NY Times: For President and Predecessor, A Chill Returns

Embarrassingly, I'm definitely not as aware of everything going on in our government and with the President as I should be, but I did find a little article involving this topic that caught my interest. The article touched on how when Presidents leave office, it is then that they become friends with their predecessors, but not much until this time. President Obama, and former President George W. Bush have hardly had contact since Obama has taken over the presidency. They clearly have different views and standings on different issues given the politics at the moment-- particularly the war in Iraq. Obama insinuated that he "inherited two unfinished wars and an economy in grave recession" -- not exactly a "subtle dig" at Mr. Bush. The article ended with a statement that there is a "mechanism for using someone who has been there, and can help them," which is definitely true, so perhaps President Obama and Mr. Bush will one day become friends, however, with the current political standings, this probably will not be the case for some time coming. I think this is the case for so many other issues and situations in the world today, that we could use people who have "been there, done that" as a tool for making the situation better, whether by learning from their mistakes, correcting them, and making the situation better, or by going to them for support and advice as they have been through it all before. I think many times we are just too stubborn or too proud to do this. But why? If someone really is wiser and more experienced with a topic or situation, why not use that person as a resource?