George H.W. Bush turned 88 today and to mark the occasion, his granddaughter, Jenna Bush Hager, got to interview him on the 'Today' Show.
Jenna Bush, a contributor on the NBC morning show, made her grandfather tear up during the interview, reports
The Cutline.
"I never thought I'd get this part in chronology," the elder Bush said in a taped interview from Kennebunkport, Maine.
"What's aging like?" Jenna Bush asked her grandfather.
"Aging is all right," Bush replied. "Better than the alternative, not being here."
Bush recounted his 1992 race against Bill Clinton, saying it was a "terrible, awful feeling" to lose.
"I really wanted to win and worked hard," Bush said. "Later on, people said, 'Well, he didn't really care,' which is crazy. I worked my heart out."
The tears came as he read from a letter he'd written to family:
"As the summers finish out, and the seas get a little higher, winds a little colder, I'll be making some notes, writing it down lest I forget so I can add to the report on getting older. Who knows, maybe they will come out with a new drug that makes legs bend easier, joints hurt less, drives go farther, memory come roaring back and all fears about falling off fishing rafts go away. Remember the old song, 'I'll be there ready when you are'? Well, I'll be there, ready when you are, because there's so much excitement ahead, so many grandkids to watch grow. If you need me, I'm here. Devotedly, Dad."
"I'm trying not to cry," Jenna Bush said later. "The good news is my grandfather says he's not done skydiving. Yes, his next goal, jumping out of a plane on his 90th."
The former president did just that on his 85th birthday.
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