 Greetings from the National Archives flagship building in Washington, D.C., which sits on the ancestral lands of the Dakotch Tank Peoples. I'm David Ferriero, archivist of the United States, and it's my pleasure to welcome you to tonight's virtual author lecture with Gene Becker, author of The Man I Knew, a new memoir about former President George H. W. Bush. Before we begin, I'd like to tell you about two upcoming programs that you can view on our YouTube channel. On Wednesday, June 9th at 1 p.m., we will present a program in partnership with the U.S. Association of Former members of Congress called Can Congress Reform Itself Again? Our moderator will be a librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden, and panelists will include current and former members of Congress. And on Tuesday, June 15th at noon, historian Michael Burlingame will be here to talk about his new book, An American Marriage. Based on 30 years of research, Burlingame describes and analyzes the marriage between Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd. Through its presidential libraries, the National Archives preserves the records of our presidents back to Herbert Hoover. The stories told in the libraries cover presidents' entire life, not just their time in the highest office of the nation. After returning to private life, a number of them turned to humanitarian causes and advisory roles, and you will find those activities documented in the libraries as well. After leaving office in 1993, George Bush remained engaged in public service and continued to encourage others to make a difference in large and small ways. He shared his decades of experience with his successors and worked ceaselessly for a kinder, gentler America. Today's guest author, Jean Becker, was with President Bush for nearly all of his post-presidential years. In her new book, The Man I Knew, she brings the reader into the room with George Bush and gives us a close-up look at his work after leaving the Oval Office. Jean Becker was President George H. W. Bush's Chief of Staff for nearly 25 years, from 1994 until Bush's death in 2018. As Chief of Staff, Becker had a ringside seat to the never-boring story of George Herbert Walker Bush's life after his presidency, including being at his side when he died and subsequently facing the challenge and great honor of being in charge of his state funeral. Previously, Jean served as the Deputy Press Secretary to First Lady Barbara Bush from 1989 to 1992. As a former journalist, she is also a member of the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board and the Sea Change Cancer Board, as well as an ad hoc member of the advisory boards of the George Bush Presidential Library and the George Bush School of Government and Public Service. Our moderator for tonight's discussion is Warren Finch, Director of the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum. Warren has more than 30 years of experience at the National Archives and Records Administration, first with the Office of Presidential Libraries here in Washington, D.C., and then with the Ronald Reagan Library in California and now the Bush Library and Museum. Trained as an archivist, he was detailed to the Bush White House in 1992 to assist with the move of Bush Presidential Materials to Texas and has been in College Station ever since. Now, let's hear from Jean Becker and Warren Finch. Thank you for joining us today. Hello, Jean. Good evening, Warren. Great to see you. Thanks to the archivist for the kind introduction. Also, I'd like to shout out to our partners in crime, the George and Barbara Bush Foundation, Max Engerholzer, colleague from L.A., Lower Alabama, and then also to the Dean of the Bush School and the staff at the library who have been so helpful here during the COVID and also to the staff of the former President's Office. It's a great organization we belong to. We've been very lucky to be a part of it and be a part of the life of George and Barbara Bush for all these years. My first question, so you kind of came to the Bush office in kind of a curious way. Can you just talk a little bit about, you worked for USA Today and you did the diary. So can you talk a little bit about how that led to Barbara Bush hiring you to work on her staff? Well, it is sort of an interesting road to the White House and to the Bush's life. I was a newspaper reporter at USA Today in 1988, the 1988 election, and Barbara Bush and Kitty Dukakis both agreed to write a weekly column for USA Today. It was called their campaign diary. I think it ran every Monday morning and I was their editor. When I was given that assignment, I was sort of grumpy about it. I didn't want to be their editor, but it ended up being a lot of fun. I got to know both of those amazing women really well. And after the election, I was very surprised when Mrs. Bush's chief of staff, Susan