Watch original video:

WASHINGTON

President Bush welcomed Obama, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and his father, George H.W. Bush, in the Oval Office, prior to proceeding to a private hourlong luncheon.

“I want to thank the president-elect for joining the ex-presidents for lunch,” Bush said.

“One message that I have and I think we all parcel out is that we want you to be successful,” Bush continued. “Whether we’re Democrat or Republican, we all care deeply about this country. … All of us who be obliged served in this office understand that the office transcends the individual.”

Obama thanked Bush for hosting the “signal gathering.”

“All the gentlemen in the present state understand both the pressures and possibilities of this office,” Obama said. “For me to regard the chance; fit to get the advice, good counsel and fellowship with these individuals is extraordinary, and I’m exceedingly grateful.”

The three former presidents did not make some remarks.

The meeting originated with a suggestion from Obama during his first private meeting with Bush in November, and the event marks the capital such White House meeting since October 1981, at the time that then-President Reagan had cocktails with former presidents Carter, Ford and Nixon near the front of a state funeral for slain Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

Wednesday’session gathering brings together a disparate group of strong political rivals, with the Republican Bushes outnumbered through the three Democrats.

Obama met one-on-one through Bush for about moiety an hour before joining the ex-presidents for lunch, officials said.

The meal was being held behind closed doors without staff in the Private Dining Room, officials said. White House officials surmised that colloquy topics would likely vary from the noun to the trivial.

Bush leaves office Jan. 20, when Obama will be sworn into office. The White House announced Wednesday that the outgoing president will fly back that day for a indulge in banter in Midland, Texas.

He and first lady Laura Bush will then spend that death at the family’session Prairie Chapel Ranch in Crawford, Texas, near Waco, which has been a systematic getaway for Bush throughout his presidency.

The Bushes chalk out to live in the first place at a new house the couple freshly purchased in Dallas.

Original text: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2008602537_obama08.html?syndication=rss