Former President George W. Bush, who hit the airwaves with former President Bill Clinton on all five Sunday morning news shows to talk about fundraising for Haiti, said he enjoys post-presidency endeavors such as relief efforts, but doesn’t miss the attention of the White House.
“It was good to walk back through here,” Bush told CNN’s State of the Union host John King of being back at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. “It was interesting. I frankly don’t miss the limelight. I’m glad to help out. But 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.”
Both Bush and Clinton came to the White House on Saturday in answer to President Obama’s call to raise money for the victims of the disastrous earthquake in Haiti last week.
Clinton chimed in saying, “I think that once you’ve been president you shouldn’t gratuitously offer any advice to your successor. If somebody asks you what you think, you tell them. Otherwise you just show up when you’re asked to help.”
Bush told Brit Hume on Fox News Sunday that in his capacity in the Haitian relief effort, he doesn’t intend on going to Haiti anytime soon. Clinton said he might end up traveling to Haiti in a few days because of his Haiti UN envoy job, though said if he goes, he’s “going to try to stay out of the way.”
Bush said he and Clinton’s priority is to help save lives with funds they raise, while making sure there’s a plan in place to help the country even after “the crisis gets off TV.”
King asked about the former presidents about politically charged comments by commentators on the left and right over Haiti to which Bush responded that “we should keep the politics out of Haiti.”
Clinton told King that he thinks “when people see us together – look, they know we have differences even though we’re friends.”
“And the only political thing I hope comes out of this is that people keep their politics of conviction but they treat their neighbors as friends,” Clinton said.
Bush and Clinton taped a “Full Ginsburg” on Saturday at the White House, which is the act of appearing on all Sunday morning news shows on the same day: Fox News Sunday, ABC’s This Week, CBS’s Face the Nation, CNN’s State of the Union and NBC’s Meet the Press.
Clinton and Bush’s fundraising fund can be found at www.clintonbushhaitifund.org.