Porter-Rose, offered me a job in the First Lady's press office. It took me a couple weeks to think about it. I loved being a reporter. And then it was my dad, a farmer in Missouri, who said, what is wrong with you? You've been offered a job by the incoming First Lady of the United States and you're still thinking about it? So he was right and I said yes and the rest is history. Then I quickly warned, followed him to Houston when he lost the election in 1992 to help Mrs. Bush with her memoirs. I was her researcher and her editor. She wrote the book herself. She would want me to say that. And then the book was done and President Bush said to me, will you stay just a couple more months? I need to hire Chief of Staff. His Chief of Staff, Rosa Maria, retired. And he said, just stay until Labor Day. This was March of 1994 and I'll hire someone. We never talked about it again. I think 25 years later, I said to him, sir, I'm still waiting for you to come in my office and tell me that you've hired a Chief of Staff and I'm unemployed. I thought I was a little crazy. So 25 years plus working for President Bush and you've written this great book. And what I love about the book is it's a book of stories. So tell us a little bit about the book, why you wrote it and why people should read it. I wrote the book war and I first of all wrote the book. My beginning idea was President Bush just left me so many great stories. It was such a wild roller coaster ride with him for 25 years. He did a lot. He was funny. He was there's you know the whole story of the odd couple of he and Bill Clinton. He went back to Chichi Jima where he was shot down. He raised hundreds of millions of dollars for disaster relief. And then there was just funny stories like when he called Prince Bandar to ask him if he were dead or alive. That was the day I knew I had to write a book. So I started writing the book just because I thought the American people need to know the heart and soul of this amazing man. And in the middle of writing the book it occurred to me that there was something a lot more important at work here pouring out of my heart onto my computer talking about him. President Bush really left us a blueprint on how to live life. You know when someone dies and they often will say it was a life well lived. If you want that to be said about you when you die you need to read this book. President Bush taught us how to live life. I mean he did. Jumping out of airplanes perfectly good planes. Love the story Mrs. Bush said. It was a great way to go one way or the other. Well and she was glad because on his 90th birthday he jumped at St. Anne's Church in Kennevunkport, Maine. And she said if it doesn't go well we'll just carry him inside and have the funeral. That's right. It won't be far to go. So today is Mrs. Bush's birthday. We put a bouquet of roses at her grave site today. Just an amazing love story between the two of them. And Mrs. Bush and her scrapbooks. Hundreds of scrapbooks. I think they're like 125, 150 of these scrapbooks. Someone at the library one time made the mistake of asking Mrs. Bush if she actually did them herself. You can imagine what she said. Oh yeah of course she did. But she started these scrapbooks when they first got married. Wait Warren I have to explain that photo. I hate to interrupt you. That is the photo of the Aggie Wranglers at Texas A&M. And the Bushes are pretending that they're Aggie Wranglers in that photo. You know they just knew how to have fun. I'm sorry I interrupted you. Oh no they did. They loved the Aggie Wranglers. I think they were almost. They loved the Aggie Wranglers. So for those of you who are not in Aggie Land the Aggie Wranglers are a precision dance team. And they look like they're going to knock themselves out. But somehow they do it. And the Bushes love them. They love them. A lot of them. So today is Mrs. Bush's 96th birthday. She's actually buried here along with her husband and their daughter at the Presidential Library. Talk a little bit about, I mean, you talked about a life well served. That was a great partnership. They're both, you know, I'm 60 years old now and I think I can say they were both kids when they got married. Although he had been in the war. They were 20 and 19 when they got married. They were married for 73 years. I'm wearing Barbara Bush blue in honor of her birthday today and pearl earrings. I almost put on a pearl necklace, but I used to drive Mrs. Bush crazy because whenever I would wear pearls, I would play with them, twirl them, and she would say, Jean, quit twirling your pearls. So in her honor, I did not, I actually did not wear pearls today. But I just, I would like to read a latter war and that's in the book that President Bush wrote. He wrote her all say everything you need to know how he felt about his wife of 73 years. He wrote this on January 6, 1994, or 49th wedding anniversary