--- title: Michelle Obama Discusses Bush Candy Moment at Funeral description: Michelle Obama discusses the Bush candy passing moment at the George H.W. Bush funeral. canonical: https://time.com/5481370/michelle-obama-george-bush-mint/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-12-17T14:46:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:17:40.649Z og:title: Michelle Obama Discusses 'The Beauty of George Bush' og:description: She's talking about how he brought her the mint at his father's funeral og:url: https://time.com/5481370/michelle-obama-george-bush-mint/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbbe24b6ccc02c516/69894094bc6cfc40ee3e79b1/trump-michelle-obama-george-h-w-bush-funeral.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: trump-michelle-obama-george-h-w-bush-funeral og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Michelle Obama Discusses 'The Beauty of George Bush' twitter:description: She's talking about how he brought her the mint at his father's funeral twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbbe24b6ccc02c516/69894094bc6cfc40ee3e79b1/trump-michelle-obama-george-h-w-bush-funeral.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Michelle Obama on How Their 'Refreshing' Tradition Shows 'the Beauty of George Bush' > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. 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=d37d1bd9-5565-4bb1-b7ca-d81cb5007d5e&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: George W. Bush Slips Michelle Obama A Piece Of Candy During His Father George H.W. Bush's Funeral [Watch (HLS stream): George W. Bush Slips Michelle Obama A Piece Of Candy During His Father George H.W. Bush's Funeral](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/yZ58FOlE.m3u8) (0:33)  _Published 2018-12-05. George W. Bush Slips Michelle Obama A Piece Of Candy During His Father George H.W. Bush's Funeral_ by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Dec 17, 2018 2:46 PM UTC George W. Bush Slips Michelle Obama A Piece Of Candy During His Father George H.W. Bush's Funeral by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Dec 17, 2018 2:46 PM UTC Former First Lady [Michelle Obama](http://time.com/5471207/george-bush-mich/) is discussing a refreshing new tradition she shares with former President George W. Bush, one of the many topics she has touched upon during her _Becoming_ book tour. Recently at the funeral service for George H.W. Bush, the 43rd president was ready to pass a mint for Michelle as he greeted the Obamas. People online were obsessed with the moment. (In fact, it was a callback to the blink-and-you-miss it move that cameras captured at a service memorializing John McCain, and Obama described the now-traditional gesture fondly.) “He has the presence of mind and the sense of humor to bring me a mint, and he made it a point to give me that mint right then and there and that’s the beauty of George Bush,” Obama said in conversation at the SAP Center over the weekend. The act of kindness was a resonant moment for people who felt it demonstrated the power of bipartisanship. Speaking of the way the sweet gesture hit home for many watching, Obama [said this in November](http://time.com/5454153/michelle-obama-on-george-w-bush/): “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.” ## Transcript [00:00] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5481370/michelle-obama-george-bush-mint/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5481370/michelle-obama-george-bush-mint/"},"headline":"Michelle Obama on How Their 'Refreshing' Tradition Shows 'the Beauty of George Bush'","datePublished":"2018-12-17T14:46:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-13T08:17:40.649Z","description":"Michelle Obama discusses the Bush candy passing moment at the George H.W. 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