PHUKET, THAILAND - Under normal circumstances, the long trek over the Pacific Ocean would have been routine for an important U.S. government delegation — one VIP, one stateroom on the aircraft, one bed. No problem.

But this mission was anything but routine. Two former U.S. presidents had been dispatched by the current president to tour tsunami-devastated countries in Southeast Asia, and before the plane even left American soil, a delicate, potentially uncomfortable issue had to be worked out.

Which of the two, VIP1, George H.W. Bush, or VIP2, Bill Clinton, would get the bed?

Bill insisted George have it. George insisted it go to Bill. Bill dug his heels in. OK, said George, but I'm bringing a portable mattress for Bill.

"He was very considerate of the old guy. That's me," Bush said. "I mean, like the room on the plane. There was every reason in the world he should have had equal time if not priority, but he insisted. That's a tiny, little thing ... that meant a lot to me."

In the end, both former presidents appeared well-rested when they arrived at this resort island two weeks ago to begin a whirlwind goodwill tour that took in four nations in three days.

What made the potential contretemps over sleeping arrangements interesting, though, was what it revealed about the blossoming, unlikely relationship between the two former political rivals.

By all accounts, the 41st and 42nd presidents of the United States have over the past several months forged a firm friendship, enhanced by President Bush's decision to ask them to head the country's fund-raising effort on behalf of the victims of the Dec. 26 tsunami.

Bush and Clinton both insist there is nothing unusual about it. They have known each other since 1983, when then-Vice President Bush presided over a governors' conference in Kennebunkport, Maine, and Clinton was governor of Arkansas, and they say they have always liked each other.

Perhaps, but it has until now been an at-arm's-length relationship, at best, particularly on Bush's side. Whatever animus he felt toward Clinton, and for whatever reason, he kept to himself and shared only with his inner circle. But there is evidence the antipathy was more than skin deep.

For that reason, the thaw is remarkable, even amazing, said his close aides.

The crushing disappointment Bush felt after he lost the 1992 presidential election to Clinton is one obvious reason the two kept their distance. After that election, Bush made a promise to the new president that he would not publicly criticize him or question his performance. By and large, it was a promise he kept.

It was no secret to those close to him, however, that losing to Clinton hurt him on a deep level and the healing was slow.

"After '92, I really don't know what the relationship was between the two of them," said Marlin Fitzwater, who was Bush's White House spokesman. "I do know that for any presidential candidate to lose an election is traumatic and depressing in the worst way. It takes several years to get over the fact that you lost."

The residual bitterness of the campaign may have been exacerbated during Clinton's second term by the fallout from the Monica Lewinsky scandal, the only occasion Fitzwater can remember that Bush publicly criticized his former political foe.

Clinton had 'enough critics'

In a 1998 interview on NBC's Today show, Bush at first declined to say anything about the scandal, telling the interviewer that Clinton had "enough critics out there now." When pressed, he grudgingly conceded that he thought the office of president had been "diminished" by the affair but that the office was strong and "bigger than any one person."

The election loss to Clinton, while disappointing, was never the basis for any personal animosity toward Clinton, Bush said. They knew and liked each other before the election, and they remained cordial afterward.

"What a lot of people don't realize is we've never really been hostile," Bush said. "You get into a campaign and there's understandable hostility. But I've always had a rather pleasant personal relationship with him, and he said yesterday he felt the same way about me. So it's not surprising to us. But it is surprising to everybody else."

So much so that on several occasions during their tour of Southeast Asia the "odd couple" was asked about their relationship, which was suddenly on center stage. Even back in Houston, Bush was asked at a United Way dinner last week how it was possible that he could be friends with his former political rival.

Bush acknowledged that it might seem strange to some, since Clinton was responsible for putting him out of work, but he added of Clinton, who lost his father in a car wreck a few months before he was born, "maybe I'm the father he never had."

Respect and chemistry

Throughout the Asia trip, Clinton, 22 years younger than the 80-year-old Bush, clearly deferred to his senior colleague. On several occasions, as the elder man carefully descended the stairs from the aircraft, Clinton waited for him. At times, in answer to questions from local media, the presidents found themselves finishing each other's sentences.

The chemistry between them was obvious and benign. On several occasions, while listening to the stories of those who survived the tsunami, particularly the children, both men choked up. And while they obviously have much in common, there were clear differences in what animated them.

In Sri Lanka, while being shown a water purification system, Clinton asked repeated questions about how it worked, how much it cost to produce a gallon of water and whether the system could be applied widely in Third World countries where clean drinking water is scarce. Bush merely listened.

But when his U.S. Marine Corps helicopter landed on the flight deck of the USS Fort McHenry, cruising off the coast of Sumatra with its crew at attention and lining the superstructure, the former Navy pilot was all smiles and salutes.

Clinton said his first meeting with Bush at the Bush family compound in Kennebunkport in 1983 pretty much set the tone for their relationship for the next 20 years.

"My daughter was 3 years old, and I introduced her to George Bush," Clinton said. "I said 'Chelsea, this is Vice President Bush, and this is his wonderful home.' She looked at him and she said, 'I have to go to the bathroom.' He took her by the hand and took her to the bathroom. It really impressed me. So I've always liked him."

Shared appearances

Whatever latent friendship there may have been between the two men was essentially dormant for many years, only coming to life publicly in recent months as the two of them, their wives and the current president attended a flurry of high-profile functions.

There was the dedication last summer of the National World War II Memorial in Washington; the unveiling a few months later of Clinton's portrait at the White House; the dedication of Clinton's presidential library in Little Rock; and, after they were named chief fund-raisers for tsunami relief, sharing a laugh while sitting side by side at the Super Bowl.

The friendship also is growing at the same time the somewhat chilly relationship between Clinton and the current president appears to be thawing.

"When the president got elected the first time, our relationship I guess you could say was somewhat strained," Clinton said. "He defeated Al Gore, and I didn't want him to. I guess he still felt a little raw about the fact that I had defeated his father, and I didn't blame him a bit. But I just like him. We have real differences of opinion, mostly on domestic things, and on some significant foreign policy issues, but I think he is doing what he believes is right, and that's all you can ever ask of anybody."

The club of former U.S. presidents is as exclusive as it is small, and true friendships between its members are rare. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, publicly and despite some real political differences, remained close until their deaths within hours of each other on July 4, 1826. Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford reportedly also are close friends, although that friendship rarely manifests itself on a public stage.

What is unique, however, is that two former presidents would take their budding friendship on the road on a highly publicized, official U.S. government mission.

"This is pretty unusual," said American University presidential historian Allan J. Lichtman. "Former presidents normally appear only together at ceremonial events, but very rarely do you see this kind of close public cooperation."

No protocol problems

Having two high-profile senior officials on any trip increases the potential for breaches of protocol and diplomacy, but no such glitches occurred during the airplane rides, helicopter trips, motorcades and meetings with presidents and prime ministers that characterized the Bush-Clinton mission.

"He (Clinton) was very gracious to me in a lot of ways, and I appreciate it and I think he knows that," Bush said. "We were in close proximity, in the car all the time, and it could have been a little tense. But it wasn't at all. For some reason, maybe it was State Department protocol, I was sort of put first. Whether that caused him any anxiety ... I don't think so."

Bush has told aides he values this newfound friendship and that he will do anything to protect it. Putting away the Blackberry portable e-mailer to which Bush has become somewhat addicted might be a good first step — Clinton reportedly doesn't do e-mail.

"I do keep up with friends that way, but I've gotten to be a little too fanatical and read the damned thing all the time," Bush said.