>>> WE'RE BACK ON A SATURDAY MORNING WITH A PERSONAL LOOK AT FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE H.W. BUSH FROM SOMEONE WHO KNEW HIM BEST -- HIS GRANDDAUGHTER. JENNA BUSH HAGER. >> JENNA IS OF COURSE OUR COLLEAGUE HERE AT NBC NEWS. A FEW YEARS AGO, SHE SAT DOWN WITH HER FATHER AND FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH AND HER GRANDFATHER, TO LOOK AT -- A LOOK AT THE MEN THAT'S RARELY BEEN SEEN. >> FIRST AND FOREMOST HE WAS A GREAT FATHER. >> IT IS THE PART OF A PRESIDENTIAL'S STORY BEST TOLD BY HIS SON. >> HE HAD ENORMOUS SUCCESS IN LIFE. BUT THOSE SUCCESSES WERE MEAGER COMPARED TO THE SUCCESS OF B BEING -- YOU KNOW, A FABULOUS HUSBAND AND GREAT FATHER. >> Reporter: WITH THE GLIMPSE INTO THE LIFE OF MY GRANDFATHER, BEYOND THE WORLD STAGE AND WHAT THE PUBLIC KNOWS OF HIM. BEFORE HE ENTERED POLITICS, HE AND MY GRANDMOTHER WERE BUSY RAISING THEIR KIDS. DAD, GROWING UP, WHAT TYPE OF FATHER WAS GRAMPY? >> WELL, HE SET THE BOUNDARIES. BUT HE WAS NEVER ONE THAT TRIED TO IMPOSE HIS WILL ON US. BECAUSE OF THE WAY HE RAISED ALL OF US, WE ADMIRED HIM GREATLY. >> SO WHEN YOU WERE RAISING YOUR KIDS, WHAT TYPE OF THINGS DID YOU WANT FOR THEM? >> I WANTED ALL OF THIS. I WANTED THEM TO FEEL THERE WERE NO HORIZONS, THEY COULD REACH FOR THE STARS. ACCOMPLISH STUFF AND SURE ENOUGH, THEY HAVE. >> Reporter: AND HISTORY WILL TELL THAT STORY. MY FATHER HAD A FRONT ROW SEAT WORKING THROUGHOUT MY GRANDFATHER'S CAMPAIGNS. >> SO HELP ME GOD. >> Reporter: HE SAYS NOW THE HARDEST PART OF POLITICIANS IS WATCHING THE SPOTLIGHT SHINE HARSHLY ON THOSE YOU LOVE. DAD, WHEN YOU WATCHED AS HE WAS A PRESIDENT AND YOU WOULD TURN ON THE TELEVISION TO HEAR CRITICS TALK ABOUT HIM -- >> YEAH. IT MADE ME ANGRY. AND I WASN'T DISCIPLINED ENOUGH NOT TO WATCH TELEVISION. WHEN I BECAME PRESIDENT, I WAS DISCIPLINED ENOUGH TO IGNORE ALL THE NOISE. BUT WHEN HE WAS PRESIDENT AND PEOPLE CRITICIZED HIM, I DIDN'T LIKE IT. BUT ACTUALLY IT HELPED THICKEN MY HIDE FOR WHEN I BECAME PRESIDENT BECAUSE CRITICISM OF MY DAD WAS A HECK OF A LOT MORE DIFFICULT FOR ME TO HANDLE THAN CRITICISM OF ME. >> WHAT ABOUT THOUGH, WHEN YOU HEARD PEOPLE? >> SAME THING, I DID NOT LIKE IT. I KNEW BY THEN THAT IT GOES WITH THE TERRITORY, BUT, YOU KNOW, IT'S YOUR OWN SON. IT'S HARD TO TAKE. >> DAD, WHEN IN 1992, WHEN HE LOST -- >> IT WAS AN UNHAPPY MOMENT. IT TOOK A SERIES OF EVENTS TO DEFEAT HIM THOUGH, BUT WE OF COURSE FED OFF OF HIS GRACIOUSNESS IN THE DEFEAT. >> Reporter: IT IS A LESSON IN GRACE AND