host: tom defrank?guest: i think that's a little overstated, especially on the coziness between the bushes and the clintons. all i can say is, yes, they're former presidents together, so there is a bond there. i can remember gerald ford telling me 20 years ago that when bill clinton went to see the pope in denver in 1994, ford called him and said, "come up to vail, and we will play a little golf." had an came, and they grand time, but that did not change ford's view of clinton's politics. they were friendly. i would not say they are friends. i think the bushes and clintons are friendly, but it doesn't make them friends and it certainly doesn't make them political bedfellows. good morning. thank you for c-span. i have a short comment. i know your time is short. the bush legacy goes way back. it seems like the memories of the american public is very short. the bush legacy goes back to things like silverado savings and loans, which i watched go on, and it goes back even further than that, skull and bones,

host: joining us now, tom defrank. you covered the bush family for many years. how many, when did it again, and talk about your history there. guest: good morning. it began the day before thanksgiving in 1974. i was traveling with president , and henry kissinger, the secretary of state, peeled off to go to beijing to advance president 40's trip to china in 1975. he knew he would have a tough election campaign and he said, no foreign travel, pack it all in in 75. kissinger went off to china and my boss at newsweek said i do not want to send a foreign-policy expert from washington to spend the money. eastre already in the far so i send you. representatives the day before thanksgiving, george h.w. that was long ago before we had official relations with the pnc. beijing was still known as peking. a little reception at his residence for the kissinger party and that is where i met him. i