for Barbara Pierce from GHWB. Will you marry me? Oops. I forgot you did that 49 years ago today. I was very happy on that day in 1945, but I'm even happier today. You have given me joy that few men know. You have made our boys into men by bawling them out and then right away by loving them. You have helped Doro be the sweetest, greatest daughter in the whole wide world. I have climbed perhaps the highest mountain in the world. But even that cannot hold a candle to being Barbara's husband. Mom used to tell me, now George, don't walk ahead. Little did she know I was only trying to keep up. Keep up with Barbara Pierce from Onadega Street and ride New York. I love you. Great letter. It's such a great letter. And, Lauren, before I'm going to jump right in, and then I promise I'll let you talk again, but I know that right now people are weeping across America with that letter. So now I'm going to make them laugh. So we're going to wipe away the tears quickly. So, you know, Mrs. Bush was a good sport. President Bush teased her unmercifully. He had a wonderful sense of humor. And I think she was the target of most of her practical jokes. This is the worst thing he ever did to her. So I'm going to read this to Mrs. Bush often told people that one of the many reasons she married George Bush is that he made her laugh. He was the master of practical jokes with his wife, often his target. One of his more famous success stories had to be the day he managed to convince her that she might be going to jail for trafficking porn. During the summer of 1998, see, there's a lot of surprises in this book. Everyone needs to read the book. During the summer of 1998, it came to light that someone in the house was looking up and printing porn off Mrs. Bush's computer. Several unnamed teenage grandsons were the immediate suspects and they quickly acknowledged their crime. Leading some photos in the printer led to their downfall. A few days after the unfortunate incident, Mrs. Bush found in her stack of mail a letter from the Office of the Inspector General of the Federal Trade Commission. It read in part, In doing a routine check, it appears you have recently been engaged in downloading pornographic material. We respectfully request that you report to our regional office in Portland, Maine for a hearing on August 17, 1998 at 8.30 a.m. While next to her husband in bed as she was reading through her mail, she blurted out to him that she might be going to jail. I was not there when all this transpired, but I was told that President Bush managed to keep it together for a few minutes before dissolving into laughter. Yes, he had written the letter with the help of some staff members. You know what, Warren, that was sort of the secret to their wonderful marriage. They knew how to laugh and they knew how to tease each other. So, can you tell the story? President Mrs. Bush are both in the hospital and she comes to visit his room and his hair is all messy. Tell that story, would you? This was about a week before she died and they had both been in the hospital, but she had been dismissed. And we get word, I met Houston's great Methodist hospital with him and we get word that she's had it back in. She's had it back to the hospital in an ambulance. She had started taking a turn for the worse and so I told him she was on her way back. So they got her settled into her room. They had a joining room at Methodist. The last couple of years, I think Methodist hospital sort of figured out that if one was in the hospital, eventually the other one would end up there too. I think it was sort of by design. But they get her settled in her room and President Bush wanted to go in and see her. She was not in a coma, but she was somewhere else. She was pretty much out of it. She was in a very deep sleep. And I hate to be critical of the 41st President of the United States, but he looked awful. His hair was standing straight up. He was wearing an oxygen mask. He was on oxygen. He was in a hospital gown. He looked like you and I would warn. If we'd been in the hospital for five days, but they get him in his wheelchair and they take him into her room and he's just sitting there holding her hand. And all of a sudden her eyes flew open and she looked at him and she said, my God, George, you are devastatingly good looking. I hate to say it, but he was not at that moment. And then she just closed her eyes and, you know, the love of her life was holding her hand. And he caught my eye and he looked at me and he sort of shrugged as if to say, well, it is what it is, Jim. I can't help it. I can't help it. Anyway, she died about a week later and the bushes lived in a three-story townhouse. And their bedroom was on the second floor and the power went out that day. It was out for three hours and he was downstairs when he was told that the time was near. And he, the Secret Service, God love