What would George do? Dubya returns to the White House

While Mr Bush, Mr Obama and their wives spoke about the warmth between their
families, there was little of that on display between the two presidents.
They traded handshakes but no hugs. There was little casual small talk as
they entered and exited the East Room or as they stood on stage together.

“We may have our differences politically, but the presidency transcends those
differences,” Mr Obama said.

That the relationship between Mr Obama and Mr Bush is cordial but not close is
hardly a surprise.

Mr Obama is still trashing Mr Bush’s time in office, blaming him for the
economic crisis, the soaring federal debt and the unfinished wars the
Democrat inherited from his Republican predecessor. And in the midst of an
election season, Mr Obama is trying to lump the economic policies of his
current Republican rival, Mitt Romney, in with Mr Bush’s.

Standing side by side in the grand, chandeliered East Room, Mr Obama was
mostly formal and subdued while Mr Bush was light-hearted and engaging,
relishing in the warm greetings from veterans of his two terms in office.

Mr Bush said he was pleased that the White House portrait collection now
starts and ends with a “George W”.

Noting that George Washington’s portrait was famously saved by first lady
Dolley Madison when the British burned the White House in 1814, Mr Bush
pointed to his own portrait and told Michelle Obama that “if anything
happens, there’s your man.”

With a smile, the First Lady assured him in her own remarks, “I promise, I’m
going straight for” it in case of emergency.

The former president turned emotional as he spoke of his own portrait hanging
near his father’s – “number 41” as he called him. On the verge of tears, the
younger Bush thanked his father, who attended the ceremony in a wheelchair,
for “the greatest gift possible, unconditional love.”

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