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'I Relied Upon My Faith,' George W. Bush Tells Jay Leno

Making a relatively rare appearance on national TV, former President George W. Bush told Tonight Show host Jay Leno on Tuesday's show that "I relied upon my faith, my family helped a lot and I had a good team around me" while in the White House.

Bush also repeated some things he's said before — that he doesn't miss being president and that he'll leave it up to history to judge his performance.

The nation's 43rd president also had some funny moments: "You look much more relaxed" now, Leno told him. "No kidding ... duh!" Bush said with a laugh and a comical look on his face.

The show has posted several clips on its YouTube page. We'll embed one that includes some of the serious and not-so-serious parts of the discussion.

Since leaving office, Bush has taken up painting. He gave Leno a portrait he's done of the Tonight Show host.

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Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.

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