• Ann Romney to attend fundraiser at Bush home in Dallas

    By NBC's Garrett Haake

     

    NEW YORK – Ann Romney will attend a fundraising lunch to raise money for husband's presidential campaign at the home of former President George W. Bush next Tuesday, a Romney campaign spokesperson confirmed. Former First Lady Laura Bush will host the lunch, which is part of a Romney fundraising swing through the GOP donor-rich state of Texas, at the couple's home in the Preston Hollow neighborhood of Dallas.

    Romney campaign aides said Thursday they were unsure whether former president Bush would appear at the lunchtime event at his home, or at a separate finance event with Romney later that evening at a Dallas hotel. A Bush spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment on the former president's schedule, but one Texas Republican close to Bush said he will be in Dallas on Tuesday.

    In keeping with Romney campaign policy on finance events at private homes, the fundraising lunch at the Bush home will be closed to the press.

    On Monday, September 10th, Ann Romney and Laura Bush held a similar joint event together at a private home in Oklahoma City. Ticket prices ranged from $1,000 for general admission to $25,000 for a VIP reception, according to an invitation to the event posted online by the Sunlight Foundation, non-partisan group which advocates for government transparency.

    Since leaving office with historically low approval ratings in 2009, the younger Bush has stayed largely out of the public spotlight. Other than telling a reporter in May that he was supporting Romney, he has not been a vocal presence in the 2012 campaign. Likewise, Romney rarely invokes the name of the most recent Republican president on the campaign trail.

    Bush's father, former president George H. W. Bush and his wife Barbara have been much more outspoken Romney supporters, first backing Romney last December then formalizing their support in March with a camera-friendly sit down chat at the elder Bush's Houston office. Barbara Bush even recorded robocalls on Romney's behalf during the critical primary contest in Ohio.

  • Bushes return to White House for portrait unveiling

    President Barack Obama welcomed former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush to the White House for the traditional tribute to the president's predecessor.

    By NBC's Shawna Thomas

     

    Former President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush were back at the White House on Thursday for the unveiling of their official portraits.

    President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama welcomed their predecessors to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for an event devoid of partisanship, setting aside the political differences between the two administrations.

    “Mr. President, thank you for your warm hospitality. Madam First Lady, thank you so much for inviting our rowdy friends to my hanging," Bush said to laughter before an audience that included his two daughters, a number of former aides and his mother and father, former President George H.W. Bush and former first lady Barbara Bush.

    Bush's laugh line was just one of many lighter moments in a ceremony that might have otherwise had the potential for awkwardness, given the frequency with which Obama often says his successor's policies are to blame for the nation's current woes.

    Obama didn't shy away from addressing one of the biggest shared issue of their presidencies: the economic crisis that took hold in 2008.

    “Over those two and a half months, in the midst of that crisis, President Bush, his Cabinet, his staff, many of you who are here today went out of your ways -- George, you went out of your way, to make sure that the transition to a new administration was as seamless as possible,” Obama said.

    Charles Dharapak / AP

    President Barack Obama gestures toward former President George W. Bush, former first lady Laura Bush and first lady Michelle Obama, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, May 31, 2012, during a ceremony where the Bush's portraits were unveiled.

    And Obama gave Bush his due for their shared role in hunting down Osama bin Laden:

    “That's why my first call, once American forces were safely out of harm's way, was to President Bush because protecting our country is neither the work of one person nor the task of one period of time. It's an ongoing obligation that we all share.”

    Any of the weightier matters were dispelled, though, by Bush's laugh-out-loud performance. He started off saying how pleased he was that the White House portrait collection now begins and ends with a "George W." (or George Washington).

    “When the British burned the White House ... in 1814, Dolly Madison famously saved this portrait of the first George W. Now Michelle, if anything happens, there's your man,” Bush joked. (During her speech, First Lady Michelle Obama promised she’d go straight for his portrait.)

    And former President Bush didn’t spare the current president: “I am also pleased, Mr. President, that when you are wandering these halls as you wrestle with tough decisions, you will now be able to gaze at this portrait and ask: What would George do?"

    The event was somewhat of a family affair; at least 14 members of the Bush clan were on hand for the official unveiling of the portraits, which were done by artist John Howard Sanden.

    Noting everyone assembled, Bush joked upon introducing Laura: “It is my privilege to introduce the greatest first lady ever. Sorry, Mom. Would you agree to a tie?”

    Laura Bush didn’t miss a beat, either.

    "It was really gracious of you to invite us back to the White House to hang a few family pictures. And I'm sure you know nothing makes a house a home like having portraits of its former occupants staring down at you from the wall,” the former first lady said.

    Bush’s portrait, which was completed in 2011, depicted him standing in the Oval Office; Laura Bush’s portrait has her in the Green Room. The former first lady’s portrait was finished early this year. Bush 43’s portrait will hang down a hall from his father’s portrait in the White House, a point that made for a poignant moment.  “I am honored to be hanging near a man who gave me the greatest gift possible: unconditional love. And that would be number 41,” he said, to sustained applause.