Michelle Obama gives George W. Bush a great big hug and the internet goes wild
Amid the tumult of the most unseemly and divisive presidential campaign in years, a moment of bipartisan affection has gone viral, capturing Michelle Obama hugging ex-president George W. Bush .
In one version of the moment at the opening of the new Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington on Saturday, captured by former White House photographer David Kennerly, Bush looks positively rapturous.
His eyes are closed in apparent contentment as he is encircled by the First Lady’s warm embrace, his head tilted to rest against hers.
Bush, whose has rarely found cause to publicly criticise his successor in the White House, has found a playful foil in the wife of President Barack Obama before.
Sometimes it has been a little uncomfortable, such as during a memorial for five slain Dallas police officers in July, when Bush broke into a dance-like sway during the Battle Hymn of the Republic, clutching Michelle Obama’s hand, and causing her to break out in laughter during the solemn occasion.
Watch: Swaying George W. Bush makes Michelle Obama crack up at memorial for slain police
That moment was criticised by some who saw it as inappropriate for the occasion.
There was no such backlash on Saturday, however, against what was widely seen as an occasion of apolitical joy, although there was some tutting at Michelle Obama for her apparent fondness for the much-maligned ex-president.
President Barack Obama, the nation’s first black president, wiped away a tear as he formally opened the Smithsonian’s 19th museum with an impassioned 31-minute speech on the National Mall. The legislation establishing the museum had been signed by Bush in 2003.
“A great nation does not hide its history,” Bush said. “It faces its flaws and corrects them.”
