistake, but not
repeat the same old mistakes", Yeah, right!!!

How many Monica mistake he repeated.

Is he talking about his regret? or his achievement? When Bill talk
remember, there is always spin. 1998 is the best year in middle east.
that is under his watch. that is what he want to say.

But in all fair ness, all and all, he did some nice work. 41 laid
ground for the 90s discovery. American Engineers deserved the
most credits.

"Those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it."
- Winston Churchill

I think Bush 41 biggest regret in getting Barbara pregent with Georgie. It sure would be mine.

The regrets they left off their lists:

Clinton: Marrying Hillary
Bush: NOT abandoning George W. as an infant

I think Bush 41 biggest regret in getting Barbara pregent with Georgie.

every president has and will make mistakes. obama will have a laundry list just like the rest. we have to remember to not judge others so quickly when we have not seen what the current is capable of.

The truth is that Geo.H. Bush was facing "Impeachment" proceedings ! Therefore Saddam gets to live another day !

C'mon we all now that if Bill never met with Monica, George W. Bush would have never been born, thereby creating an alternate universe where James Hetfield is manager of a Taco Bell.

Wasn't Bill Clinton the one that forced Israel to release prisoners during the Oslo accords and one of those prisoners was one of the 19 hijackers during 9/11 most americans forget hamas has american blood on there hands such as the bombing at the jerusalem college and the murder of 3 US diplomats in gaza

"RealityKing January 27th, 2009 11:07 am ET

As we are about to find out from Obama and his drunken band of liberal spenders…, hindsight is 20/20."

Nobody, but NOBODY spent more while in Office than W and the GOP run congress. Nice try, but you guys spent us into this mess.

Bills big mistake was NAFTA,selling out to the chinese and giving our jobs to India.it cost his wife the election as far as I was concerned.

But if Bush 43 hadn't encased Al Gore in carbonite, he wouldn't have been able to fight terrorists with his newly built Deathstar.

Billary prostitutes the White House and brings the Oval Office down to scum level...& no regrets! Hope those who voted for him feel proud! Guess we'll get another taste of that with Hil.

He has to answer being a cheat with his god and his wife. W. disgraced the office far more than Clinton's indiscretions!

That's my man no regrets for a BJ in the oval office! Some things never change. America's current white Bi-racial President should learn from these 2 morons.

If you want to know what went wrong with 43 check out his g.father,
Prescott Bush......this will explain alot about the bushys.

Now-–Obama gets to clean up 43's mess,along with all the other dire needs oc 2009.

Yes.........he can.

Wow. The hate mongering wedgie republicans, after eight years of their golden boy peeing on the constitution, allowing the first foreign terrorist attack on US soil, embroiling us in nonsensical foreign conflicts costing thousands of US lives, ruining decades of environmental legislation at the dubious behest of big business, kowtowing again to big business and allowing the worst failure of our economy since the great depression, and you guys still try to hang Clinton with Monica? Are you kidding me?

I know Bush seniors's greatest regret – Bush junior.

Every single President of course has regrets. Thats human nature and we can all look back and think of ways we should have done things differently. Although I have to say to the guy in here who brought up Clintons affair...really you should get over that already. That is something that is between him and his wife. If anything it was the conservatives ridiculous obsession with his sex life that was more regrettable. Yes it was an ugly period for him, but seriously what person would admit to an affair? It didnt hurt the country that he did it.. what hurt the country was the republicans making it a bigger issue than it was

Not surprisingly, Clinton did not mention his decisions that significantly contributed if not drove us into the subprime crisis (the Community Reinvestment Act, etc.).

Clinton doesnt regret failing to get Bin Laden? Imagine if he had done that. The world would be a very different place. The world would probably not hate W if 42 had taken care of him. Unfortunately, Clinton was afraid to finish that job.

Bigger regret for 41 is having 43.

So are we to gather from this story that Clinton doesn't regret the Monica Lewinsky affair? Or any of the others?

