In a TODAY exclusive, former President George W. Bush speaks with Jenna Bush Hager about what can unite Americans. Bush Hager, the daughter of Bush, spoke individually with all four living former presidents of the United States ahead of America’s 250th anniversary in July at a private event hosted by the History Channel. The event, named “History Talks,” traditionally features former presidents, and was done in partnership with Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal.

On January 20, 1989, a 33-year-old Chinese professor walked down Bush Street in San Francisco. George H.W. Bush had been sworn in as the 41st president that morning. The professor noted homeless men sleeping in the doorways and wrote it down. His name was Wang Huning. He was a visiting scholar from Fudan University in Shanghai, five months into a six-month fellowship arranged by the American Political Science Association. He covered more than thirty cities and close to twenty universities, sat i