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They’re all prez-ent

PRESIDENTIAL PORTRAIT: Five living presidents (from left) — Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter — gather yesterday in Dallas. (
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WASHINGTON — Political divisions of years past were set aside yesterday as the nation’s most august group — five US presidents — gathered in Dallas to dedicate the George W. Bush Presidential Library.

Bush, whose presidency was defined by the Sept. 11 terror attacks and two foreign wars in response, recalled that “when freedom came under attack, we made the tough decisions to keep the American people safe.”

The former president choked up at the end of his speech, when he said, “I will always believe that our nation’s best days lie ahead.”

The dedication came as the country grapples with the aftermath of the Boston terror attack.

President Obama, who campaigned against Bush’s policies in winning two elections, yesterday painted a warm portrait of his predecessor.

“To know the man is to like the man,” Obama said.

“As we walk through this library, obviously we’re reminded of the incredible strength and resolve that came through that bullhorn as he stood among the rubble and ruins of Ground Zero, promising to bring justice to those who sought to destroy our way of life,” the president added.

Bill Clinton got a laugh out of the audience of 10,000 at Southern Methodist University when he joked that the dedication was “the latest, grandest example of the eternal struggle of former presidents to rewrite history.”

Bush’s father, George H.W. Bush, also got a rise out of the audience. From his wheelchair, the elder President Bush spoke for less than a minute, then turned to his son and quipped, “Too long?”

Jimmy Carter hailed the younger Bush for his work in Africa, crediting him with the peace treaty in Sudan.