“The thing I like is that he speaks with moral clarity,” said President Bush about Pope Benedict XVI on the way to Andrews Air Force Base. Explaining why for the first time in his presidency he chose to meet an arriving head of state rather than wait to receive him at the White House, he continued, “It’s a sign of respect. He’s a major figure in the world. More people listen to him than anyone in the world.”

If it was unusual for George Bush, it was even more unusual for Cokie, who received an invitation to join him, Laura Bush and their daughter Jenna in the limousine from the White House to Andrews. The president clearly wanted to tell a reporter personally why the pope’s visit mattered so much to him.

“He is a worldwide spiritual leader, millions of our citizens are excited about having him in America,” said the world’s most powerful leader, who was pretty excited himself. “Some hardened souls in the White House are deeply touched about meeting him.”

That’s not to say that the president and the pontiff see eye to eye on every issue – far from it. Bush knows that Benedict strongly opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq, though he says the pope has come to believe that a “precipitous drawdown of troops” could endanger the Christian minority there and in the rest of the region.