and he was subsmitten on the fi date and the rest is history. you and i got to meet him during the first gulf war. important point. how do you rise from a young black guy as a white house fellow, junior officer, to the pinnacle of american power but to the friends of presidents? a friend of george w. bush, a friend of barack obama and bill clinton. how do you do that? the connection part. i met him during the gulf war. i traveled with him, secretary cheney and general powell, building support for the gulf war around the region. rev we refuel, and not a long conversation, don t want to overstate it. but we re talking about race. i said i went to school in boston. he said public schools? i said yes. that gave me credibility. he asked about military service in the family. my dad was in the army but at the end of korea, but in germany. i had an uncle who did hard combat in korea, and he winced when i explained. he asked what unit. he took the time, a minute,