WASHINGTON: The US former first lady has lavished praise on former president Bill Clinton, who defeated George HW Bush in 1992, calling him ‘a good fellow’ who is ‘very thoughtful about calling’.

Barbara Bush, during an interview with Parade Magazine, even revealed that her sons, including George W Bush, call Clinton ‘My brother by another mother’.

“He never said a mean word about anyone,” The New York Daily News quoted Barbara, as saying.

“He’s very nice. I think he thinks of George [Sr] as the father he never had,” she added.

According to the paper, her husband echoed the warm feelings for his former rival.

“He knows a lot about everything,” George HW Bush told the magazine.

“He's a very knowledgeable, bright man. He sat out here one time, and we talked about every possible [subject] one after another,” he added.

According to the paper, the unlikely friendship between Clinton and his predecessor began in 2004, when the two ex-presidents joined forces to raise money for the victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami.

The two quickly set aside differences and the wounds inflicted by the vicious 1992 race as they travelled the world.