Politics

Bush and Clinton answer Obama call to help Haiti

Jon Ward Contributor
Font Size:

Former President George W. Bush and former President Bill Clinton came to the White House Saturday in answer to President Obama’s call to raise money for the victims of the disastrous earthquake in Haiti this week.

“Before this earthquake Haiti had the best chance in my lifetime to escape its history,” Clinton said, speaking to reporters in the Rose Garden, following remarks by Obama and Bush. “They can escape their history and build a better future if we do our part.”

Bush commended Obama for a “swift and timely response” to the earthquake, which registered 7.0 on the Richter scale Tuesday and has killed around 50,000 people, according to the most recent estimates from the Red Cross.

“Our hearts our broken,” Bush said of himself and former first lady Laura Bush, who he said had been watching television coverage of the quake’s aftermath.

Obama has already committed $100 million in federal funds to help Haiti recover, and has also dispatched military and government disaster response personnel to help. He said the two presidents will raise funds here in the U.S. to maintain an ongoing aid effort to the small nation, which Clinton called “one of the most remarkable and unique places I have ever been.”

Though the current response to the disaster, from the government and the public, is vigorous, Obama said, “when the news media starts seeing its attention drift to other things but there’s still enormous needs on the ground, these two gentleman of extraordinary stature I think are going to be able to help ensure that these efforts are sustained.”

Bush said to those who wish to donate at www.clintonbushhaitifund.org that he and Clinton would “make sure your money is spent wisely.”

“I know a lot of people want to send blankets or water. Just send your cash,” Bush said.

It was a rare moment, to see the current president and his two immediate predecessors in the Rose Garden. It was also a moment of political and national goodwill and unity, at a moment when the country is being riven apart by the debate over health care reform and by anger and anxiety over the continuing economic downturn and high unemployment.

For Bush, it was his first trip back to the White House since leaving office almost exactly one year ago. He appeared nostalgic to be back, looking around the Rose Garden at journalists he recognized and giving slight nods.

Former Bush aides, who have expressed frustration and anger at Obama’s continued blaming of Bush for the country’s problems, maintained total radio silence on Saturday when asked how they felt about Bush coming back to Washington to stand beside the president.

Jon Ward

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel