Five Presidents having lunch

Photo courtesy of whitehouse.gov

Putting his hand out in friendship and in a bi-partisan manner, current President #43 George W Bush invited #42 Bill Clinton, #41 George H W Bush, #39 James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr and soon to be #44 Barack Obama to the Whitehouse for a private lunch today.

This is the first time all living Presidents have been together in the Whitehouse since 1981 when a US delegation was preparing to attend the funeral of Egypt's Anwar Sadat.

The last White House event to draw the former presidents was a November 2000 celebration in honor of the White House's 200th anniversary. But one of the former presidents, # 40 Ronald Reagan, was unable to attend as he was unwell with Alzheimer's.

President Bush said; "I want to thank the president-elect for joining the ex-presidents for lunch, even though he's not quite a member of that club yet.

One message that I have and I think we all share is that we want you to succeed. Whether we're Democrat or Republican we care deeply about this country, All of us who have served in this office understand that the office itself transcends the individual."

He added: "We wish you all the very best, and so does the country."

Would have liked to be invited to that lunch... Pity I can never be President unless they change the law...