You'll be pulling out your hair, wanting to throw something at the obsessive, liberal, whining handwringing of Charlie Rose about Iraq, Iraq, Iraq .. is he (Bush) capable of admitting mistakes, is he intelligent, is he curious, blah, blah, blah ... BUT, it's well worth watching for the gems Roland Betts shares about our beloved Pres. Bush. Stay with it! .... LOL. Roland Betts' good character, intelligence and most of all .. his loyalty to GWB .. come shining through.
As Betts says, George W. Bush has many close friends, but I doubt many are as proven, long standing and influential as Roland Betts.
Of the many tidbits is one fleeting event he recounts about when his own father died. Mr. Betts had been a surrogate father to young college kid, George, as GHWB was heavily involved in his job and away from his son.
That story is further embellished here ... the whole article is a MUST read, and provides much rich fleshing out of their enduring and abiding friendship and close family relationship. How anyone could even hint that GWB had a racist bone in his body is sheer lunacy.
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Hail The Conquering Hero (more background on the close Bush-Betts friendship)
Excerpt:
"Throughout Bush's adult life, Betts has been his mentor, his business partner, and his best friend.
At Yale, when Bush's father was preoccupied with the pressures of his political career, Roland's father stepped into the breach. "My father died in 1986," remembers Betts. "Right after he died, we all went out to Docks, the seafood restaurant. It was me, George, Lois, and our two girls.
George told a story about how after he graduated from Yale, he wrote my father a letter, thanking him for being his father-in-absentia. Nobody's closer to their father than George, but his father was down in Texas. Busy.
And he just started bawling. Of course, then I'm bawling, and my wife is bawling, and soon all five of us are bawling."
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Another interesting account of the 40-year Bush-Betts friendship... For President and Close Friend, Forget the Politics
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When the Bushes visted the Betts in Jackson Hole, WY
Roland, Lois, Jessica Betts
Laura Bush, Roland and Lois Betts
Bushes, Betts at the Olympics
The Bush and Betts families (Betts is married to a black woman) couldn't be closer. As evidenced by just these few references, it's obvious that Roland and Lois Betts have been there for the Bushes, through it all, and you just know the much GWB and Laura treasure their lifelong loyalty and friendship. The next generation is continuing this close friendship forward.
The Betts' other daughter, Margaret (Maggie) and Barbara Bush
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HUGE, voluminous, historical tracing of GWB .. his family, his lifelong passion for baseball and surpringly, The Accidental Candidate
Ignore the predictable snarks ... this one is a really interesting and FANTASTIC biographical recounting of the life of George W. Bush. GREAT!
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Large historical piece from the Yale Daily News, tracing GWB's time and life at Yale and forward: Part 1 of 3: Who is George W. Bush?"
Part 2 of 3: Bush shaped by family legacy
NOTE: I haven't found Part 3.....
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How 'bout this for an oldie? Barbara, George HW and George W. Bush with the elder Bushes. Oh, those red cowboy boots.
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Every day, every breaking news story, I miss him and them .......... more.
