by Ken Wetmore, KUAM News Tuesday, February 22, 2005 E-mail this article Printable version KUAM Toolbar Web Widgets Get RSS headlines

It wasn't just Guam's media that came out to meet former president George H.W. Bush this morning at Andersen Air Force Base in Yigo - the island's top military officials were present, as was the Governor of Guam, Felix Camacho. While many of the dignitaries chose to ride over to the visitors center President Bush decided to walk after taking questions from Guam's media, he walked from a section on the tarmac all the way to the Visitor's Center, where he spent about an hour before boarding his airplane and returning to the U.S. mainland.

Governor Camacho had the opportunity to spend that hour with the former president, and this afternoon KUAM News was able to speak to the Governor about his time with the senior Bush. "It was a very special time," explained Camacho of his time with the nation's former chief executive. "He was sitting watching CNN following the news coverage on his son, the President, and it was a very comfortable time, very comfortable, he made us all feel so at ease."

Governor Camacho says the 41st president of the United States was also interested in local issues, seeming especially interested in healthcare. The Governor says he told Mr. Bush that Guam has many chronic diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease. "He asked, 'Well, what about your healthcare facilities, are they adequate?', and I said, 'Well, we really have challenges, we have one hospital here'," recalled Camacho. He continued, saying, "[Bush] asked about Medicaid, he asked about the insurance and in general we got to talk about Guam."

It's interesting to note that Governor Camacho himself is the son of a former Republican governor of Guam, and today said the former Republican president told him he remembered his father, the late governor Carlos Camacho. Of course, the former president's son George W. Bush is the current president of the United States.

When prodded with the question of whether the nation's current head of state might be making a trip out here, Governor Camacho said "You know, it's something that I'm working on and I believe that, I believe that in his term, hopefully within the next two years, I'm going to work on it."

Governor Camacho faces an election in 2006, and there can be no doubt a visit from the sitting president of the United States would be a major boost. For now though, the Governor clearly enjoyed even the short visit he had with the former president on Guam.