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I didn't realize the president was such an historian.

I've had some wonderful times at the White House. I've been with Ford, Carter, Reagan, Clinton and Bush.

Several things about Reagan are unusual in a public man. He was not a typical politician at all, but a private man in public life.

I actually have several busts of Ronald Reagan that have been presented to me.

First, President Reagan was not enthusiastic. But I built up a relationship with him in other areas and then persuaded him that this was important to us and to me, and that we had to at least be in the process of looking at this seriously.

It has always seemed to me that Barack Obama has studied intensely and learned a great deal from Lincoln.

And so it was interesting for me to find myself very enamored of a Republican president, but Ronald Reagan was someone I thought captured the spirit of America.

I had a soft-spot in my heart for Ronald Reagan, if only because he was a sportswriter in his youth.

Once they have actually left office, we seem to grow fonder of our ex-presidents - and they of each other. That's why so many sighed in approval at Michelle Obama's public display of affection with George W. Bush at last month's dedication of the National Museum of African-American History and Culture.

I've met a handful of presidents, from Jimmy Carter to Bill Clinton to George Bush to Barack Obama.