An unexpected friendship in the ex-presidents' club

"President Clinton and I were both so touched by this picture," Bush explained during a television interview, holding up a child's drawing. "A young girl drew this in Sri - where was it, yesterday? - in Sri Lanka ..."

"Thailand, yeah," Clinton corrected him, gently.

While in Sri Lanka, actually, their old campaign strengths and weaknesses came out at times. Once, as workers displayed a new water purification system, Clinton, full of curiosity for the most minute details, asked how the system worked, how much it cost to produce a gallon of water, and whether it could also be used in other desiccated third-world countries. Bush, on the other hand, looked on quietly. [Editor's note: The original version mistakenly included a reference to Bush that turns out to have been based on a faulty press report.]

But Bush, a veteran World War II pilot, was much more at ease on the flight decks of Navy ships and helicopters, which ferried both presidents in and out of the more devastated regions.

Though Clinton and Bush insist they have always liked each other, many feel the new, closer friendship began in the past year, after a series of events in which Bush's son, the current president, lavished praise on his predecessor. Especially notable was the unveiling of the Clintons' portraits in the White House last June.

"The years have done a lot to clarify the strengths of this man," George W. Bush said of Clinton. "As a candidate for any office, whether it be the state attorney general or the president, Bill Clinton showed incredible energy and great personal appeal. As a chief executive, he showed a far-ranging knowledge of public policy, a great compassion for people in need, and the forward-looking spirit the Americans like in a president." Later, after Bush paid tribute to Clinton's mother, Virginia Kelley, his words brought tears to Clinton's eyes.

Such praise continued in November, at the dedication of the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Ark.

And the warm tone even continued at last weekend's Gridiron dinner, an annual Washington "roast" attended by journalists and political leaders. There the younger Bush, noting that Clinton is recovering from another operation, said that he was surrounded by "loved ones," including his wife, daughter ... and "my dad." Laughter ensued.

But how long can such public displays last, given the possibility that Clinton's wife, Hillary, could face off against Bush's other son, Jeb, in the 2008 elections?

"Ex-presidents generally like to position themselves 'above the fray' in their retirement," says John Samples, director of the Center for Representative Government at the Cato Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington. "Their partisan activities are often muted, and they apparently believe [this] adds to their historical stature.

"My guess would be that Clinton will continue to do this sort of thing until around Labor Day of 2006," he continues. "Thereafter, his wife's effort to become presidential will demand he enter the fray and take up again the weapons of the partisan."

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