them, carried him up the stairs because the elevator wasn't working. He said, I have to be there. So she died. They died holding hands. And you don't warn. I would love right now to give a huge shout out to the Bush's granddaughter, the beautiful and wonderful Ellie LeBlanc Sosa, who a couple of years ago wrote a book about her grandparents' love story. It's called George and Barbara Bush, The Great American Love Story, I think. And it's just a sweet, wonderful book. And I know you, I think you have a story to share with us. So they, Ellie and Kelly and Chase, who helped with the book, they came to the Bush Library and did a lot of research. And these scrapbooks that Mrs. Bush kept, they were amazing. When we did the museum for the 10th anniversary, one of the reasons we wanted to read through the exhibits is because we had discovered these scrapbooks and the amazing stuff that's in them. And like I said, there's 125, 150 of them. So we've been through them all, but apparently we hadn't been through them all in great detail. So there's one from 1945. And Ellie and Kelly are going to the scrapbook and with Mary Fence, the audio visual archivist. And they open a page and there's an envelope, just a letter envelope sealed up and it's got the names of people who attended the dinner. And so they open the envelope and inside the envelope is the wishbone from the first Thanksgiving turkey, George and Barbara Bush had in 1945. And Mrs. Bush was always great about this, the guests that all came. And just, I mean, it's so just lovely and everyone kind of went all kind of at once. So after you read The Man I Knew, read that book. Ellie did a great job and I love that wishbone story. And you're talking about Ellie doing a lot of research at the library. I would like to point out that the library was closed the entire time I was writing this book because of the pandemic. And working from home, Warren and his team, Debbie Wheeler is the head archivist there, Robert Hulsewise, your deputy director. You all were amazing. I know it was hard for you all to help me fact check and research this book. And also, Warren has the best wife ever, Mary Fence, who's the audio visual director of the library. You guys are rock stars. So I just want to take a moment to thank you. This book wouldn't have happened without you. And you did it under you. You helped me despite the fact you were home, but you managed to dig out mainly fact checking. I did have to email George Clooney directly and do a little fact checking with him. I'll just throw that out for Gene. But that's another whole story. Talk about him tonight. So, yeah, so it's amazing. The staff, the amount of what they could do working from home, teleworking is just amazing. The great staff here. So, yeah, they did some great work. So let's see. Let's let's talk about this relationship between President Bush and President Clinton. I heard President Bush say one time, he said, you know, I kind of liked him when he was governor. Didn't like him. I didn't like him so much when he ran against me. But I kind of liked him again after he left office. And then, of course, there's, you know, Adams and Jefferson, they were good friends and not good friends. And then at the end of your lives, they were good friends again. But I think President Bush and Bill Clinton had this special relationship and talk about a life well served. They did some amazing work. They really did. And you and I talked about this a couple of days ago because this event's hosted by the National Archives. We did want to talk about that relationship that happens between former presidents. They really are the President's Club. There's a great book written by the great Michael Duffy about called the President's Club. And they really do have a special relationship with each other. Here's a picture of them, of all the former presidents at that time. I confess that I am photobombing their backstage. This is at Texas A&M. We're about to do a huge fundraiser for Hurricane Harvey Relief. They're backstage. That's my great friend, Terace Birch, who was helping out and she and I photobombed the presidents. But they're just telling stories and catching up with each other when Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston. Of course, the two George Bushes immediately wanted to roll up their sleeves and go to work. And I just sort of told the other three former presidents, my fellow chief of staffs, I said, just sort of FYI, we're going to be doing this. Well, here they are. They all showed up. And it is just a really special relationship. President Bush and President Clinton became great friends. There's a whole chapter about all their disaster relief work. Mrs. Bush called them the odd couple. And that's the title of the chapter. They literally raised hundreds of millions of dollars for Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, Hurricane