WASHINGTON — President Bush lavishly praised former President Bill Clinton on Monday as an "eager, good-hearted" American with a "forward looking spirit" at White House ceremonies unveiling the official portraits of the former president and former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.
"The years have done a lot to clarify the strengths of this man," Bush told the Clintons, their daughter Chelsea, and an East Room audience of former Clinton administration officials invited to witness the first public display of the two oil portraits by artist Simmie Knox.
Bush hailed the former president's "incredible energy and great personal appeal," his "deep and far-ranging knowledge" of policy and his "forward-looking spirit."
It was Clinton's first visit to the White House since departing the mansion with Bush on Jan. 20, 2001, to escort the president-elect to Capitol Hill for the swearing-in ceremony. It was the third event in three weeks at which Bush and Clinton appeared together, including dedication of the World War II memorial and the state funeral for former President Ronald Reagan.
Bush credited the Clintons for being "a great mom and dad" to successfully guide their teenage daughter through their White House years.
Bush, noting Clinton's irrepressible optimism, jokingly recalled that the veteran Democrat had served as Texas campaign chairman for the ill-fated 1972 presidential campaign of Sen. George McGovern, D-S.D. "You've got to be optimistic to give six months of your life running the McGovern campaign in Texas," Bush quipped.
Clinton roared with laughter, his face flushed red, as he sat in a front row seat between first lady Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton, now a first-term senator from New York.
"I could tell you more of the story, but it's coming out in fine bookstores all over America," Bush added, referring to the upcoming publication of Clinton's memoir, "My Life," for which the former president received a $10 million advance.
Bush also praised Hillary Clinton, who he said was viewed by her Yale Law School classmates as "a role model and as a leader" and who as an elected U.S. senator from New York remains "a woman greatly admired in our country."
When his turn came to speak, Clinton thanked Bush and said his "generous words" proved that "in the end, we are held together by this grand system of ours that permits us to debate and struggle and fight for what we believe is right."
Hillary Clinton, who made history by becoming the first former first lady to seek and win a Senate seat, made an elliptical reference to her own future political career at a time when speculation includes her name as a possible running mate for Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., the presumptive Democratic nominee to challenge Bush in November.
"Being part of history in our nation is, I think, a heavy responsibility that we carry with us and we care deeply about," she said. "But it's also a challenge, for those of us still around, to think about what more we can do for our country and for what this extraordinary house stands for."
The tradition of official presidential portraits dates back to the federal government's purchase of a commissioned portrait of President George Washington in 1800. The portrait of Washington portrait, flanked by portraits of Martha Washington, William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt, hung on the wall of the East Room behind the display stands that held the Clintons' black draped portraits before they were unveiled.
Clinton was standing, looking serious and business-like. Mrs. Clinton, dressed in a black pants suit, beamed broadly.
Knox, the portrait artist, was chosen by the Clintons upon referral by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who had the Temple University-trained artist paint her official portrait.
Knox, the son of a sharecropper who was born in 1935 in Aliceville, Ala., has painted portraits of some prominent African Americans, including Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall; Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary; New York Mayor David Dinkins; baseball great Hank Aaron and boxing champion Muhammed Ali.
"I think that a good portrait is the most difficult thing for an artist to bring off successfully," Knox said in a statement on his website. "Not only must you get an accurate likeness, but . . .somehow you must convey a subject's character, spirit and personality and everything must communicate the dynamism of the subject."