George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, called President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to congratulate them on their election victory, the Washington Post reports.
Bush completes the list of former presidents who have welcomed Biden and Harris to the elite club of elected Executive Branch officials. All living former presidents–Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama–have contacted Biden and Harris.
In a released statement, Bush said that the “American people have spoken” and “thanked him for the patriotic message he delivered last night.”
“I also called Kamala Harris to congratulate her on her historic election to the vice presidency,” Bush said in the statement. “Though we have political differences, I know Joe Biden to be a good man, who has won his opportunity to lead and unify our country. The President-elect reiterated that while he ran as a Democrat, he will govern for all Americans. I offered him the same thing I offered Presidents Trump and Obama: my prayers for his success, and my pledge to help in any way I can.”
In the statement, Bush also congratulated Trump “on a hard-fought campaign.”