Former first lady Laura Bush briefly commented on the ongoing presidential race during an interview with the Today show on Monday, March 14.
"We've gone back to the sidelines," said Bush, 69, whose husband George W. Bush served as president from 2001 to 2009. The Texas resident momentarily joined the campaign trail when her brother-in-law Jeb Bush tossed his name into the pile of Republican candidates. At the time, it was largely presumed that the former Governor of Florida would be the GOP frontrunner as he was backed by millions of dollars of funding and the support of fellow Republican politicos. However, his run for the presidency ended once Donald Trump and Ted Cruz were able to take advantage of that momentum.
"I think he would have been a great president," the former FLOTUS told Savannah Guthrie in NYC. "George and I are watching with much interest from the sidelines. As you know, George is really determined not to make remarks about politics, so we're back to that side." Another fellow former first lady Hillary Clinton is meanwhile vying to nab the Democratic ticket for the 2016 presidential election.
The mom of two and grandmother of Mila and Poppy was back in the spotlight on Monday morning to promote a new book, We Are Afghan Women: Voices of Hope, for which she penned an introduction. She discussed some of the latest developments in the country, including its new elected president. "They need that kind of security to be stable," she said. "And try to build the kind of institutions that Afghanistan needs to support a democracy."
Her husband, former President Bush, has been relatively quiet since retiring from politics seven years ago after serving as the 43rd President of the United States. However, he spoke out about his latest hobby in a November 2013 interview with Jay Leno.
"I am a painter," George W. said during that Tonight Show appearance. "You may not think I'm a painter, [but] I think I'm a painter. I take a lesson from a woman named Gail Norfleet once a week in Dallas. She came by the house — a mutual friend of ours introduced me to her — and I said I'm interested in painting. I had read Winston Churchill's essay, 'Painting as a Pastime,' and it inspired me. I said, 'I'm thinking about painting.' She said, 'Well, what is your objective?' I said, 'There's a Rembrandt trapped in this body. Your job is to find it.'"
The former leader of the free world showed off his paintings, including one of his dog, during that memorable interview. "I do take painting seriously," he said of his hobby post-presidency. "It's changed my life."
Watch above.
