Bush: I Called President Clinton For Advice On My Meeting With Obama

[CatWoman]

From CNN... President Bush says he called President Clinton for advice before he met with Obama Monday.

In the wide ranging interview, the president also discussed his meeting with President-elect Barack Obama Monday, and said he consulted former President Bill Clinton before his meeting with the future commander-in-chief.

"I remember the conversation I had with my predecessor Bill Clinton," Bush said. As a matter of fact called him yesterday and said, 'Bill, I'm getting ready to meet with the new president and I remember how gracious you were to me. I hope I can be as gracious to President-elect Obama as you were to me."

Bush described the atmosphere in his Oval Office meeting with Obama as "relaxed" and said he offered the future president advice on the transition process. Bush also said Obama was specifically interested in how his two young daughters would adjust to life in the White House.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/11/bush-i-called-president-c_n_143116.html

[Lerkfish]

1. now why do I find that remarkably unconvincing?

I have trouble believing that was the actual content of that conversation.
A sociopath wouldn't care.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. Laura may have made him do it

:rofl:

[Bucky]

3. One thing I've always admired about Bush is the almost bottomless depth of his cluelessness

That's right, Sluggo, the smartest US president since Abe Lincoln is gonna ask your advice on how to unfuck the world situation you personally created. Right after he gets off the phone with his charm coach, Leona Helmsley.

[Captain Hilts]

7. "Smartest prez since Lincoln." I think TR, FDR, JFK, Carter and Clinton would challenge that one. n

[Egnever]

8. They would lose

[Captain Hilts]

9. Wow! You sure must be rill smart if you know this!

[Bucky]

14. Really? You think all of them are smarter than Obama? Honestly?

Not even Frank Roosevelt's biggest fans considered him a genius on the same calibre as a Lincoln or Jefferson. He had "people smarts" the way his cousin Teddy had (or for that matter the way GW Bush has). JFK also may have enjoyed the confidence and admiration of some very bright men, but he was not gifted with a genius level IQ.

Ironically, in terms of abstract intelligence, the two presidents you could argue capable of giving President Obama a run for his money were Clinton and Nixon. When you pick a smart guy, you really are risking a throw of the dice.


No,

[Captain Hilts]

16. FDR was trained early in his political career to not make it show ...

when he was the smartest guy in the room. Louis Howe said no one liked the smartest guy. Told Eleanor the same thing.

I wouldn't say that any of the above are "the smartest." I wouldn't say it about Obama, or any of them.

[Ishoutandscream2]

17. Mookie, I would probably take FDR out of that list

I think historians believed he was a man of above average intelligence, but a very brilliant politician. I guess it depends on how we define "smartest."

[Captain Hilts]

18. I give him an asterix. Holmes actually didn't say "First class...."

Do I think FDR was as smart as TR or Clinton? No, not necessarily. But he had a very versatile mind. Great alacrity. I think that's worth something. There are differnt kinds of intelligence.

Hoover and Carter were both really smart. But, trained engineers, it was the wrong kind of smarts.

Bill Clinton could do 50 things at once and had/has a voracious appetite for facts and information. A friend of mine wrote a biography of a supreme court judge and got invited to the WH and Bubba really knew the book cold. FDR had a great ability to digest huge amounts of information quickly.

I just wouldn't say any of the above was "the smartest."

[ecstatic]

4. Dare I say, the new beaten/lame duck Bush is rather amusing

I almost feel...nah.

[CatWoman]

5. "misunderestimated"?

:)

[PresidentObama]

6. Did President Clinton hang up? n/t

[tanyev]

10. "Bill, I was really plastered when we met that day--what am I supposed to do?"

[ddeclue]

11. OMG: Isn't this one of the "seven signs"? Bush asks someone else for advice?

:hide:

[Marsala]

15. Now, now, Bush has certainly asked for lots of advice over his career

Unfortunately, most of it has come from Dick Cheney.

[davepc]

12. Why didnt he call his dad too?

[Captain Hilts]

19. He looks for guidance to a "higher father." nt

[davepc]

13. Why didnt he call his dad too?