Clinton, Bush booked for joint Toronto appearance

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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090420.wibbitson21/BNStory/International/home

Event next month billed as a 'conversation' between the two most recent U.S. presidents

WASHINGTON — Former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush will appear together in Toronto next month on a public stage for the first time since Mr. Bush ended his presidency, in a remarkable twist on the cultural cold war that Barack Obama and others are trying to lay to rest.

The two will be appearing at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on May 29 for a moderated “conversation” that is expected to last about two hours.

It is odd to think of the two presidents seated side by side, chatting amicably about the events of the past 16 years, as they are expected to do, and about the global and domestic challenges facing the United States and Canada.

After all, Mr. Bush set out to dismantle much of what Mr. Clinton accomplished, from balancing the budget to fighting global warming, even as President Barack Obama has set out to erase the Bush legacy by reversing his tax cuts, prohibiting the torture of terrorism suspects, withdrawing from Iraq and rejoining the campaign against greenhouse gases.