Actor Tom Hanks has visited the White House several times, but his favorite story about it involves former President George W. Bush, gym clothes and a dead bird.
Hanks told the “Sooo Many White Guys” podcast about the time he was in Washington for the dedication of the World War II Memorial in 2004 and asked for a tour of the White House with his wife, Rita Wilson, and their two sons.
The tour was on a Saturday, when the White House was empty and Bush wasn’t making any public appearances. Hanks’ wife went to use the restroom, and while she was gone, Hanks and his sons were ushered into a side room because the president was coming through on his way back from the gym.
Then Hanks heard his wife say from the hall: “Well hello, Mr. President.”
And he heard Bush reply, “Well hi! Who are you?”
“I’m Rita Hanks, Tom’s wife,” Wilson said.
“Well of course, how are you?” Bush said, then asked where the rest of her family was.
Hanks said he and his sons were brought back out and there was Bush, wearing his gym clothes and offering to show them around.
“We’re walking towards the Rose Garden to go into the Oval Office,” Hanks said. “I swear to God, there was a dead blackbird laying in the grass. And we said, oh my gosh, look at that.
“And he said, ‘Ah, that’s a shame.’ And he picks up the bird with his bare hands and he says, ‘Yeah, we get these all the time at the ranch.’ And he threw the blackbird into the bushes to get out of sight. He says, ‘Oh the crew’ll pick that up.'”
“I gotta tell you, the Hanks family’s been dining out on that story for about a thousand years.”
