center, the one nobody could possibly miss seeing, was of president bush with ted williams and joe dimaggio in the rose garden, but the thing that struck me was what a marvelous photograph it was of each of the three, and each of the three had signed it. and so i expressed genuine enthusiasm for the photograph. two weeks after rosie and i had returned to boston, a big tube arrived in the mail, and it was the picture, and it's one of our family's treasures now. it was just such a sign of not just the president's generosity, but his natural spirit of friendship. >> i would be pure -- >> for there are those -- >> those who care. >> i think the most famous trademark was his note writing and his thoughtfulness. >> the guy wrote thousands of handwritten notes to people all around the country. >> no matter what was going on, no matter what controversy was swirling, he would write that note, he would make that phone call in the middle of absolute pandemonium. >> the best stuff is when he leaves a message on your phone. hey, mike, this is george bush 41 down here in houston. 903 games. wow, no one h

he hit .406 in 1941. >> and joe dimaggio had a six game hitting streak. >> i didn't think i would getet royalty so soon after the queen's visit. here they are. i was 17 years old during their famous 1941 season. and 50 years later that '41 season just remains the season of dreams. >> my wife rosie and i were invited down to the bush library and museum. they maintain an apartment at the library, which mr. and mrs. bush took us up to see. and in the living room, hanging over the couch were five photographs. the big picture in the center, the one nobody could possibly miss seeing, was of president bush with ted williams and joe dimaggio in the rose garden. but the thing that struck me was what a marvelous photograph it was of each of the three. and each of the three had signed it. and so i expressed genuine enthusiasm for the photograph. two weeks after rosie and i had returned to boston, a big tube arrived in the mail. and it was the picture. and it's one of our family's treasures now. it was just such a sign of not just the president's generosity, but his natural spirit of friendship.

he hit .406 in 1941. >> and joe dimaggio had a six game hitting zrestreak. >> i didn't think i wouldet to meet royalty so soon after the queen's visit. here they are. i was 17 years old during their famous 1941 season. and 50 years later that '41 season just remains the season of dreams. >> my wife rosie and i were invited down to the bush library and museum. they maintain an apartment at the library, which mr. and mrs. bush took us up to see. and in the living room, hanging over the couch were five photographs. the big picture in the center, the one nobody could possibly miss seeing, was of president bush with ted williams and joe dimaggio in the rose garden. but the thing that struck me was what a marvelous photograph it was of each of the three. and each of the three had signed it. and so i expressed genuine enthusiasm for the photograph. two weeks after rosie and i had returned to boston, a big to ub arrived in the mail. and it was the picture. and it's one of our family's treasures now. it was just such a sign of not just the president's generosity, but his natural spirit of fri

it seems like the song, "where have you gone, joe dimaggio, our nation turns its lonely heart to you?" what happened to the diplomat and states person in american international affairs? host: wrap up for us, tell us the one thing that president george h.w. bush will be remembered for. caller: i think the one thing -- guest: i think the one thing is interacting with mikhail gorbachev and overseeing the end of the soviet union, the fact that the u.s. s r -- ussr collapsed during his watch on president and help astutely he handled that collapse by not gloating and realizing things could go amiss, but doing everything he could to help russia transit from its breakup in a way that did not create mass instability in the balkans, into central europe. he was able to stay optimistic but not gloating when the fact of the matter was, he was the president in charge when the united states did indeed win the cold war after all those long decades. host: we would like to thank presidential historian douglas brinkley for being with us this morning and sharing his memories of president george h.w. bush

and they brought ted williams and joe dimaggio to the white house. that was great fun i was fortunate enough to get them both to sign a baseball for me. one of my prized possessions. it made for a lot of fun and it was always, let's see who we can run into the ground today. because the press always wanted to jog with him. he would jog in the morning, go play golf and then come back and play tennis or go fishing and usually right after the jog the media would go running with him they would want to go back and go to bed. they were 30, 40 years younger than he was. so it was pretty funny to watch that. >> another thing i wanted to ask which photos would you like to be remembered for and why? >> the photo i took of george and barbara bush in bed with the grandchildren. seems have taken a life of its own. whenever i go around and do public speaking. you know 20 some years later. that's the photo most people recognize. i approach things differently than other photographers. i look at eric drapers worker david kennelly's work. you can little tell if there's

it seems like the song, "where have you gone, joe dimaggio, our nation turns its lonely heart to you?" what happened to the diplomat and states person in american international affairs? host: wrap up for us, tell us the one thing that president george h.w. bush will be remembered for. caller: i think the one thing -- guest: i think the one thing is interacting with mikhail gorbachev and overseeing the end of the soviet union, the fact that the u.s. s r -- ussr collapsed during his watch on president and help astutely he handled that collapse by not gloating and realizing things could go amiss, but doing everything he could to help russia transit from its breakup in a way that did not create mass instability in the balkans, into central europe. he was able to stay optimistic but not gloating when the fact of the matter was, he was the president in charge when the united states did indeed win the cold war after all those long decades. host: we would like to thank presidential historian douglas brinkley for being with us this morning and sharing his memories of president george h.w. bush

williams was the greatest living baseball player and when he passed well, you know, maybe it was joe dimaggiohat george h.w. bush was our greatest living american and now we've lost him. as martha pointed out earlier we not only loss him, we've lost the last president we are going to have who served in the greatest generation. the last president, perhaps that we'll have who served in combat. certainly combat in world war ii. so this is the turning of a page for us. doesn't mean that the successors to george h.w. bush weren't strong, important men who brought their own qualities to the white house, but this is the end of a chapter in american history with his passing. >> bret: you know, this is the same route, by the way, obviously, and the inauguration after a president is inaugurated goes down the other way from capitol hill to the white house. you are already seeing a lot of people along that route lining up. you can kind of see on the sidewalks there to get a glimpse. we will have alison barber on a flatbed truck following the casket as it makes its way to the washington cathedral and you