How George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton Went From Political Rivals to Best Friends

In early March 2005, in George W. Bush’s second term as president, former President Bill Clinton underwent chest surgery right around the time that Bush was hosting the Gridiron Club Dinner in Washington, D.C. At the dinner, Bush gave a lighthearted update on Clinton’s progress; he told the audience that as Clinton had recovered from his procedure, “he woke up surrounded by his loved ones: Hillary, Chelsea … and my dad.”

The most notable partnership in the life of former President George H. W. Bush, who died Friday at. But in the last decade and a half of his life, Bush entered into another companionship that would both enrich his personal life and intrigue the public: a close friendship with Clinton. “I will be forever grateful for the friendship we formed,” Clinton wrote in with his wife, Hillary Clinton, after Bush’s death.