Former President George W. Bush was a good sport and happily joined in Wednesday morning to make the viral ALS "Ice Bucket Challenge" a presidential affair.
Bush was made a charity victim after daughter Jenna Bush Hager called him out on the
Today show, urging him to participate in the successful fundraising drive for research on ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Famous people have posted videos of themselves online in recent days, enduring a bucket of ice water over the head in a stunt that is expanding to the world of Hollywood, professional athletes, and beyond.
Clad in a blue T-shirt, Bush is seen in his video as he took the icy splash like a commander in chief — head on. And who did the honors? None other than a smiling former first lady Laura Bush, who gleefully doused her husband in a moment of fun, a family plot hatched by Hager.
"I do not think it’s presidential for me to be splashed with ice water, so I’m simply going to write you a check," Bush says on camera. Soon, however, Laura enters with a frosty surprise.
"That check is for me," she quips. "I don’t want to ruin my hairstyle."
Bush was reticent at first to take the soaking, following in the footsteps of President Barack Obama who won't get wet, but said through his spokesman he plans to contribute to the cause, the
New York Daily News reported.
Obama was challenged by basketball star LeBron James, as well as Ethel Kennedy, according to the
Huffington Post, who used the ice bucket event to welcome him to Massachusetts, where he has been vacationing with his family on Martha's Vineyard.
Bush, who is happily retired and has stayed busy writing a book about his father and painting, quickly got down to paying his own challenge forward. He chose from the White House ranks accordingly, calling on former President Bill Clinton to step up for his own soaking.
"Now it’s my privilege to challenge my friend Bill Clinton to the ALS challenge. Yesterday was Bill’s birthday, and my gift to Bill is a bucket of cold water," Bush said.
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