'This Week' in History: President Addresses Wall Street

April 23, 2010— -- In 2002, in the shadow of the Enron and MCI Worldcom scandals, Former President George W. Bush stood in front of a banner reading "corporate responsibility" and told Wall Street that "America's greatest economic need is higher ethical standards — standards enforced by strict laws and upheld by responsible business leaders."

"Leaders in this room help give the free enterprise system an ethical compass, and the nation respects you for that," the former President declared in New York City while directly lecturing American corporate executives. "We need that influence now more than ever."

Just two days before Bush's address to Wall Street, the Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee Paul Sarbanes appeared on "This Week" to discuss the need for increased accountability among the nation's financial institutions. "I think what we're going though could have a very severe impact on the economy," Sarbanes told ABC's Sam Donaldson. "We need to straighten this out."

Sarbanes, who was instrumental in writing legislation that toughened accounting standards, the so-called "Sarbanes-Oxley Bill" previewed Bush's address to Wall Street. "I think there's an important crisis in terms of economic confidence in this country," Sarbanes said. "The monitoring and review will be heightened because of all of this, but we need to make sure we have parameters in place in order to avoid it happening again."

On Thursday, almost eight years after Bush's address to Wall Street, President Obama echoed the need for corporate responsibility. "I'm here today specifically, when I speak to the titans of industry here, because I want to urge you to join us instead of fighting us in this effort," he said. "Because ultimately, there is no dividing line between Main Street and Wall Street. We will rise or we will fall together as one nation. And that is why I urge all of you to join me."

Watch this clip of Sen. Paul Sarbanes' on "This Week" on July 7, 2002 as he and Sam Donaldson discuss the details of Washington's earlier push for financial regulation.