a friend. president bush said, he respected that and expected nothing less. sean: bush and blair met in february of 2001 for the first time. welcome, it is my honor to welcome the prime minister from our strongest friend and closest ally to camp david. laura and i invited he and sherri over. i wasn t sure what to expect. because his reputation was left of center politician and very close to bill clinton. slightly nervous get to know you type of meeting. we flew into camp david the president was there to meet tony blair. they hadn t met before. i guess it was a slight apprehension. sean: that apprehension did not last long. west same perception of the world and the belief in freedom. and the belief in standing up for what is right and just. and everything that i ve heard
that close relationship with president clinton would be a barrier in some way to forming a close relationship between president bush and prime minister blair? tony blair is labor. george bush is conservative. they have reasons not to get along, at least on paper and politically-speaking. sean: when news reached britain that george bush feeted al gore in the presidential election. tony blair placed his first call to the president-elect. at that time president clinton was staying with prime minister blair. it was a farewell visit. as president clinton took off, we put the first call through to president bush. he explained to president bush on the phone that he had been a good friend to president clinton and he planned to remain a friend. president bush said he respected that and expected nothing less. sean: bush and blair met for the first time in february of 2001. welcome, it is my honor to welcome the prime minister.