Clinton, Bush Reveal Something They Used to Do Together That They 'Never Talked About in Public

Former President Bill Clinton revealed Monday during a leadership scholars event that President George W. Bush used to call him about twice a year "just to talk" when he was president.

"We'd talk, depending on how much time he had, because he was busier than me — somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes for several years," Clinton said. "It meant a lot to me. We never talked about it, we never talked about it in public."

"We talked about everything in the right world," he continued. "He asked my opinion. Half the time he disagreed with it, but I felt good about that."

Bush said the two had since become better friends post-presidency.

The event had a light-hearted tone. Bush offered Clinton advice on becoming a grandparent — Clinton's daughter Chelsea is expecting her first child this fall. "Get ready ... to be like the lowest person in the pecking order in your family," Bush said.

At one point, Clinton's cellphone rang on stage, prompting him to tell the audience that "only two people have this number and they are related to me." Clinton said he hoped "I'm not being told I'm about to become a premature grandfather."

Assessing each other's leadership qualities, Clinton said Bush did things he thought was right and "consistently benefited by being underestimated — and so did I for totally different reasons." Bush said Clinton was empathetic and "an awesome communicator" who could "really lay out a case and get people all across the political spectrum." Ending his comments, he asked Clinton: "Is that enough?"

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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