For President and Close Friend, Forget the Politics

[housewolf]

The man who made GWB a millionaire

For President and Close Friend, Forget the Politics

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Roland W. Betts and George W. Bush have been needling each other for more than 40 years, ever since the day they met as remarkably similar freshmen at Yale. Mr. Bush was the eldest child of a blue-blooded Republican transplanted in Texas and Mr. Betts the son of a man who managed money for Vincent Astor. Both came from families that stretched generations back into the aristocratic precincts of the East Coast, both had sharp senses of humor, both loved sports and jocks. Most important, both were rebels in their own fashion.

Today Mr. Betts - a founder of the Chelsea Piers sports and entertainment complex in Manhattan, a force behind the rebuilding of ground zero, a former public school teacher in Harlem and the financier of films like "Beauty and the Beast" and "Gandhi" - is one of the president's closest and most unusual confidants.

To no one's surprise, he will be seated near the Bush family when the president takes the oath of office next week.

Mr. Betts's relationship with the president is a window into Mr. Bush, who for the past four years has relied more than ever on his old Yale classmate as a safe harbor, a sounding board and an adviser. Friends say the two are like brothers, but without the familial complications. Over long weekends at Camp David, at the president's Texas ranch or at Mr. Betts's vacation homes in Santa Fe, N.M., and Jackson Hole, Wyo., Mr. Betts and Mr. Bush talk about cabinet appointments, the war in Iraq, Social Security, tax cuts, politics, architecture, sports and family.

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http://nytimes.com/2005/01/14/politics/14betts.html?ei=5094&en=3b6359567c8fe1c5&hp=&ex=1105765200&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print&position=

[imenja]

1. Charlie Rose had a fairly interesting interview with Betts

You can probably find the audio file on the show's website.

[BR_Parkway]

2. They both like jocks? What exactly is this "mandate" anyhow? n/t