Politics

George And Barbara Bush Drove A Purple Gremlin With Denim Seat Covers In 1968

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News is trickling out about the wealth of wonderful vignettes in George W. Bush’s latest book, “41: A Portrait of My Father.”

One involves that time in 1968 when the elder Bush, then a congressman, tried to set his son up with Tricia Nixon, President Richard Nixon’s daughter.

Bush tells the story with frat-gentleman aplomb but glides right past the obviously most awesome detail: George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara Bush, owned and allowed themselves to be seen in a purple AMC Gremlin in 1968. It even had sweet jeans-like denim interior.

As blogger Ann Althouse excerpts, the younger Bush claimed he was “briefly speechless” when his father proposed that he take Tricia Nixon — at the time a resident of the White House — to a fancypants Washington cocktail party.

“On the appointed evening, I pulled up to the White House gate in my parents’ purple Gremlin, which was outfitted with Levi’s jean seat covers,” Bush the raconteur explains. “A White House usher met me at the Diplomatic Reception Entrance and took me upstairs.”

After what seemed like an eternal wait, “Tricia emerged” and the future president introduced himself.

“We went downstairs and climbed into a white Lincoln Town Car. As we hit the seats, one of the Secret Service agents in the front swiveled his head and said, ‘Good evening, Miss Nixon.'”

The date went downhill from there.

At the Alibi Club, the scene of the date, Bush ordered some drinks. “I reached for some butter, knocked over a glass, and watched in horror as the stain of red wine crept across the table. Then I fired up a cigarette, prompting a polite suggestion from Tricia that I not smoke. The date came to an end when she asked me to take her back to the White House immediately after dinner. When I returned to the party, my father was standing around chatting with a few friends.”

Back at the party, Bush was preparing to tell his father how the date fizzled when an unidentified male interrupted and asked: “Get any?”

“Not even close,” Bush said he replied.

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