former presidents

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Kim Jong-Il Was 'Fully Engaged' During Clinton Visit

(Newser) - Longtime Bill Clinton aide John Podesta, who accompanied the former president on his recent rescue mission to North Korea, says leader Kim Jong-Il was "fully engaged" during the visit, Reuters reports. “I would basically say that the discussions were pretty straightforward and he was fully engaged,” Podesta...

NY Times Video Obits Give the Departed 'The Last Word'

Non-Bush ex-president has already made one

(Newser) - Obituaries are a newspaper standby, but the New York Times has removed the journalistic middleman with its series of video obits, Editor & Publisher reports. After starting 2 years ago with humorist Art Buchwald’s greeting of “Hi, I’m Art Buchwald and I just died,” the Times...

Skydiving Bush Sr. Turns 85
 Skydiving Bush Sr. Turns 85 

Skydiving Bush Sr. Turns 85

(Newser) - George H.W. Bush celebrated his 85th birthday by skydiving over the coast of Maine today. The 41st president made a tandem jump with a member of the Army's Golden Knights parachute team onto a landing zone near a church in Kennebunkport, where the family has a summer home. "...

Reagan Statue Unveiled on Hill

Bronze statue graces Capitol rotunda

(Newser) - An overjoyed and teary-eyed Nancy Reagan watched with delight as a bronze statue of her beloved late husband Ronald Reagan was unveiled at the US Capitol today. Reagan-era policymakers also looked on in the Capitol's Rotunda as blue cloth was pulled to reveal a 7-foot statue that casts the 40th...

Bush Says Clinton Is Like a Brother to Him

(Newser) - The audience probably expected a throw-down. What they got was a sewing circle. Bill Clinton and George W. Bush sat down for a friendly chat yesterday in Toronto, emphasis on the friendly. The ex-presidents went out of their way to be agreeable, at times almost seeming like a support group,...

Bill Settles In to New Role
 Bill Settles In to New Role 

Bill Settles In to New Role

(Newser) - Bill Clinton: globetrotter, world diplomat, crafts shop enthusiast. Peter Baker profiles the former president in New York Times magazine as he adjusts to his new role—this time as the spouse of a Cabinet member. "We've reversed roles," says Clinton, who loves to shop for Hillary and female...

London OKs 10-Ft. Bronze Reagan Statue

(Newser) - London officials have overcome their distaste for an American artist and approved a 10-foot, bronze statue of President Reagan, the Independent reports. The Westminster City Council also waived a rule delaying statues for 10 years after a figure's death; Reagan died 5 years ago. Nancy Reagan and former PM Margaret...

Bush Likes His 'Liberating' New Life in the Burbs

Former president tells high school seniors he's relieved to be in suburbia

(Newser) - Being wrist-deep in dog poo makes a nice change of pace from being neck-deep in responsibilities, George W. Bush told a group of New Mexico high school seniors yesterday. Bush, in one of his few public appearances since leaving office, said it felt liberating to be out of the Oval...

Bush: Obama 'Deserves My Silence'

(Newser) - In his first speech as a former president, George W. Bush declined to offer any criticism of his successor. "He deserves my silence," Bush told a group of business leaders in Calgary, reports the Toronto Globe and Mail. “I want the president to succeed. I love my...

Obama's Big Speech? 'Totally Forgot,' Says Laura Bush

Life's on different pace for former first couple

(Newser) - Post-White House life is decidedly less hectic for the Bushes—so much so that Laura “totally forgot” to watch President Obama’s address to Congress, People reports. “It came and went and I didn't even think about it,” the former first lady said in an interview with...

Clinton Gives Obama High Marks, Blasts Bush

Bill Clinton praises Obama, urges him not to get depressing

(Newser) - Bill Clinton knows a thing or two about dealing with recalcitrant Republicans, and he has some advice for President Obama: "It takes two to tango." The ex-president tells ABC News he gives Obama an “A” for his performance so far, along with a warning about appearances....

Bush on Brink, Says Tabloid
 Bush on Brink, Says Tabloid

Bush on Brink, Says Tabloid

(Newser) - Former President George W. Bush is “depressed and paranoid,” even “suicidal,” proclaims the tabloid glossy the Globe. Yes, “insiders fear” that the erstwhile leader of the free world will terminate himself: He’s “boozing up a storm,” and is “terrified of Barack...

Bush Gets Misty-Eyed During Anthem
Bush Gets Misty-Eyed During Anthem

Bush Gets Misty-Eyed During Anthem

Ex-president pops up at women's college hoops game in Waco

(Newser) - In his first public appearance since Barack Obama’s inauguration, George W. Bush took in a women’s basketball game Wednesday at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, about 25 miles from their Crawford ranch. Bush received applause when he and Laura walked onto the court, and seemed to almost tear...

Carter Gives Clinton the Cold Shoulder

Ex-presidents, in longtime feud, frostily ignore each other

(Newser) - The bad feeling between Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter was on display today as the two ex-presidents ignored each other on the way to the inaugural platform, ABC reports. Carter greeted Barbara and George HW Bush warmly but walked straight past Bill and Hillary. The feud goes back to 1980,...

10 Obscure Inauguration Tidbits
 10 Obscure Inauguration Tidbits 

10 Obscure Inauguration Tidbits

Which president was forgotten at his successor's ceremony?

(Newser) - Ahead of Tuesday’s inauguration, the Chicago Tribune compiles a list of the 10 best little known facts about ceremonies past.
  • George Washington had to borrow money to attend his own inauguration.
  • No, William Henry Harrison’s long-winded, “fatal” speech on a chilly morning in 1841 didn’t kill
...

Hoops Fans Await Jump Shots at White House

(Newser) - It's no secret that Barack Obama is an avid hoopster and that his presidency could usher in an era of basketball diplomacy, but a New York Times feature on the politics of presidential sports notes a potential hurdle for the president-elect: He's inheriting a cruddy basketball court. Little-used since Bush...

Bush Wants a Gate to Keep Public Off His Dallas Street

And public money can foot the bill to do it

(Newser) - President Bush wants to limit access to his new Dallas home by putting up a gate on a public street, the Dallas Morning News reports. City officials must approve the plan, but it seems the Bushes' Preston Hollow neighbors are willing to go along with it. "It's great the...

Do Deciders Age Prematurely?
 Do Deciders Age Prematurely? 

Do Deciders Age Prematurely?

Stress causes grays and wrinkles, but nobody agrees whether presidents die early

(Newser) - Four to eight years as leader of the free world gave George W. plenty of wrinkles and gray hairs—but just what are the presidency’s long-term aging effects? One doctor found that presidents generally have shorter-than-average lifespans, the Boston Globe reports, while another pegs two years for every one...

The Real Father of the Modern Presidency

Not George or Abe, but Andy Jackson started today's political culture

(Newser) - Most people probably remember Andrew Jackson as an Indian-fighter, if at all, but Abraham Lincoln looked to him for inspiration, and so should we, writes Jon Meacham in Newsweek. Jackson had a hand in making America what it is, for better and for worse—the legacy of this uneducated orphan...

How Would Cool Hand Obama Govern?
 How Would 
 Cool Hand 
 Obama 
 Govern?
OPINION

How Would Cool Hand Obama Govern?

Brooks asks: How would someone so calm actually govern?

(Newser) - Barack Obama, like LBJ and Bill Clinton, may rise from an outsider's position to the highest echelon of American politics. But while those presidents sought power for respect or public adoration, writes David Brooks, Obama exudes an "untroubled self-confidence" in the mold of FDR and Ronald Reagan. Watching Obama's...

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