I can't believe people are bringing up Lewinsky. The question was about the biggest regrets in their presidencies, not their personal lives. I never cared what Bill Clinton did personally, that's between himself and his family, he was a great president in spite of it. And the supposed shame he brought to Americans was merely how moralizers perceived him, he never shamed me. As Oscar Wilde said: "Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people whom we personally dislike."

Jean, Indiana, all former Presidents hold a security clearance even after leaving the Oval office. Most of the time, former Presidents are used as last minute advisors on decisions only a President would ever have to consider.

Former Presidents have a ton of perks and work to do even afterward, so it sucks for them to see the intel and know what they could have done to change things... To know and be powerless about it sucks...

How does Hillary rank in Bill's biggest mistakes???

I have to agree with montclarion, what the heck is the Bush's obsession with Saddam? If I knew better, I'd say Saddam had something on them that they wanted him to take to the grave. With all of their dealings with Saddam during the Iran hostage crisis and the following years of AWACS support in the region, and the atrocities they claim he did while we supplied him weapons to fight Iran, kinda makes you wonder. It'll teach anyone to be America's ally in the future. Who knows when the americans will turn on him.

I would think that Clinton's affairs and the arrogant way that he carried on his affairs, demeaning the office of the President, would be a regret......

Those countries in Middle East and Africa and Asia – who practice the crazy/insane hate relationships they have there are almost not possible to solve. It is the people who got the power they should not have. It is the narrow minded people who are not able to live in peace and tolerate accept the different views while letting the others live....
How can we teach fast the ethics, the morals, the tolerance, the value of life when their hate goes through centuries...?

What about sub-prime mortgage fiasco??? Isn't it your regret president Clinton??? Who in a right mind puts attorney in charge of a bank?

How long would it take for his 400K/year salary to pay off all the losses that he caused?????? I request that he donates his salary to the charity fund that starts paying off all sub-prime mortgages for all people that got conned by mortgage sharks.

Sorry Bill, but you should regret what you did in Bosnia and then in Dayton, OH. You are a tool for the elite.

The obsession with Saddam is that he killed millions of his own people. So many people elect not to remember that. All of these people want to say it's all about oil. I think that a bunch of garbage. Everyone wants to sing the praises of "King Clinton" which in my opinion left a mess for 43 ie. Osama Bin Laden. Clinton had a chance to take him out and said no thanks! Just think, if he had taken out Osama 9/11 may not have ever happened!

Can not wait to hear Obama's regrets after he ruins the country.

clinton's biggest regret was that he didn't get to have a catastrophy during his watch so he could prance around wiping tears from his eyes and twitching his bottom lip! but only when the cameras were on! he is the biggest fake ever to sit in the oval office and hopefully the last of his kind to fool the people!!!!

the 3000 people killed on 9/11 probably can point to clintons biggest mistake, instead of messing around with a HS student he should have killed or captured Bin Laden when he had the chance. However we know how dangerous hot potatoes can be!

Not only does an ex-president get CIA T.S access, but George Bush Sr. is a former head of the CIA.

Greg Elgin: "t's amazing that his biggest regret isn't the shame he brought to the office for having an affair and lying about it to the American People…. "

And you honestly think that's more important than peace in the Middle East? That, to me, is what's amazing.

Steve from FL,

I am guessing it would be not enough was done for education. That obviously had an effect on your ability to spell.

Bush 43 never bothered to read his daddy's book, epecially the part where it would be a quagmire if we went into Iraq. We would be considered occupiers.

Bush 43 is too dumb to know his regrets, so we will have to inform him of them for the rest of his life. Hope he enjoys a terrible retirement, divorce, isolation, bankruptcy, lawsuits, indictments, arrests, and prison to cap it all off, and he still won't suffer nearly as badly as the rest the world has. But at least it will take the stupid smirk off his face.

What a delight it is to watch you people bash the former presidents. Not a stinking one of you takes responsibility for electing them. Much like the 47 million people who were in Yankee Stadium the day Roger Maris hit #61, all 250 million of you never voted in any election. People, get over yourselves. WE THE PEOPLE elect these Presidents so if they are failures then WE THE PEOPLE are responsible. And for those who say I didn't vote you have no say, for those who say I didn't vote for so and so you need to understand that no matter what political party is in power they are the political party that represents ALL the people.

