--- title: Michelle Obama on Her Bond With 'Beautiful' George W. Bush description: Michelle Obama opened up about why so many people seem to be interested in her close cross-party bond with former President George W. Bush. canonical: https://time.com/5454153/michelle-obama-on-george-w-bush/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-11-14T15:35:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:06:14.582Z og:title: Michelle Obama on Her Bond With 'Beautiful, Funny, Kind, Sweet, Man' George W. Bush og:description: She gave him a hug, he gave her a mint, and they've been friends forever og:url: https://time.com/5454153/michelle-obama-on-george-w-bush/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5fc27a81d4409563/6988bcd07cdbac30d7d57579/george-bush-michelle-obama-e1542216023837.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2630 og:image:height: 1479 og:image:alt: US-MUSEUM-AFRICANAMERICAM-CULTURE-HISTORY og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Michelle Obama on Her Bond With 'Beautiful, Funny, Kind, Sweet, Man' George W. Bush twitter:description: She gave him a hug, he gave her a mint, and they've been friends forever twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5fc27a81d4409563/6988bcd07cdbac30d7d57579/george-bush-michelle-obama-e1542216023837.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Michelle Obama on Her Bond With 'Beautiful, Funny, Kind, Sweet Man' George W. Bush > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=a025a3ca-f179-44f6-9a20-0c6d52c9a12d&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: George W. Bush Sneaks A Piece of Candy to Michelle Obama at the Memorial Service for John McCain [Watch (HLS stream): George W. Bush Sneaks A Piece of Candy to Michelle Obama at the Memorial Service for John McCain](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/RbWvZNzI.m3u8) (1:02)  _Published 2018-09-01. George W. Bush Sneaks A Piece of Candy to Michelle Obama at the Memorial Service for John McCain_ by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Nov 14, 2018 3:35 PM UTC George W. Bush Sneaks A Piece of Candy to Michelle Obama at the Memorial Service for John McCain by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Nov 14, 2018 3:35 PM UTC Former First Lady Michelle Obama is opening up about why so many people seem to be interested in her [close cross-party bond](http://time.com/5421736/michelle-obama-george-bush-candy/) with former President George W. Bush. Obama discussed her friendship with Bush in an interview with Bush’s daughter, Jenna Bush Hager, on [NBC’s _Today_ show](https://www.today.com/video/michelle-obama-opens-up-about-family-and-finding-her-voice-1370244163793?v=railb&) Wednesday. Obama is promoting her new memoir [_Becoming_](http://time.com/5453215/malia-barack-michelle-prom/). Bush Hager began the discussion by telling Obama that her father is on a first-name basis with the former first lady. > [](https://twitter.com/TODAYshow/status/1062699002691510273) “I got a text from my dad this morning that said, ‘Send Michelle my love.’ I was like, ‘Don’t you call her Mrs. Obama?’ He’s like, ‘No, I call her…Michelle,’ and I thought, you know, it’s so interesting how people are so interested in y’all’s friendship. I mean that hug was, like, the hug that went around the world. I do love that picture,” Bush said. “That’s your dad…you know your dad. You know?” Obama responded. In September 2016, cameras captured Obama and the former Republican president sharing a warm embrace at the dedication of the National Museum of American History and Culture. When asked why people have an appetite for moments like that, Obama had plenty to share. “Because I think the political discourse, the way it’s shown in the media, is…all the nasty parts of it. You know? Because I guess we’ve become a culture where the nasty sells. So people are just gonna keep feeding that. We’re all Americans. We all care about our family and our kids, and we’re trying’ to get ahead. And that’s how I feel about your father. You know? He’s a beautiful, funny, kind, sweet man.” Obama went on to say that she and Bush have not let their political differences get in the way of their relationship. “And I don’t know that I agree with him on everything. But the truth is much more complicated and complex than that. And I’d love if we as a country could get back to the place where we didn’t demonize people who disagreed with us. Because that’s essentially the difference between Republicans and Democrats.” Here, you can watch Wednesday’s [full one-on-one interview between Michelle Obama and Jenna Bush](https://www.today.com/video/michelle-obama-opens-up-about-family-and-finding-her-voice-1370244163793?v=railb&). The friendship was also on full display at John McCain’s funeral, when viewers caught a [sweet mint exchange](http://time.com/5384902/george-bush-michelle-obama-candy-mccain-funeral/). > [](https://twitter.com/ahammsportsgeek/status/1035912380457332737) ## Transcript [00:00] Ultimately as he did with so much [00:04] of his life, turned this interfate experiences [00:09] into a truly hilarious comedy routine. It [00:14] began with a solemn pronouncement by John that [00:19] he was converting to Then he explained [00:23] much less solumnly, I do this not because of any particular [00:27] liking for the religion, it's just that for so many years, I've [00:31] had to go along with all of Joe's religious nonsense that I [00:34] might as well convert and get the benefits. One [00:39] of his favorite targets was the Sabbath elevators in Israeli [00:43] hotels Which are pre- programmed to stop at every floor. [00:48] You know, John had many virtues but patience was not [00:52] one of them. [ LAUGH ] Therefore rides on those Shabbat [00:55] elevators were not the happiest times we [00:59] spent together. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5454153/michelle-obama-on-george-w-bush/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5454153/michelle-obama-on-george-w-bush/"},"headline":"Michelle Obama on Her Bond With 'Beautiful, Funny, Kind, Sweet Man' George W. Bush","datePublished":"2018-11-14T15:35:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-13T08:06:14.582Z","description":"Michelle Obama opened up about why so many people seem to be interested in her close cross-party bond with former President George W. 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