Ike. The tsunami in South Asia, which is where it all began. I'm going to ask everyone to read the book. The stories are terrific. You're going to love the Pope John Paul, the second funeral story. But I thought tonight I would tell a few stories that might surprise people that aren't well known. And one involves former vice president Al Gore. And it just sort of demonstrates that the men and hopefully one day soon the women who occupy the highest offices in the land, they do have a connection, no matter their politics, no matter their background, they had a shared experience that not many of us can really understand. So I'm going to tell you two quick stories. It is December 2000. The Supreme Court has ruled that George W. Bush did win the election. They, the recount is over. And vice president Gore is scheduled to give his concession speech to the nation. And President Bush called me before the speech and he said, Jean, as soon as the speech is done, I would like to call Al Gore and talk to him. It was in the evening. I was at home. The bushes were at home. And as respectfully as I could, I said, sir, I, I'm not sure that you're the person vice president Gore needs to hear from tonight. You know, I'm thinking to hear from anyone named Bush and the father of the man who just defeated him. I said, are you sure you want to call him? And he said, Jean, I have been where Al Gore is. I know what he's about ready to do. I know what he's feeling. And I would like to call and talk to him when he's done. So I told him, I said, well, I will call the White House operators. The best way to reach the vice presidents through the White House switchboard. And that made him very happy. I mean, it meant he cut me out of the middle. And he said, I will call the operators when the speech is done. I love the operators. And, and you don't have to worry about it. So I watched the vice president's speech. It was very gracious. And I'm watching him come out of the Eisenhower office building in the White House complex and get in the car. I'm watching all this live on TV. And sure enough, I see him pick up the phone. And I'm thinking, no, no, no, no, no, no, that can't possibly be my boss. Well, five minutes later, my phone rings as President Bush. Gene, I just got off the phone with Al Gore. I think he was thrilled that I called. We had a great conversation. I told him that his speech was wonderful and perfect. And I think he understood why I called. He understood that I was where he was. And so I did the right thing. And you know what, Lauren? I know that he did. I was wrong and he was right. Fast forward to 2008. He comes in the it's it's a wide open election year. George W is going to leave office. And it's the morning after the first Democratic debate. And President Bush comes in the office and he says, Gene, get Joe Biden on the phone. And Chris thought, I don't like how they retreated at the debate last night. And I said, well, what are you talking about? He said, look, they were standing on the end. They hardly got any questions. They kept sending all the questions to Hillary Clinton, to Barack Obama, and that guy, John Edwards, they got all the questions. And Joe Biden and Chris Dodd are upstanding US senators and they deserve to be treated better. This is how I was treated in 1980. I was the man on the end who could never get any questions. So once again, Warren, I said, did you think that Senator Biden and Senator Dodd will think it's odd that you're calling a Republican president's calling them? And he said, get him on the phone. So we did. And he had a great conversation with them. And I only tell those two stories because they're in the book, but it just gives people just a little insight, just sort of the camaraderie that happens behind the scenes between these people who have this shared experience. Yeah. And as, go ahead. I mean, it's, he was, he operated well on the telephone. And his letters were amazing. It's funny, you know, he's not always a great speech maker, but you get him in a room with 10 people. I think it's why he liked head of state dinner so much is because with 10 people, he was amazing. Yeah. That's a great point. I'm sorry. He was very personable. And I do want to go back to the photo of all the presidents backstage at Hurricane Harvey with the great team that archives could pull that back up. I have to tell a funny story about that night. So this was on a Saturday evening. We really didn't even invite the other presidents. We just, I just sort of told them as an FYI in case you're in Texas and want to come to this event. They all came, President Obama, President Clinton, President Carter. And when I told the Bushes, they were all coming. I'll never forget this. Mrs. Bush said, Oh, dear, we need to give them dinner. We're going to have to feed them. And I thought that's such a normal reaction. That's, that's