Ex-presidents bond
The week's news at a glance.
Sumatra, Indonesia
Bill Clinton slept on the floor so George H.W. Bush could have the only bed on the plane they used last month to tour tsunami-stricken Southeast Asia. “We could have switched places, each getting half a night on the bed, but he deferred to me,” Bush told Newsweek. “That was a very courteous thing, very thoughtful, and that meant a great deal to me.” Bush, 80, suffers from back pain, while Clinton, 58, recently had heart surgery and was scheduled for additional surgery this week. The two spent three days together on a fact-finding tour of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. “We’ve never been all that close,” Bush said, “but the nice thing about it was that there was a compatibility.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.