Elsie Walker: The Dalai Lama and the Presidents Bush

In this episode of the Wisdom Podcast we hear a story of Buddhism and American politics: how Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush met the Dalai Lama, as told by President Bush Sr.’s cousin Elsie Walker.

Elsie begins with the story of how she got involved with Tibet House and then reached out to her cousin, President George H. W. Bush, to tell him how she wanted to support the Tibetan people. She then tells us how President George H. W. Bush became the first U.S. president to meet His Holiness the Dalai Lama. We hear about the President’s spiritual side, the great pressure on the U.S. government to avoid contact with His Holiness, and how at the last minute Elsie managed to arrange a meeting in April 1991.

Elsie describes the President and the Dalai Lama’s meeting in detail, and also shares how she herself met the Dalai Lama and what they discussed. She then tells how she arranged the meeting between the Dalai Lama and President George W. Bush.

Extra Content