what any wife in America would react to when their husband comes home and says, honey, I've invited some people over for dinner and I've invited, so we did give them dinner before the event. And the funny thing is I'm going to, I'm going to tattle tail and two people who I love. I get a call from Secretary Baker, James Baker, and he says, Jean, I'm coming to that big Harvey event. I understand all the presidents are coming. I hear there's a dinner beforehand. I would like in that dinner. Can I get into that dinner? And yeah, President Bush said I had to call you. Like, like I'm going to tell Secretary Baker, no, you can't come to dinner. I said, of course, there's plenty of room for you and Susan. They would love to see you. So then he calls me back and he says, Jean, Dick Cheney is coming. And he would like to be in that dinner. He says, this is a big, everyone wants to be in this dinner. And I said, did you call and invite Dick Cheney? And he said, well, maybe, because I thought Dick would want to be there. And I said, fine, but you cannot invite anybody else because the table is now full. You may not call one more time and to say that anyone else is coming. So it was just sort of, it was funny and it was just a great evening. And again, it's just a great example of the camaraderie among these people and these guys and soon a woman, I hope we need a woman to be part of this, be a part of this club. That was a great evening. That was just a fantastic evening. And it is, you know, there's this camaraderie between these men and maybe a woman one day, but so far just men who've been former presidents have the shared experience, run for office, won and lost. And for President Bush, he was able to do so much good. So much good after he left the office. Well, and they really, they're such a great resource for the country. They, they, I know on January 20th, this past year when they were all in Washington for the inauguration, they taped a PSA for a vaccine, encouraging Americans to get vaccinated. They're all right now, they've all agreed to be honoring chairs of the points of light Gala in September that honoring President Bush will give the George Bush Award. It's so nice of them to do that. My guess is they'll all do videos. They really do come together when the country needs them. And it's just a great resource. I'm a big fan of the president's club. And they, they do more than color. I think we have a picture of the funeral. President Bush used to, President Bush used to laugh and say, we come together at funerals and library openings. Well, that's not exactly true. They do a lot more than that. But there they all are at the funeral of the state funeral of the National Cathedral of President Bush. And I might add, of course, who you don't see there is the 43rd president. He's sitting on the other side of the aisle with his family. But he did manage to slip across before the service began. President George W. Bush came over, shook all their hands, thanked them all for coming. And then he did give Michelle Obama a mint. Because that had started during John McCain's funeral. They started to have this inside thing. It's very cute and very sweet. Well, then they were breaking, both of them were breaking up at the opening of the African American Museum in DC. I think they were sitting next to each other just giggling. They were misbehaving. They have a great friendship, which is wonderful. Yeah, it is nice. So if you've got a question, you can type it into the chat. And at the end of our program, there's a period for questions. I'll be happy to ask Gene one of your questions. I do. So one more thing. So we've got this big 4141 locomotive that thanks to Union Pacific, the one that was given to us by Union Pacific for an exhibit we did about 10 or 15 years ago. And just briefly tell the story, President Bush just thought it would be a grand idea that after the funeral in Houston that everyone could ride up on the train and have a sandwich, as we say in the South. So talk a little bit about how you had to explain to him that maybe he wouldn't be having a sandwich. Well, oh gosh, I'm sort of embarrassed I put this in the book, but it was a funny moment. President Bush, we would plan his funeral off and on over the years and every once in a while we would get out the folder and particularly after President Ford died after President Reagan died, he would make changes to his funeral plans. But President Bush loved trains and he said to me, I would like to take a train from Houston. There would be a church service in Houston. And then the burial of course at the library at Texas A&M and he said, Jean, let's take a train. It'll really be perfect because we can all be on the train and we'll have lunch. It'll be very relaxed and everyone can put their feet up and relax before the burial. And he kept talking about it in the first person. And