Bill Clinton should express regret for lying to us and getting himself tangled up in an impeachment hearing. For an intelligent guy, that was hubris personified.

hello everybody! Bill was a good president and i think everyone knows about that!

If 41 had blown through Iraq like crap through a goose (as Patton said) , maybe we'd not have been there today.

You would think that Bill Clinton would list "lying under oath" as one of his regrets......but I guess that just shows what kind of guy he is.

Clinton's regret #1 – I should have captured/killed Bin Ladan. Regret #2 – I should have followed up the missle strike in Kost with a secret incursion of special forces troops to kill/capture Bin Laden and his men. Regret #3 – I should have had an affair with a woman who knows how to keep her mouth shut. Regret #4 – I shouldn't have angered Al-Queda and then done no follow up at all, I called them the buzzing of flies, I should have invaded Afganistan in 1996 and wiped them out.

Arafat never intended to accept any peace plan. The "plan" is to remove Isreal, not coexist with it. What part of that is not perfectly clear by now?

Funny that Bush 43's only mistake- according to him- was landing his plane in the wrong place after Katrina. Other than that, it was a flawless presidency.

Bush 41's greatest regret ought to be Bush 43.

I agree with Robert, if Israel doesn't return Palestine's lawnmower, they may never be able borrow their new power drill to finish the garage door.

Apparently no regrets from Bush 41 over the S&L scandal. Unbelievable!

Clinton's major regret should be: disgracing the office of the presidency, further exacerbating a time-wasting cultural war. His ego and sexual needs should not have outstripped his respect for this country and its citizens.

Bush's major regret should be: not discouraging his imbecile son from (over)reaching for the presidency. Bush Sr.'s own knowledge of the job's rigors should have trumped his parental pride. Now, we all have to dig out from eight years of arrogant, dangerous Bush Jr. blunders.

Its funny to see people talk about regets it the past it time to look forward not backward and I just wish obama the best of luck

"It depends on what the meaning of what the word 'is' is."

Enough said...

I bet Bush regrets having a son.

@Montclarion: Saddam "was a nobody who happened to control or threaten a lot of oil"???
Try reading some history, friend.

I would think Clinton's biggest regret would be hooking up with an intern in the oval office and being impeached in front of the entire country. He lied to the country and made it impossible for kids to look up to the president. Hopefully Obama won't repeat that mistake.

Now if only Bush 43 could honestly reflect on his regrets, instead of blaming others or saying "time will tell."

So, Bush Jr. tried to finish the job and look at the mess we're in.
Bush Jr. is a cowboy – and is proof positive that joe-six packs do not belong in the white house.

To Jean in Indiana, I believe I heard it mentioned in 'Farenheit 9/11' that all Presidents have access to secret service information if they wish. I believe the logic is that it lends to the same subject of former Presidents being able to provide informed advisements to their sucessors.

@ Bob

Read it this way: "And this guy said, 'I'm absolutely convinced he would have.' [But] my experts [at the time] tell me he wouldn't have."

Wow didn't take long for the bloggers to bring up GW. Move on people.

What about Somolia Bill?

Jean, Ex-presidents still get CIA T.S access for life if they so chose after there presidency.

As we are about to find out from Obama and his drunken band of liberal spenders..., hindsight is 20/20.

Shoulda woulda coulda....please

Idiot 41 doesn't need to ponder over things that Idiot 43 eventually took care of for him.

Of course we all know Bill's regrets. No, it's not Monica..

As this country's first black president, I think John McCain has what it takes to negotiate peace between the the Israelis and the Pakistanians.

I agree with the ex-presidents on the recollections of their mistakes. Bill is right that the current president should learn from his precedessors to avoid repeating their mistakes. Bush 43 has given Pres. 44 a laundry list to learn from!

The main sentence of your whole story contradicts itself!
And this guy said, I'm absolutely convinced he would have. My experts tell me he wouldn't have."

So whats the point?

How is Bush 41 privy to information from FBI agents who interrogated Saddam?