FORTITUDE. >> IT DIDN'T QUITE WORK OUT THE WAY WE WANTED. >> Reporter: MY GRANDFATHER HAS NEVER BEEN BITTER OR RESENTFUL AND YEARS LATER, AN UNLIKELY RELATIONSHIP DEVELOPED. >> BILL CLINTON VIEWS HIM AS A FATHER. ONE OF THE GREAT IRONIES OF LIFE. >> HE DOESN'T HOLD GRUDGES AS YOU SAID. BILL CLINTON'S BECOME A GOOD -- >> A FRIEND, YEAH. THAT'S RIGHT. >> SOME PEOPLE THAT WOULD BE SURPRISED BY THAT. >> I THINK THEY ARE. BUT BUBBA, HE'S A GOOD MAN. I LIKE HIM. >> Reporter: THROUGHOUT IT ALL, MY GRANDFATHER HAS ALWAYS PUT FAMILY FIRST. HE'S BEEN THERE FOR US THROUGHOUT THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS. AND THE FRIVOLOUS ONES TOO. >> YOU REMEMBER THE TIME WHEN YOU WERE PREPARING FOR THE 1988 DEBATES WITH MICHAEL DUKAKIS AND THE DAY BEFORE THE DEBATE, BARBARA COULDN'T FIND SPIKY THE DOG? >> YEAH. >> SO GAMPY RATHER THAN BE QUIET, LITTLE GIRL, GO TO YOUR ROOM, LEADS THE SEARCH FOR SPIKY THE STUFFED DOG. >> IT WAS REMARKABLE YOU WERE BABY-SITTING US THE NIGHT BEFORE THE DEBATE ANYWHERE. WHERE WERE YOU? >> I WAS PREPARING FOR THE DEBATE. I DON'T KNOW WHERE I WAS. THE GOOD NEWS, THEY FOUND SPIKY. >> Reporter: EVEN DURING HIS BUSIEST DAYS IN THE WHITE HOUSE OR ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL, HE WAS ALWAYS SIMPLY GAMPY TO US. >> I DON'T KNOW IF YOU REMEMBER IN 1984 WHEN YOU CAME TO MID LAND, TEXAS, AND JENNA CAME ON THE STAGE AND KEPT WHIPPING UP HER SKIRT IN FRONT OF THE CROWD. >> I WAS TRYING TO GET YOU ELECTED. I WAS 4. >> HE WAS VERY TOLERANT. >> YOU WERE A GREAT GRANDFATHER. YOU ARE A GREAT GRANDFATHER. >> SO SWEET. >> Reporter: MY GRANDFATHER CONSIDERS SERVING HIS COUNTRY HIS GREATEST PRIVILEGE. HIS FAMILY THE ULTIMATE GIFT. AND NOW MY DAD OFFERS A LOVING TRIBUTE TO HIS FATHER. >> A KIND OF QUESTION PEOPLE ASK ALL THE TEAM WHO IS THE MOST INFLUENTIAL PRESIDENT? YOU KNOW, LIKE -- IT'S NO CONTEST. GEORGE H.W. BUSH. >> WOULD YOU SAY THE SAME THING ABOUT HIM? >> UNCONDITIONALLY. >> WOW. >> I HAVE BEEN GOOD ALL MORNING AND I GET TEARY WHEN I HEAR JENNA'S VOICE. I HAVE TO TELL YOU JUST YESTERDAY THIS TIME YESTERDAY, JENNA AND I WERE TALKING ABOUT OUR GRANDPARENTS AND SHE WAS TELLING ME HOW THIS IS GOING TO BE A TOUGH HOLIDAY BECAUSE IT'S THE FIRST HOLIDAY WITHOUT HER GRANDMOTHER. AND NOW THIS. AND LOOK, SHE -- HER SISTER, HER TWIN, JUST GOT MARRIED. THEY WANTED HIM TO BE THERE. HE WAS ABLE TO BE THERE. AND NO MATTER HOW MUCH, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE PREPARED FOR IT, YOU'RE NEVER REALLY PREPAR
