Hail to the Chief: Dana Carvey?

George H.W. Bush and Dana Carvey don't have much in common; Dana Carvey is an actor from Montana, George Bush a politician with a huge resume of civil service from Massachusetts. Carvey was a success in the TV and movie industry starring notably on Saturday Night Live and in the Waynes World movies. George Bush was a decorated naval aviator discharged from the navy a decade before Carvey was even born. So what was it the brought these two public figures together into an unlikely decades-long friendship? Well, It started in the late 1980s when George Bush was making his first presidential run for office. Saturday Night Live, known for their parodies of political figures, staged a debate between then-Vice President George Bush (Dana Carvey) and Michael Dukakis (Jon Lovitz). The parody was hysterical, touching on all of the major points of real debates while adding the caricature twist of impressionists to the presidential candidates. This proved to be a major hit with viewers, prompting several more skits as the election drew closer. Come election time, when George H. W. Bush was elected president, it also seemed as if Carvey was elected alongside him. In the words of Jon Lovitz to Dana, "And NOW YOU are going to be the president on ‘Saturday Night Live’ for the next four years.". The impression stuck throughout the term of the presidency, Carvey would stage "cold sets" or the opening scene of the show with an impression of the president in the context of recent events. The country loved it throughout the term until Bush was beaten in his reelection campaign by Bill Clinton in 1992. Carvey recalls how after the election, he received a phone call from the president himself. The president wanted to lighten the mood of the white house staff and thought that Dana Carvey was the man to do it. He invited the Carvey's to come to stay at the white house and stage a comedy act for the staff. The event was not only a hit with the staff but with the president himself. Later that day, the president invited the Carvey's to accompany him and his wife to the Kennedy Center for an award presentation, not for work but simply as a gesture of friendship. The two ended up forming a 25-year friendship, impersonator and impersonatee. They exchanged often phone calls and Christmas cards (and the occasional impression on TV) until George Bush's death in 2018. To see an impression and some interaction between these friends, check out the link below.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/entertainment/dana-carveys-best-impressions-of-george-hw-bush/2018/04/24/00dfa4f6-481b-11e8-8082-105a446d19b8_video.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.5cdbf8482de2