History repeats repeats itself.People do make mistakes and people in power will make mistakes,but as president Clinton said President Obama should try hard not to repeat the same mistakes.Looks like the Middle East was not ready for peace then.Hopefully they are now.Good luck President Obama,Secretary of State Clinton and Sen.Mitchell

What is this obsession with Saddam that the Bush family seems to have hard-wired into them? He was a nobody who happened to control or threaten a lot of oil. I have to believe that if we had not spent billions (and we're not done paying), Israel would have taken care of any political/military aspirations that Saddam might have had. Either that, or the arab states could have actually defended states like Kuwait, instead of relying on The Great Satan to do that for them.

Yeah, I've often wished I'd done everything completely different ten years after I did it. We've ALL wished that. Even presidents wish Plan A had worked instead of Plan B. So what?

I would like to hard what W considers his biggest mistakeS!

Will we ever know WHAT WENT WRONG WITH THE SON?

It's amazing that his biggest regret isn't the shame he brought to the office for having an affair and lying about it to the American People.... but I guess being a cheat is something he has become accustomed to for many may years

LOL; woulda-coulda-shoulda................................blah, blah, blah. How about what you did correct while in office?

I think Bubba Clinton has a very short memory! Has he forgot about the oral dialogue in the side room of the oval office with the 22 yr old intern. I guess he doesn't consider that a mistake........

Bill must feel left out now that we have a black president and his wife is sec of state. He must be looking for another 15 minutes of fame.

I think Bubba Clinton has a very short memory! What about the oral olympic's in the yellow oval office????

OK, Bill. How about not defending the US when the USS Cole was attacked, or the World Trade Towers? How about coddling the terrorists? Was that not a mistake? Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot you and Hillary speak French.

Presidents have to make tough decisions, however, when the opportunity knocks and you have the opportunity to go for the jugular; you go for it; because the second time around is the most difficult. It proves that although they are Presidents---they are only human-and we all have regrets.

Thanks President Clinton. You really did a lot in the middle East peace process while your in office and the World appreciates.

CNN...shame on you. Your one-liner headlines on your front page are misleading and often put spin or have little to do with the longer story.

White stained blue dresses and cigar jokes from Clinton bashers in 3...2...1...

George HW Bush – your reall biggest regret was not insisting Barbara get her tubes tied after having Jeb!

Perhaps I lauded George H.W. Bush too much for his decision not to unseat Saddam during Desert Storm when the popular sentiment (which I shared at the time) was to do exactly that. Given the absolute fiasco that is the current war in Iraq, reflecting on Desert Storm I believed Bush's decision had been prescient and that he avoided removing Saddam from power in order to avoid all of the messes with which we are now contending which resulted from the power vaccuum created by Saddam's demise.

Ironically, it now appears that decision, as some of the current ones, was made in part due to bad intelligence reports. I think that if you really think about it, Bush stating that we might've avoided some of the problems we're facing today if he had removed Saddam from power then is really a condemnation of how the current war was handled. Given the in-fighting/civil war among the different factions within Iraq, one would think that a similar situation to now easily could have arisen with a power vacuum being created back then. However, there are several distinctions between the circumstances of Desert Storm vs. the current war that might have lead to a different result. For one, we had an actual REASON to be there after Saddam invaded Kuwait. This fact enabled the U.S. to build a genuine, strong coalition of partners to aid the war effort (and could have aided the peacekeeping effort) as well as it would have given legitimacy to the U.S. as peacekeepers after the war ended instead of being viewed as occupiers. We also had a lot of ground troops in Desert Storm which might have been able to protect Iraq's infrastructure from being destroyed the way it was by looters immediately after the end of the current war. Perhaps the most important distinction is that Bush Sr's. administration would have handled the entire matter more competently than his son's.

Yea, I'm sure Clinton was also sorry that he wasn't able to get it all in her mouth, too. That way the dress would have been pristine.

It is very refreshing to see these two men, who had a heated campaign against one another, share a stage and forge a friendship over the years. They both understand that they are still, and will always remain, important figures in our country and the world.

