HOKKAIDO, Japan (CNN) – It was a birthday celebration in the skies, as President Bush turned 62 aboard Air Force One while en route to Japan where Bush is attending the summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations.
First Lady Laura Bush and White House staff members gathered in the conference room on Air Force One late Saturday night eastern time, where a steward dimmed the lights as the crowd waited for the birthday celebrant to arrive, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said.
On the table was a "large" coconut cake with a single burning candle and the words "Happy Birthday President Bush" on it.
The crowd called out "surprise" as President Bush walked into the room and then sang Happy Birthday, Perino said.
Bush "dutifully pretended to be surprised" and blew out the candle, Perino said. It was not known whether he made a birthday wish.
After cutting and serving the cake, the health-conscious president ate a "small" piece of birthday cake, she said.
There was no word on what he gifts he received from family members, but Perino noted the president was sporting a new teal-colored tie.
White House staffers presented Bush with birthday notes and cards - well-wishes delivered in a small wooden box with his initials carved on top.
The box was carved by a Texas woodworker with wood from an old Scarlett Oak tree that grace the north lawn of the White House until it fell last year.
The tree was planted in 1892 by the great granddaughter of President Benjamin Harrison, according to Perino.
From CNN Politics
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertising practices | Advertise with us | About us | Work for us | Help
Nice....a birthday party before getting sent to jail for high crimes!
President Bush finds yet another reason to celebrate, whilet he rest of us suffer under his failed policies.
Thankfully his last in-office birthday, hopefully the last for the whole family.
Yay.
News how????? I wonder if he knows that gas is $4 a gallon at this point? And your reporting on his birthday party????
In anycase...Happy Birthday Mr. President. I may not agree with many of your decisions or your leadership. But, I really do hope you live to be 100.
Cheers!!!!
Happy B-Day Mr. President! Stay strong and well.
It was a birthday celebration in the skies, as President Bush turned 62 aboard Air Force ..........HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!!
Bush says it would be an insult to China to boycott Olympics. Please read that statement as:
"If I boycott, then China won't give me money to spend on the Iraq war."
He been a good and tough President, unlike the cowardly demonrats
$62 donated to the DNC in honor of Bush's birthday.
I don't understand why this should be on the ticker because it's his birthday!!?? please CNN you have to do better than that.
Dubya will give ALL of us an early birthday present when he leaves office in January.
Obama '08
Actually the president made a wish that was not brought to the attention of the press secretary and it was "I wish I did not invade iraq".
What Next? A Crab in the Sky!
let them eat cake
I wonder how many American families could live a year off oif the cost of a birthday party on Air Force One. Republican largess for themselves without thinking haw it appears to the people they are putting on the streets never ceases to amaze me.
Devil.
Happy Birthday fellow Cancer!!!!
Now THIS is some serious news...
"SO"
DEMOCRATS UNITE!!!!
Even Jenna Bush said she will probably not vote republican. That should tell you something.
John McCain is too old for the USA President .and the press is taking
side with JM, they press know Obama did not change his position on Iraq
can't wait to read the anti-Bush comments on here...so the guy celebrates his birthday, coconut cake...oh no!!!
Happy Birthday Mr. President!
Although we may not always agree, I wish you a blessed day with your wife and staff in Japan!
So, is there a candle on the cake for every life his lies have taken?