Bush Claims He’s Had a ‘Good Start’ : President Reviews His Administration as 100-Day Mark Nears

President Bush, nearing the 100-day milestone of his Administration, said today that he was off to a “good start” with bipartisan agreements on the budget and Contra aid but that “difficult decisions lie ahead.”

Bush said his Administration is now “mapping strategies for a period of remarkable change in international affairs,” and he referred to upcoming high-level meetings with Moscow. A foreign policy review, which some had hoped would be completed far earlier, is now due in late May, he said.

In an upbeat review of his young Administration before the annual luncheon of the Associated Press, Bush said he was “pleased with the progress we’ve made in that short time” and took aim at those who have questioned his pace and his sense of political direction.

‘Proving It Wrong’

“I’ve read more than a few news stories before and after the election, you can remember them, (that) said the President and the Congress wouldn’t be able to work together after a bitter campaign that made cooperation impossible,” he said. “I didn’t believe that then and I think we’re proving it wrong now.”

He flew here after attending a memorial service in Norfolk, Va., for the 47 sailors killed in the gun turret explosion on the battleship Iowa.

Beginning a four-day trip, Bush also planned stops today in Bismarck, N.D., and San Jose, Calif. The 100-day mark of his Administration falls on Saturday.

“In three short months, we’ve made a good start coming to grips with issues demanding urgent attention and decisive action,” Bush told the publishers.

He took credit for drafting a plan to rescue the savings and loan industry, a proposal to tighten ethical standards in government and with making the District of Columbia a “test case for a full range of innovative anti-drug measures.”

Budget Plan

The President noted that in his first three months he forged a budget plan with Congress designed to reduce the deficit.

Moreover, he noted the accord with Capitol Hill to continue the flow of humanitarian aid to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.

The White House backed him up with a 14-page release titled “Building a Better America.”

The Administration even cited Bush’s much-criticized response to last month’s massive oil spill in Alaska, when he initially maintained that Exxon Corp.’s cleanup had overcome a slow start. Two weeks after the March 24 spill, Bush yielded to mounting political pressure and the growing environmental disaster by moving to put the government much more in charge of the operation.

Earlier today, Vice President Dan Quayle addressed the same group before leaving on a whirlwind trip to Australia and Southeast Asia, saying the United States intends to remain a Pacific power despite arguments by “declinists” that the nation “must pull back from our global commitments.”

Rather, he said, the challenge for the United States is to advance “our strategic and economic interest in Asia while maintaining our continuing commitments to Europe.”