When I moved to Austin in 1998, my brother-in-law, a retired IRS investigator, told me that he had met George W, then the governor of Texas, several times and that he was a very likable down-to-earth guy. He said that George W never forgot a name, and it really amazed him that he called him by his name the second time that he saw him. I was really surprised because I expected my brother-in-law to be a hard-core Democrat, based on his line of work and the fact that his wife's parents were hard-core Democrats.
My cousin's future husband met George W. Bush on a plane, while he was running for governor of Texas the first time. My cousin's fiance said something to him about supporting him and hoping he'd win...blah, blah, blah, and then Bush leaned over to him and said, "I'm going to kick Ann Richard's ASS."