When 'The Nature Boy' Met The Bush Family: A Detailing Of The Love George & Barbara Shared For Wrestling

As the nation mourns the passing of President George H.W. Bush, much has come to light about the beloved 41st President. One such item of interest to pro wrestling fans in particular is that the late president was apparently a huge fan of professional wrestling. The President and his late wife Barbara shared a particular fondness for legendary WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair.

Military Times details the following interaction between Veteran Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie and President Bush’s secretary:

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. 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.

After Bush’s passing last Friday, Ric Flair tweeted the following:

My Prayers And Thoughts Are With The Bush Family. I’ve Known The Bush Family Since 1992. I Cannot Explain How Honored I Was To Ride On The Spirit Of America And Spend Time Alone With The President. My Condolences To The Family. pic.twitter.com/mLn8QpQnmm

— Ric Flair® (@RicFlairNatrBoy) December 2, 2018

Ric Flair

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