WASHINGTON — A trio of presidents joined forces Saturday on behalf of Haiti, setting aside rivalries after a huge earthquake devastated the hemisphere’s poorest nation.
“By coming together in this way, these two leaders send an unmistakable message to the people of Haiti and to the people of the world: In these difficult hours, America stands united,” President Barack Obama said in the Rose Garden, flanked by George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. “We stand united with the people of Haiti, who have shown such incredible resilience, and we will help them to recover and to rebuild.”
Obama is tapping the power of the ex-presidency just as Bush did five years ago when a tsunami swamped Indonesia. Then, the unlikely duo were Clinton and Bush’s father. Now, a year out of office, it was the younger Bush’s turn to work with the Democrat to blunt a humanitarian crisis.
“I know a lot of people want to send blankets or water. Just send your cash,” Bush said from the Rose Garden where he’d presided for eight years. “One of the things that the president and I will do is to make sure your money is spent wisely.”
Bush and Clinton spent about three hours at the White House, meeting in the Oval Office with Obama, and taping five joint interviews for talk shows today to draw attention to their new Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.
Bush looked uncomfortable as Clinton draped an arm around his shoulder at one point, and none of the presidents called each other by first name in public.
But there was clearly a grim sense of shared purpose.
Clinton and the first President George Bush raised $135 million after Katrina and other hurricanes devastated the Gulf Coast. They were widely credited with raising $1 billion after a tsunami hit Indonesia in late 2004.
As Obama noted, “This is a model that works.”
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