--- title: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush on Importance of Humility description: Speaking together in Dallas, former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush talked about the most important qualities for a president. canonical: https://time.com/4858235/bill-clinton-george-w-bush-presidential-scholars/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-14T12:09:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T16:33:39.409Z article:section: Politics og:title: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush Share Their Best Leadership Skills og:description: "Realize it's about the people, not you" og:url: https://time.com/4858235/bill-clinton-george-w-bush-presidential-scholars/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc1a8a236da4cf2a9/6988d5a97cdbac83a9d59335/bill-clinton-george-bush-leadership-conversation.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: bill-clinton-george-bush-leadership-conversation og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush Share Their Best Leadership Skills twitter:description: "Realize it's about the people, not you" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc1a8a236da4cf2a9/6988d5a97cdbac83a9d59335/bill-clinton-george-bush-leadership-conversation.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Bill Clinton and George W. Bush: The Most Important Presidential Quality Is Humility  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jul 14, 2017 12:09 PM UTC  Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush participate in a discussion at the Presidential Leadership Scholars graduation ceremony at the George W. Bush Presidential Center, July 13, 2017, in Dallas. Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush participate in a discussion at the Presidential Leadership Scholars graduation ceremony at the George W. Bush Presidential Center, July 13, 2017, in Dallas.Tony Gutierrez—AP  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jul 14, 2017 12:09 PM UTC Speaking together at the 2017 graduation ceremony for the [Presidential Leadership Scholars Program](http://time.com/3303837/bill-clinton-george-bush-unveil-new-leadership-program/?iid=sr-link1), former [Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush](http://time.com/3968132/bill-clinton-george-bush-interview/?iid=sr-link1) took what was perhaps a subtle swipe at President Donald Trump when talking about leadership qualities. “Humility,” Bush responded Thursday when asked about the most important trait for a president to have, [NPR reports](http://www.npr.org/2017/07/13/537143950/bill-clinton-and-george-w-bush-bond-in-conversation-about-leadership). “I think it’s really important to know what you don’t know and listen to people who do know what you don’t know.” “Realize it’s about the people, not you,” Clinton elaborated. “A lot of these people who are real arrogant in office, they forget. … You don’t want to say, ‘God, look at all those people I beat.'” The two men, who are good friends and like to say that they’re each other’s “brother from a different mother,” as Bush quipped Thursday, also joked around during the conversation. When Clinton said the best thing for a politician is to be “consistently underestimated,” Bush replied, “I was pretty good at that.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4858235/bill-clinton-george-w-bush-presidential-scholars/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4858235/bill-clinton-george-w-bush-presidential-scholars/"},"headline":"Bill Clinton and George W. Bush: The Most Important Presidential Quality Is Humility","datePublished":"2017-07-14T12:09:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:33:39.409Z","description":"In what may be a subtle swipe at President Trump","url":"https://time.com/4858235/bill-clinton-george-w-bush-presidential-scholars/","keywords":["White House","George W. 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