--- title: George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton Friendship Captured in Photo description: TIME's former White House photographer Diana Walker on capturing the friendship between former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton canonical: https://time.com/5470963/george-hw-bush-clinton-photo/ author: Diana Walker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-12-06T19:51:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:39:25.299Z og:title: George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton Friendship Captured in Photo og:description: TIME's former White House photographer Diana Walker on capturing the friendship between former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton og:url: https://time.com/5470963/george-hw-bush-clinton-photo/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc4f52f133ee0a8cc/69894094fb4eaccedd8985b1/george_bush_bill-clinton_diana_walker.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: George__Bush_Bill-Clinton_Diana_Walker og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton Friendship Captured in Photo twitter:description: TIME's former White House photographer Diana Walker on capturing the friendship between former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc4f52f133ee0a8cc/69894094fb4eaccedd8985b1/george_bush_bill-clinton_diana_walker.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- # The Photo That Truly Captured The Friendship of George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=299fcbae-4efa-4e16-9757-a96532322a56&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) Dec 6, 2018 7:51 PM UTC  Behind the scenes with former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton coming together to raise money for Katrina at the University of New Orleans, 2005. Behind the scenes with former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton coming together to raise money for Katrina at the University of New Orleans, 2005. Diana Walker for TIME by [Diana Walker](https://time.com/author/diana-walker/) ## Diana Walker Dec 6, 2018 7:51 PM UTC The story behind this photo is very unusual. In 2005, President George W. Bush had asked both his father and Bill Clinton to work together on a fund for Hurricane Katrina relief in New Orleans. Clinton, of course, had beaten Bush back in 1992\. They weren’t supposed to be friendly. During that campaign, I had covered [President George H.W. Bush](http://time.com/longform/president-george-hw-bush-dead/). I honestly don’t think he had a high regard for Clinton at the time, because it was a tough loss for him. I remember his face during election night in Houston. He really thought he would be re-elected. I went on to cover Clinton’s presidency, and I rarely saw them together over the years, except at formal ceremonies. I saw them at Richard Nixon’s funeral and at the White House for the official unveiling of Bush’s portrait. But New Orleans was the first time I ever saw them together like this—quietly, away from other people.  Bush and Clinton in TIME's December 26, 2005 / January 2, 2006 / U.S. Edition. ©TIME They were doing an interview with TIME’s [Michael Duffy](http://time.com/4754901/president-george-hw-bush-accomplishments/) after announcing $90 million in hurricane-relief grants. We were in an empty room in a library at the University of New Orleans. It wasn’t an ideal place to take a picture. There was overhead neon light. It was pretty drab. I thought, _How am I going to show what kind of a relationship these two people have developed?_ I just didn’t have any idea. I had heard that they had become good friends over the years, and I wanted to see if it was true. I kept watching them, and all of a sudden Bush put his hand on Clinton’s shoulder. I thought, _Oh my God, wow. There it is. That’s the picture._ Every so often, there will be a gesture, a touch, a movement that shows you something. You’re always looking for it as a photographer. And there it was, a lightly teasing, affectionate pat on the shoulder. Friends, indeed. I thought, _They really do like each other. You don’t touch someone like that unless you care about them._ They were telling funny stories. Clinton had gone to visit the Bushes in Kennebunkport, Maine. Mrs. Bush had sort of looked askance at the idea of Clinton coming. But she ended up so fond of him, she was asking him to come again. They joked about the speedboat. They talked about playing golf. They appreciated each other, and it was just a joy to see.  The original publication of Diana Walker's Bush and Clinton photographs in TIME, December 26, 2005 / January 2, 2006 edition. ©TIME [**_Diana Walker_**](http://time.com/4410585/texts-from-hillary-diana-walker/) _was TIME’s White House photographer from 1984 to 2001; her most recent book is_ [_Hillary: The Photographs of Diana Walker_](http://time.com/3782173/behind-the-cover-diana-walker-on-photographing-hillary-clinton/)_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5470963/george-hw-bush-clinton-photo/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5470963/george-hw-bush-clinton-photo/"},"headline":"The Photo That Truly Captured The Friendship of George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton","datePublished":"2018-12-06T19:51:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:39:25.299Z","description":"TIME's former White House photographer Diana Walker on capturing the friendship between former Presidents George H.W. 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