Bush Denies Being Dispirited by Defeat, Readies for Clinton Visit

WASHINGTON — President Bush on Monday rejected suggestions that he was demoralized by his election defeat two weeks ago and said the White House is “shifting gears” to the new Administration.

“I’m smiling happily,” Bush said when asked about reports that he has been dispirited since the election. The President had just returned from a Florida fishing trip.

Bush and President-elect Bill Clinton will meet one-on-one in the Oval Office for an hour Wednesday, and Clinton and his wife, Hillary, will stay that night at the Hay-Adams Hotel, a block from the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Barbara Bush will give Mrs. Clinton a look at her new home Thursday, Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said.

On Bush’s relatively sparse public agenda Monday, he met with Israeli President Chaim Herzog, whose post is largely ceremonial. The Israeli president was the first high-level visitor since Bush lost the election.

“We’re shifting gears to the new Administration,” Bush told Herzog during an Oval Office meeting. “We are referring all calls to them.”

Herzog, like Bush, is a lame-duck president. He ends his second five-year term next May and must step down.

Also on Monday, the President directed federal agencies to give elementary and secondary schools first crack at surplus federal computers and other equipment to help teach math and science.

Bush also instructed federal agencies involved in science, math and engineering to become involved with teacher-training programs through partnerships with schools, universities and other organizations.

The order also calls for providing the equipment to “schools with the greatest need.”