I hope you all don't think I'm disrespectful, but I sort of looked at him and I said, Sir, I think that's a great idea and I'll work on that train, but you're not going to be on the train. And he looked at me. He was always right. I should have learned he was always right. He said, oh yes, I will. And of course he was on the train. Might not be eating a sandwich, but he'd be on the train. And I wasn't on the train because I was trying to beat it back to College Station to actually beat the train back so that we could meet it there along with officials from the university. But it was amazing. There were week, the highway parallels the railroad tracks and there were people all along the railroad tracks with signs that say, God bless you, Mr. President. Thank you, America loves you. It was just a boy and then the arrival in College Station was just amazing. It was a rainy somber day and everyone was just kind of down and suddenly the Aggie band played the Aggie or him and everyone gave a cheer and it was just like a big cut of the tension. Yeah. He was home. He was home. So we do have it. So here's a question. Let's go to questions if you don't mind. OK. Nope. Maybe we can veer off after a question. So someone wants to know, Mrs. Bush usually referred to President Bush as George Bush. In my experience, he actually oftentimes used his nickname. So people that knew George Bush when he was young knew him. He had a nickname and I've heard Mrs. Bush often refer to him as that. She called him Pop or Poppy. She usually called him Pop. So let me see if I can get this straight, the lineage straight. So President Bush's name was George Herbert Walker Bush. He was named for his grandfather. His name was George Herbert Walker. That was his maternal grandfather. When he was growing up, his George is George Herbert Walker's children all called their dad Pop. So when little George Herbert Walker Bush comes along, they nicknamed him Poppy as sort of a playoff what they called their father. And so President Bush was called Poppy. I think Warren almost until he went into the Navy at age 18 after Pearl Harbor. And he wrote somewhere, it's not in this book because this of course predates this book, but he wrote that when he went off to the Navy, he found out that, yeah, Poppy was not really a good name for a young man in the Navy who wanted to be a pilot, a Navy pilot. And he really tried to drop the name when he moved to Texas. I think that's what he, I'm thinking of him writing about, no one in Texas called Poppy, but Mrs. Bush called him Pop until the very end. It was very, very sweet. Can I quickly just, this was a problem for you too. So President Bush's name was George Herbert Walker Bush. He went by George Bush his entire life. He did not like having four names. He founded a little stuffy. But then a man named George Walker Bush was elected president of the United States in 2000. And all of a sudden you had two president George Bush's. As Warren knows, this was a big problem because there was a lot of confusion about who you were talking to about. And the huge recommendation to my boss to number 41 was that he start using his initials. He start because the 43rd president already went by George W. Bush to distinguish himself from his father. My boss was urged to go by George H. W. Bush and it really irritated him because he did not want to, he did not want to start incorporating his middle names and thank heavens for the brilliant man. I cannot remember now who it is now, but it's in the book who came up with 41 and 43. And they, oh my gosh, President Bush loved being called 41. And it was perfect. The great story about the, there's this great portrait of George H. W. Bush and his son George W. Bush and the artist that painted that portrait. It was kind of confusing though, George W. Bush used to stand this way, George W. Bush you need to pose this way. I think George Bush finally said, I'm 41, he's 43 and the artist, I can't call you, I can't. And finally it got so confusing that the artist said, 41 and 43 because it was the way to distinguish them. President Clinton told me once, or actually I think his Chief of Staff told me this, that I think it was 43 who called President Clinton 42 once and that President Clinton, it made his day. He told his staff, oh my gosh, I'm pretty sure it was 43 who called him that. He just called me 42. I'm now like a member of the family. Which I thought was very funny. So President Bush was Reagan's Vice President for eight years and there's a question here about, there were adversaries and I'm not sure that President Bush ever thought he would be picked for the VP but talk a little bit about how that relationship grew between the two of them. Well I should point out to ever ask the question, I apologize that predates my book and it predates from when I was in President Bush's inner circle. Do I know the