WASHINGTON — As funeral services for former President George H.W. Bush concluded in Texas on Thursday, Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie offered his own reflection at a department event on Thursday that showed a different side of the war hero-turned-politician.

Below is a transcript of Wilkie’s remarks about his role in helping to broker an unusual friendship for the president and former first lady Barbara Bush:

“President Bush has a very special place, not only in my heart but in the heart of veterans across the country. … But I’m not going to be somber on that. I’m going to tell you something that he would be proud of.

I got a chance to know him and Mrs. Bush a little bit. They were remarkable people. Coming from the background they had, you would not expect them to be as comfortable on main street as they were on Wall Street.

I had just started as a young staffer on the (Senate) Foreign Relations Committee. I was working for the ranking member at the time, Sen. Jesse Helms (of North Carolina), and I received a call from the White House. For a 20-something-year-old, that was quite an event.

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The operator got on, told me to please hold for the first lady’s office. Mrs. Bush’s secretary got on, and she was whispering. She said, ‘Mr. Wilkie, we have something to request.’ I listened.

She said, ‘Does Sen. Helms know a great American personality by the name of Ric Flair?’

I told her yes ma’am, Sen. Helms actually started televised wrestling in North Carolina in the 1950s. I asked why.

She said, ‘We don’t talk about this very much, but the President and Mrs. Bush watch Mr. Flair every Saturday night. They’re going to Charlotte, and they’d like to know if Mr. Flair could accompany them on Air Force One.’

I said I’d get back to her.

I called the Charlotte office of the National Wrestling Alliance and got his promoter, appropriately named Davy Crockett. I said I have a special request. ... They said, ‘He’ll be there.’

So, there he was, at Andrews Air Force Base, platinum hair, three-piece suit, gold watch, and the first hug Ric gets is from Barbara Bush when she gets out of the limousine.

We fly down to Charlotte, we get in the reception line (at the airport), and Barry Goldwater is there, too. Goldwater gets up and asks the president, ‘Where is Barbara?’

And the president tells him, ‘Barry, after 48 years of marriage, I just lost her to someone called Nature Boy.’

That was George and Barbara Bush to me. Their presence will be greatly missed.”

Bush was laid to rest in College Station, Texas, after a church service on Thursday. World Wrestling Entertainment, Flair’s current employer, held a special 10-bell salute to the former commander in chief at their event in Houston this week.

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Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award.

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