It’s not everyday that the gang of all of the living current and former (and possibly future) presidents of the United States gather in one place.
But it happened today on the occasion of the opening of the presidential library of former president George W. Bush in Dallas, Texas — see above the ‘most exclusive club in the world,’ from left to right:
- Jimmy Carter, Democratic president from 1977 to 1981;
- Bill Clinton, Democratic president from 1993 to 2001;
- George H.W. Bush, Republican president from 1989 to 1993;
- George W. Bush, Republican president from 2001 to 2009; and
- Barack Obama, the Democratic incumbent since 2009.
It’s essentially every president elected since 1976, with the single exception of Republican president Ronald Reagan, who died in 2004. Carter’s predecessor, Republican president Gerald Ford, died in December 2006.
It’s notable that all of their spouses were well enough to attend as well, including Hillary Clinton, the former New York senator and until very recently, the U.S. secretary of state, who could well become the next president of the United States after the 2016 election:
