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George W. Bush And Bill Clinton Discuss Their Working Relationship, Despite Party Lines

Bill Zeeble
/
KERA News
Formers President Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and David Rubenstein at the George W. Bush Presidential Center on Thursday, July 13, 2017.

Former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush say they've managed to get along and work together despite their political differences.

Clinton joined Bush on stage Thursday night at the Bush Presidential Center in Dallas. They celebrated 60 graduates of the Presidential Leadership Scholars program, a joint effort between their presidential libraries.

Clinton says their cooperative relationship began with respect he already had for the first President Bush. He says that respect grew when George W. Bush, as president, asked Clinton to join his father and help with a relief effort in 2005 following the Indian Ocean tsunamis.

 

George W. Bush offered a different take – from the 1992 election.

 

gw_he_respected_dad.mp3
Former President George W. Bush.

Clinton and Bush have worked and appeared together for the past few years in conjunction with the Presidential Leadership Scholars. Participants are in the middle of their careers and learn how to become better leaders.

While the former presidents talked about leadership Thursday night, they did not discuss President Trump.

Bill Zeeble has been a full-time reporter at KERA since 1992, covering everything from medicine to the Mavericks and education to environmental issues.