George W Bush’s third book was released on Tuesday. Called 41: A Portrait of My Father, the book is a biography of the author’s father: the 41st president of the US, George HW Bush. The author has said the book is “a love story – a personal portrait of the extraordinary man who I am blessed to call my dad.”
Anyone combing the book for some information on Karl Rove, Dick Cheney and the “Mayberry Machiavellis” will be disappointed, but the book does offer some insights into the 43rd president while unapologetically celebrating the 41st. There is also an oil painting!
Dana Perino, who served as White House press secretary for George W from September 2007 to January 2009, said on Fox News that her copy of the book “is already dog-eared, underlined and circled throughout.” For those who do not share Perino’s enthusiasm, we’ve collected some key moments that show the father and son relationship:
His date with the president’s daughter
George HW steered his eldest son to the White House for the first time as part of a matchmaking attempt in 1968. While serving as a member of Texas’s house of representatives, he set up George W on a blind date with then-president Richard Nixon’s daughter, Tricia Nixon. It did not go well: “During dinner, I reached for some butter, knocked over a glass, and watched in horror as the stain of red wine crept across the table,” Bush writes. He said Tricia asked to be immediately returned to the White House after dinner.
Speedboating with Putin
Younger Bush writes that he and his father did not talk policy, with his father instead providing a loving and supportive role to his president son. He was, however, interested in his son’s relationships with foreign leaders. This led to a father-and-son speedboating trip with Russian president Vladimir Putin in July 2007.
“Although initially startled by the idea of an eighty-three-year-old former President driving the boat at top speed, Putin loved the ride. (His interpreter looked like he was about to fly out the back of the boat),” Bush writes in an excerpt published by the Drudge Report. “The next morning, we had a long conversation about missile defenses, in which we found some common ground. We then went fishing. Fittingly, Putin was the only one who caught anything.”
A shared affinity for nicknames
From Turd Blossom to Panchito, a lasting legacy of the younger Bush’s reign is the long list of nicknames he bestowed upon advisers, reporters and family. This is apparently a family trait, as Bush explains in a section about his father’s time in the navy. “My father has a knack for making people laugh. He came up with nicknames for everyone. (Sound familiar?),” Bush writes in an excerpt published by MSNBC. Bush’s peers rewarded him with a nickname as well: Ellie the Elephant, because of his elephant-screech imitation, which his son says he has never heard.
