George W. Bush's unofficial presidential adviser revealed

Former President Bill Clinton admitted Monday that although he didn't always agree with former President George W. Bush's decisions during the latter's presidency, the two developed a personal relationship that resulted in the two learning a lot about each other.

"When he decided what he thought was right, he went for it," Mr. Clinton said, flanked by Mr. Bush, during an event announcing a presidential leadership initiative. "And sometimes I didn't agree with what he thought was right, but I recognized that he was doing what he thought was right, not what he thought the politics of the moment required or what the constituencies even within his own party required," Mr. Clinton said.

He added, "You always want to be underestimated by your adversaries. He consistently benefitted by being underestimated and so did I for totally different reasons."

Mr. Clinton said that Mr. Bush used to call him twice a year during the second half of his presidency to talk about the world for 30 to 45 minutes, a fact they have never discussed publicly before.

"He asked my opinion, half the time he disagreed with it," Mr. Clinton said. "But I felt good about that, I thought that was a really healthy thing."

Mr. Bush called Mr. Clinton an "awesome communicator" who is talented at laying out a case and getting people to listen to him. But he also said Clinton shared some of the qualities that his predecessor had admired about George H.W. Bush.

"You two have got great empathy for people, and if you have empathy for people like you do then people are going to want to listen to you, and then when they start listening you actually can convince him. You two made tough decisions and I think listened carefully and decided," he said. "At some point in time a leader has to decide. And you did that."

The two former presidents are joining forces to help train the next generation of leaders by offering them the chance to study presidential decision-making at four libraries across the country. They announced the presidential leadership scholars program during an event at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. Monday.

"It's a fantastic use of our ability to bring people together," Mr. Bush said of the new program, which will seek out people from all sectors who have already demonstrated leadership abilities and an ability to affect their communities in their professional lives. "We're talking about leadership at all aspects of life, and you know one of the things I've learned, I guess maybe through my painting is I'm trying to leave something behind, something to make the world a better place."

"Hopefully this program will inspire good people to serve and say, 'look it's worth the cost, it's worth the price,'" he added.

The program will be offered at four of the nation's 13 presidential libraries: the George W. Bush Library in Dallas, Texas, which was opened last year; the William J. Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas, as well as the libraries for former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Lyndon B. Johnson.

The goal is to give participants a better understanding of leadership philosophies, styles and practices by studying presidential decisions and speaking with former key administration officials and academics. They will be able to apply the knowledge to a challenge of in the course of their own professional or civic work.

This is not the first time that the 42nd and 43rd presidents have teamed up. The pair joined forces to raise money for Haiti in the wake of the 2010 earthquake there. They also both have family members eyeing the possibility of having presidential libraries of their own one day: former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, George W. Bush's brother, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Clinton's wife, are both pondering potential 2016 presidential bids.

They will also soon share the experience of being grandfathers when Chelsea Clinton has her baby this fall. At one point during the program Mr. Clinton silenced a call on the cell phone that only his wife and daughter used and remarked, "I hope I'm not being told I'm about to become a premature grandfather."

The discussion's moderator, Mr. Bush's White House chief of staff Josh Bolton, closed by asking Mr. Bush to give Mr. Clinton advice on "the leadership qualities necessary to be a good granddad."

"Be prepared to fall completely in love again. You're not going to believe it. You're just not going to believe the joy and the fun," he said. "Get ready to also be, like, the lowest person in the pecking order in your family."