This is a partial transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," December 16, 2005, that has been edited for clarity.
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TONY SNOW, GUEST HOST:In the "Factor Original" segment tonight, the never before seen second part of Bill's interview with "60 Minutes" newsman Mike Wallace.
During his 50-year career Wallace has interviewed powerful presidents and heads of state. He writes about them in his new book, "Between You and Me: A Memoir." And he talks about it with Bill in a no-holds barred, anything goes conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL O'REILLY, HOST: You've interviewed a whole bunch of presidents, and I want to get your feeling about them as men. What did you think of JFK as a man when you met him and talked with him?
MIKE WALLACE, CBS' "60 MINUTES": You had to admire him. We lived five doors away from each other when we were growing up.
O'REILLY: In Brookline, Massachusetts.
WALLACE: That's correct.
O'REILLY: When you saw him and talked to him, did he impress you as a guy who should be president, who had the right stuff?
WALLACE: How do you know who should be president? What -- what, for instance, what prepared George W. Bush to be president of the United States? What in training, what in travel, what in -- executive savvy? What prepared George W. Bush to be president of the United States? President of the biggest superpower in the world? How do you train to be president?
O'REILLY: Do you compare Kennedy to W.?
WALLACE: No. No, I think that Kennedy probably was better prepared - - undoubtedly, was better prepared than W.
O'REILLY: Kennedy was smarter, to you think?
WALLACE: Oh, I think so, sure.
O'REILLY: You don't have much use for W.?
WALLACE: I don't have much use for W?
O'REILLY: Yes. Just coming across that way.
WALLACE: Is that a fact?
O'REILLY: Denying it?
WALLACE: The jury is still out. I mean, what -- how do you judge?
O'REILLY: You talked to Lyndon Johnson. I just think Johnson was an awful president because of Vietnam. How did you read him?
WALLACE: I thought he was an awful president because of Vietnam and I also thought that he was a wonderful president because of what he did about civil rights. I think that history will remember him poorly for how he screwed up in Vietnam.
He was no longer president. I was down at the LBJ Library, and we walked past the thing that -- a cabinet that was supposed to be about Vietnam. And I wanted to talk to him about Vietnam.
And he said, "I don't want to talk about Vietnam. I've talked to Cronkite enough about Vietnam. If you start talking to me about Vietnam, I'll send you boys packing."
I said, "You've got to talk about Vietnam, Mr. President. Vietnam (expletive deleted) you, Mr. President. And as a result, you (expletive deleted) the country. And you've got to talk about that."
Well, he looked at me as though I was out of my mind.
O'REILLY: What do you think of the elder Bush?
WALLACE: I think he's a fine man.
O'REILLY: Smarter than the son?
WALLACE: Certainly in every way better prepared for the presidency of the greatest superpower.
O'REILLY: Richard Nixon, fundamentally dishonest or did he just get over his head in the Watergate thing?
WALLACE: Dishonest or stupid.
O'REILLY: What's your read on it?
WALLACE: He wasn't stupid.
O'REILLY: Got it. Jimmy Carter? Going to be down in history as one of the weaker presidents. What was your...
WALLACE: As far as I'm concerned, he -- there are all kind of people who got the Nobel Peace Prize. He deserved it.
O'REILLY: Ronald Reagan.
WALLACE: What about him?
O'REILLY: Is he as great a president as the right thinks he is or was, I should say?
WALLACE: I'm not a rightist and yes, I think he was the first great president. Why? Because he understood that there had to be some kind of a way to bring the evil empire that he called -- to somehow he and Gorbachev to sit down together and make sense together and see if they couldn't bring the Cold War to an end.
O'REILLY: Do you admire him?
WALLACE: Oh, yes. I admire -- you know, look, he was a two-term governor, came from no place, and a two-term president. So apparently, he was doing something right.
He had trouble in his second term, as happens frequently, apparently, with -- from history, with two-term presidents. But yes, I think he was comfortable in his own skin. Understood who he was.
O'REILLY: Your description of Reagan really not a great background to be president. Two term governor, two term president, who does that remind you of?
WALLACE: If you're suggesting George W. Bush, no.
O'REILLY: No way? Can't compare.
WALLACE: I don't think so.
O'REILLY: Bill Clinton.
WALLACE: Yes.
O'REILLY: What do you think of him?
WALLACE: I think -- I think if he could run again, he'd probably get elected again. What I never understood was, why his taste in women was so abysmal. Monica Lewinsky? He could have done better.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: Oh, wow.
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