answer? I do just from being around for 25 years. So President Reagan sort of chose George Bush to be his VP candidate in the 11th hour at the 1980 Republican Convention. He was not his first choice. Historians among you and we'll remember it was former President Ford was actually his first choice and that did not work out. So it became instead George Bush from Texas and the two men became best friends and the timing of this question is really perfect because I just had lunch the other day with Secretary Baker and Susan Baker and a lot of you might remember that Secretary Baker was actually President Reagan's first White House Chief of Staff which was amazing considering the fact that James Baker ran George Bush's campaign in 1980 but I was asking Secretary Baker about the relationship. I don't know why we started talking about it and he said that Ronald Reagan was just one of the nicest, most genuine people you would ever want to meet and that you know he and George Bush had of course tangled on the campaign trail but they were able to put aside their differences. They figured out they had a lot more in common than not and they had an amazing relationship for eight years. So here's a question. So why did Mrs. Bush in quotes let her husband jump out of airplane? Perfectly good planes. Mrs. Bush would say. There's a great letter in the book that President Bush wrote to his five children about his first parachute job, his first post-war war two parachute job and in the beginning of the letter he says I have not told Barr yet but I will be telling her tonight after I make her favorite drink, a Manhattan. She was not thrilled. She thought it was a little crazy but I think one of the things I think she thought it was really crazy but one of the things that I think made their marriage work is she knew she couldn't talk him out of it. She could tell that this was important to him so she went along with it. She was very unhappy when he jumped on his 90th birthday. I had to sort of be the go between the two of them. It was sort of interesting and we thought the weather was going to call it off and it turned out the weather didn't call it off. I actually called his oldest son, the 43rd president, and asked him to intervene and he said, Jean, I'll talk to mom. If dad wants to jump, we need to let him jump. So she was a very good sport but it was the 90th birthday parachute jump that she said, well, if he, you know, this goes wrong, we'll just carry him in the church and have the funeral. Now President Bush swore to me he was going to jump on his 95th birthday. I told him I would not assist him in any way and he said, don't worry about it. I can figure it out all by myself and of course he died before he turned 95. Well, that last jump was kind of a secret. I was on a train between New York City and Albany, I believe and I was doing a podcast with one political show and the guy says, do you know President Bush is jumping out of a plane today? And I said, no. And whoever interviewed me said, he's going to jump right now. And I said, would you just tell me when he lands on the ground? We kept it, sorry, Warren. I should have called and told you. We kept it a secret and this is why we wanted him to have the opportunity to change his mind. And so we didn't tell anyone until the day of we wanted him to have the chance to say, maybe I should not jump on my 90th birthday. And it's a, apparently it's a hobby that's gone down to the grandchildren of my understanding is Jenna Bush is going to jump out of a perfectly good plane also. They love to jump. They do. Yeah. So that's the question. All the questions we got right now was lovely having you. And everyone should get the book. It's a great book. There's some great stories in here. There's a George Clooney story in here. It's just great. There's also a story in here about how President Bush determines whether Prince Bandar is dead or alive, which just a true George Bush fan. Well, has anybody called him? Well, no, sir. Anyway, it's a great book. Love having you. And get out of college station or I'll get down there. We got to see each other and have lunch. I would love to have lunch with you Warren Finch. You're, you're, I'm your biggest fan. Thank you so much. Thank you to the National Archives for hosting us tonight. Yes. And read the book. It'll, it'll help you lead a better life. I really do think that. And you'll laugh. I'm supposed to be non, non bias, but he was a great man and just a wonderful, wonderful life in the post-presidency. Could have gone home to the, could have gone home to Houston and did nothing, but he just did all kinds of good things. He and Mrs. Bush both. They both remembered, be remembered her for literacy. Him, the points of life foundation and points of life will, will, will live long after them. Thank you, Jean. Thanks, Warren. Good night, everybody. Good night.