joining me now historical novelist thomas mallon, who has written about the former president.ted in your reflections as you watch thousands of people well, i thi exceptional, and a lot of it has to do with the nature of the n man, the fact that he was patrician by birth but had a fairly common touch, a light touch. sometimes even a goofy touch about things. i think he charmed a lot of people. inevitably, there's a lot of talk about then versus now in terms of the temperament of george w.b. bush, versus the current president and the general manner of politics in our time compared to what it was back then. >> one of the photos that we've been reflecting on today is the picture of bob dole, who, of course, ran against george h.w. bush for the republican nomination. they were frequent competitors. >> yes. >> and to speak to that point you were just making, they closed their relationship as friends. can you speak a little bit to that relationship, and how they got to that point? >> yes, think it was difficult sometimes because bob dole had quite a temper, and did not suffer fools g