It is about time that ALL of Washington learn from these two great Americans and the example they are setting.

Unfortunately, too many Americans insist on focusing on differences and previous bias...we should be listening to these men, not the Rush Limbaugh's of the world!

Baloney. George the First biggest regret should be George the Second. Clinton's has to be Lewinski.

so where's Bill's regrets?

Gee you would have thought the adultery, the perjury, the 8 years of ignored terrorism and the refusal to take Bin Laden when he was offered by the sudanese would be on there too...

Clinton's biggest mistake was not getting the constitution changed so that he could serve eight more years saving us from the worst, most damaging administration in the history of our country – and many other countries.

I love how Clinton's biggest regret is what somebody else didn't/wouldn't do. The biggest thing I'd change if I could go back is the mistakes of others.

Interesting that Clinton does not regret some notorious oval office activities.

I am a Democrat, but I have to admit respect for George H.W. Bush. His handling of the Persian Gulf War was commendable. He did things the right way–built a coalition, offered the olive branch (leave or be forced out), and when Iraq did not comply, he smartly used Military might. He did not exceed the mandate of the UN and complied with international law. Too bad the brains did not run in Bush family.

Apparently, Bill has no regrets ??

You mean not all of Obama's decisions will be right?

Even the best Presidents make mistakes. Hindsight is 20-20; foresight not so clear, despite what some would like to believe.

Hey Bill, Monica Lewinsky should top your list!

Nice to see these guys admitting that they're human. Hopefully we can see W do the same thing in a few years – but he'll need a full week workshop just to get through his biggest errors.

I love it that these two travel the globe to spread good will!

Bush must be high on something....It was a military success? 4,000 troops and a country in a mess is military success....what would failure have looked like?

Thank God for our new president.

Okay.. would have, should have, could have... every one makes mistakes, however at their level they are magnified. It appears everyone is blaming Geo W. Bush for our economic troubles, it's not ONLY his fault, congress wasn't doing their job, watching the banks etc, and Obama was part of that congress. Congress and the Presidency should only have a 6 year term period, because as soon as they get in office they are planning their re-election plans. Obama was for change well lets start with terms, this way we won't have someone in congress who is not in touch with reality, and their are soooomany of them

It wouldn't have mattered what Bush 1 did as Bush 2 and his entire administration were going to war with someone for the money and ideology. Google PNAC and get the truth.

Had Clinton not chosen to screw around with Lewinsky, the world would not be in the shambles it is in today. The ensuing witch hunt by the kook Republicans stole the election from Gore and allowed W, the worst, most criminal and corrupt President in the history of America to take office.

Clinton owns allot of the guilt in this matter and all for a not so beautiful skank of an intern. PATHETIC.

I guess Bill doesn’t regret the Monica situation. If not for that, he would have had more credibility at home and abroad. Arafat might have listened then.

Yeah, Bill is right. He shoulda done much more to end the Rwandan genocide.

George, I think your son proved you made the right decision. The reality is no one was prepared for long term occupation and government development.

Thank God they are history ...

Bill, you are and always will be one of the best!!

Please Bill, go away!

REGRETS,I'VE HAD A FEW..BUT THEN AGAIN TOO FEW TO MENTION. I DID WHAT I HAD TO DO, I DID IT ALL WITH OUT EXEMPTION............ forgot the rest of it anyway, you get the idea. Clinton failed in the Middle East. Bush failed with his family. That's it.

Wow I really enjoy reading both men's candidness about their mistakes. I think it takes real character to admit, even after the fact, the things they wished they had done differently. These will be good learning points for President Obama. I agree wholeheartedly with Clinton, it is better to make new mistakes than repeat the same ones over and over.

It takes courage to admit one made mistakes and then to reflect upon them, but will be who follow have the same courage not to repeat them? Where we are now is because we failed to heed the lessons of history and have repeated its mistakes.

thank you for sharing the experience. I didnt think Saddam was that evil. He seemed reasonable to deal with. Yes, the DEVIL we do know.

Both wise men.

Bet W never matures to the point where he can be honest with himself and the rest of the country.