Bush charged in '76 with DUI in Maine By Anne E. Kornblut, Globe Staff, 11/3/2000 ILWAUKEE -- Governor George W. Bush, who has long admitted to an "irresponsible youth," last night confirmed he was arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol in Maine in 1976. Responding to news reports that threatened to overshadow his message just five days before the election, the Texas governor said it was "an accurate story," but added that he had overcome a drinking problem years ago. The incident occurred when Bush was 30 years old, a decade before he gave up drinking, as he was driving home from a bar with his sister and three friends over the Labor Day weekend. Bush pleaded guilty to the charge, paid a $150 fine, and had his driving privileges in Maine suspended for a time, aides said. Keenly aware of the danger the disclosure could have in such a tight race, the Bush campaign quickly sought to put the matter to rest. After aides admitted the story was true, Bush last night spoke to reporters for the first time in months. "I'm not proud of that," Bush said in Milwaukee. "I've oftentimes said that years ago I made some mistakes. I occasionally drank too much, and I did that night. ... I regret that it happened." Bush has been dogged by questions about the precise nature of those mistakes since he began running for the White House two years ago, but has deflected them in vague terms as being part of a past drinking problem. Asked last night whether the Texas governor had used substances besides alcohol, communications director Karen Hughes replied that "the governor has acknowleged in the past that he has made mistakes." Bush had two previously disclosed run-ins with law enforcement, once for stealing a Christmas wreath while a student at Yale and another for rowdy behavior at a Princeton football game. Asked why the 1976 arrest was not made public sooner, Bush said, "I didn't want to talk about this in front of my daughters." Bush has 18-year-old twins. Mike Curry, news director of WCSH-TV in Portland, Maine, which broke the story, said a reporter heard about it at a courthouse. During a break in a court hearing, a lawyer who had been chatting with colleagues asked reporter Susan Kimball if she had heard about Bush's arrest. At first, said Curry, "She thought he was joking." But the lawyer, whom the station declined to name, said he was serious, Curry said. "After that," said Curry, "we busted tail to get to the courthouse to get some documents to substantiate this." The card file listed the case and the arresting officer but not the judge, Curry said. Asked if he thought the story was somehow planted, Curry said he did not believe so. "I'm not naive enough to think that it couldn't be a planned thing, but the circumstances appear to me and to the reporter as happenstance," Curry told the Globe. Kennebunkport police fielded dozens of phone calls after news of Bush's arrest broke. One angry woman phoned in and demanded to know whether police had leaked information to the press. Bush aides said news of a 24-year-old arrest should not influence the race, which shows Bush with a slight edge in national polls, with many key states still tossups. They did, however, question the timing of the disclosure. Aides to Vice President Al Gore refused to comment, except to deny any role in the disclosure. "This is just not something the Gore campaign is involved with in any shape, way, or form," Gore spokesman Chris Lehane said. Bush decided to quit drinking on July 6, 1986, his 40th birthday. His evolution from a fun-loving fraternity member to a father and elected official has become a theme of his personal narrative, and is one he cites frequently in urging a greater role for faith-based organizations, such as alcohol treatment centers, in society. Glen Johnson, traveling with Gore in New Mexico, and Beth Daley, in Kennebunkport, contributed to this report. Material from the Associated Press also was used.