Bush Greets Schwarzkopf, Lauds ‘Fantastic’ Leadership

President Bush welcomed Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf to the White House on Tuesday with accolades for his “fantastic” leadership of the U.S. military during the Persian Gulf War.

The four-star general, home only two days from the Middle East, had lunch with the commander in chief and several of Bush’s top advisers.

Bush later joked: “You should’ve seen the guy eat.’

Schwarzkopf also met in an informal welcome-home with Gen. Colin L. Powell, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other service chiefs at the Pentagon before heading back to his command post at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.

Bush signed congressional legislation awarding gold medals to Schwarzkopf for his “exemplary performance as a military leader” in the war and to Powell for his service as “a military leader and adviser to the President” during the crisis.

Bush said that in welcoming Schwarzkopf back from the Gulf he told the general:

“Well done. And what he and his troops did . . . in terms of fulfilling our objectives is fantastic. What he and his troops did for the morale of the United States of America is unbelievable.

“We have a great team in (Defense Secretary Dick) Cheney and Gen. Powell and Gen. Schwarzkopf, and the country knows it. You can feel it. Any time you get out of this place, why, you sense it. It is fantastic. And I told him that, and congratulated him.”

A reporter joked that Schwarzkopf was difficult to recognize in his dark dress uniform instead of the desert camouflage fatigues he wore in the Middle East.

“First time I’ve had these on in eight months,” Schwarzkopf replied.

Schwarzkopf has announced that he will retire this summer.