By Travis Puterbaugh, World Golf Hall of Fame

A former playing partner and long-time friend of President George H.W. Bush recently reflected on his relationship with the former president and World Golf Hall of Fame Member, who passed away at the age of 94 on November 30, 2018. Marty Russo, a Democrat from Illinois who served as a congressman from 1975-1993, became friendly with the then-Vice President over games of paddle ball and rounds of golf. Their friendship continued through Bush’s presidency and extended long after both had moved on from Washington, D.C.

“President Bush was a man of his word and I loved him,” Russo says. “To be honest with you, I voted for him twice.”

It is hard to image in today’s charged political climate that such respect and affection could so easily exist between members of the executive and legislative branch from opposite parties. In the context of the life of President Bush, however, it does not seem so surprising.

“I’m a great believer that sports can do wonders for friendship, and establishing common ground,” Bush once said.

President Bush was a lover of athletic competition, whether it was golf, tennis, paddle ball or horseshoes. The ultimate competitor who loved scheduling games and keeping track of standings between family, friends and staff members, Bush hated to lose. Still, win, lose, or draw, he loved the camaraderie of sports and its ability to bring people together. He used sports to forge relationships and establish bonds.

“He’s the only president, or vice president, who came to the Congressional gym party every year for members of Congress,” Russo says. “That’s why everybody liked him. It didn’t matter whether you were a Democrat or Republican. He was somebody who wanted to make friends with everybody.”

Russo, a single-digit handicapper by the time he entered Congress in 1975, became fast friends with Bush. It started over a game of paddle ball when Rep. Sonny Montgomery of Mississippi told Russo that he needed a 4th for a game with Vice President Bush and Rep. Guy Molinari of New York. This began a partnership in paddle ball which spanned 11 years, including a memorable game on January 21, 1985, the date of the second inauguration of President Ronald Reagan. Cutting through the House gym on the way to his office, Russo encountered the Vice President playing paddle ball with his son Marvin and one of his nephews. Bush told Russo he needed a 4th and to get dressed. “We’ll kick their butts,” Bush said. Russo asked what historians would say about the Vice President playing paddle ball with a Democrat on the day of a presidential inauguration.

“He about fell over when I said that to him,” Russo said.

In June 1990, a year-and-a-half into his presidency, Bush invited Russo for a casual round of golf at Holly Hills Country Club in Ijamsville, Maryland. It was a make-up, in a sense, for a time when Bush had invited Russo to play at the Burning Tree Club with a group of wealthy businessmen from Tennessee. Bush did not want to lose, so he enlisted Russo as his playing partner. Russo had complained to their mutual friend Montgomery about not receiving regular invitations to play from Bush.

“So Bush calls me up and says, ‘You’re mad at me, aren’t you?’ I said to him, ‘Yeah, this is BS. When you needed my help, I had to fly in from Cape Cod to play golf with you, and now you’re the president and you’re stiffing me?’ So he says, ‘Hang loose and I’ll get back with you tomorrow.’”

On Friday June 22, Bush asked Russo to come to the White House prior to their round of golf. In a room just outside the Oval Office, Russo encountered journalist and Bush friend Dan Jenkins, who would join them that afternoon. After a few minutes of waiting, they were summoned into the Oval Office to see the president. To Russo’s surprise, Bush had arranged for legendary Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton – a favorite of Russo’s – to round out their foursome.

“I’m a Chicago guy, so I’d know ‘Sweetness’ anywhere,” Russo recalls about his excitement seeing Payton standing in the Oval Office.

The memorable moments would continue throughout the afternoon. Russo recalls Bush kidding with Payton about his nerves teeing off in front of reporters and spectators, despite having played football in front of thousands of fans. “In football I know what I’m doing, in golf I don’t,” Payton replied to the president.

On the ninth green, Russo would drain a difficult 40-foot putt in full view of the assembled media after Bush had given him the line on his own putt. While Bush’s attempt spun out of the hole, Russo knocked his dead solid into the center of the cup. Jenkins, who documented the round in a September 1990 article for Golf Digest, remarked, “Marty, do you really want your constituents to know how well you play golf?” Bush playfully called Russo a “show off” as they walked off towards the 10th tee.

Russo recalls Bush hitting a shot into the trees and, taking note of the number of Secret Service agents on the course to protect him, he asked the Commander-in-Chief a pointed question. He said with all the agents out on the course, couldn’t he ask them just once to take the ball out of the woods for him?

“Bush looked at me and said, ‘Marty do you know who Herbert Walker is? Well, Herbert Walker is my grandfather. The Walker Cup is named after him. We don’t move the ball in the Bush family!,’” Russo recalled with a laugh.

After the round while he, Jenkins and Payton were getting cleaned up and changed, Bush created replica scorecards by hand for each member of the group. The original was put on display in the Holly Hills clubhouse, while the others each had versions signed by the president to commemorate the outing. It was a typically thoughtful gesture from Bush, to cap a day which Russo calls “one of the best days of my life.”

“Athletics and sports bridges everything,” Russo says when remembering an era when a president and congressman from differing parties could put politics aside and get to know one another. “We may not vote together, but we understood the other person’s position. We had friendships that went way beyond politics. We could disagree, but we didn’t dislike each other.”

The two remained close and would exchange monthly phone calls through the years until the end of Bush’s life. Russo still has one of the former president’s messages saved on his phone as a keepsake. Russo can’t say enough about his admiration for Bush, who he described as a “very considerate, caring person.”

“He was a prince,” Russo says. “He was the best there ever was in my lifetime.”