Bush to host Obama, former presidents at White House lunch

Washington, Jan 7 (DPA) US President George W. Bush will host former presidents and his successor, Barack Obama, at the White House for a private meeting during lunch Wednesday, the White House said.

The meeting will mark the first gathering of all former presidents at the White House since 1981, spokeswoman Dana Perino said. Bush and Obama will hold a private one-on-one meeting before the expanded presidential gathering, she said.

Among the living presidents are Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, along with the current and future White House occupants Bush and Obama.

'President-elect Obama, I think, originally had the idea for this, but President Bush readily agreed, thought it was a great idea to get everybody together,' Perino said.

Perino said the five men will likely discuss life as a president and raising children in the White House, but said details of their discussions will not be made public.

'All of us would love to be flies on the wall and listening to that conversation, but these are leaders who only understand what it's like to be in each other's shoes,' she said.

While this is the first meeting of all former presidents at the White House in more than two decades, they have previously attended presidential funerals and ceremonies to inaugurate presidential libraries.