Former US president George W. Bush had a special phone friend during his White House years: his predecessor Bill Clinton.
Asked on CBS television’s Face the Nation whether it was true that he often called Clinton, Bush replied: “I don’t know about often, but I did. I called him. He didn’t call me because he knows how busy a president is. I called him and we chatted on occasion.”
Neither Republican Bush nor Democrat Clinton said just what they discussed.
“I was always pleased when he called me,” Clinton said as he sat beside Bush for the interview. “I make it a practice never to bother the president. I don’t call President Obama either … They got plenty to do.”
Bush’s eight years in office followed Clinton’s two terms. While poles apart politically, the ex-presidents said they consider themselves to be friends.
“We have developed a very honest, good friendship,” Clinton said. “And we’ve made our disagreements respectful and we’ve had a good time doing it.”
The two met US President Barack Obama at the White House on Saturday and taped segments for five Sunday TV news shows to appeal for private donations for Haiti relief.
Bush also said it was a little nostalgic to be back at the White House.
“It was good to walk back through here,” he said.
Bush has avoided getting involved in political issues since leaving the White House a year ago this week.
“I’m glad I’ve come back for this purpose,” Bush told Meet the Press host David Gregory during his appearance on the NBC program. “I must confess, I miss you as a person, but I don’t miss the spotlight.”
On a similar note, he told CNN’s State of the Union: “There’s life after the presidency, is what I’ve learned, and I’m going to live it to the fullest, and this is part of living it to the fullest, to help other people.”
Former British prime minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday urged so-called middle powers to become a “poisonous shrimp” to carve out strategic economic leverage in a more turbulent global environment. Sunak drew from a metaphor by former Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew (李光耀): A big fish will eat a smaller fish, and the smaller fish will eat the shrimp. Lee made the point a year after the Asian nation’s independence in 1966 that the city-state needed to build up its defense mechanisms — like a shrimp that stings — so it would be left alone by predators. “He was thinking about what Singapore’s
POLL POSITION: Democrats criticized the timing of the raid, saying that the US justice department historically avoids public investigations within 60 days of an election Federal agents on Monday searched the home of Democratic US Representative Ilhan Omar, a startling escalation in a criminal investigation that brings renewed focus to the frequent target of White House derision in the final weeks of her re-election bid. The search of the Minnesota congresswoman’s home so close to next month’s midterm contests that would determine control of the US House and the Senate was swiftly condemned by top Democrats in Congress, who raised questions about the timing given longstanding US Department of Justice (DOJ) protocol to avoid overt investigative steps involving political candidates in the direct run-up to an
A Rhode Island pumpkin grower appears to have broken the world record for the heaviest pumpkin, with his giant squash topping the record by nearly 136kg. Ron Wallace of Greene, Rhode Island, weighed his pumpkin on Saturday at a contest in New England and is waiting for the Guinness World Records to confirm he smashed the record, set about a week earlier by a grower in England. Wallace said he has been in contact with Guinness officials who say his record is on track to be verified. “It’s truly massive, it was a pleasure to grow,” Wallace said on Monday. Guinness World Records lists
BUILDUP: The report comes as Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi boosts defense spending in the face of China’s military expansion and the North Korean threat French defence contractor Thales will establish a maintenance and operational support base in Japan in what is seen as the first such move by a foreign firm in the country, a report said yesterday. Thales chairman and CEO Patrice Caine told the Nikkei business daily that the base “will mark a milestone toward Thales’ long-term engagement in Japan.” It is believed to be the first time a foreign defense company has established a dedicated base in Japan for the maintenance and operation of Japanese defense equipment, the Nikkei said. It added that Thales might also expand its Japan-based business to
RSS