George H.W. Bush Joins Twitter, Praises Mandela In First Tweet

Former President George H. W. Bush applauds as he participated in a ceremony to present the 5,000th Daily Point of Light Award to Floyd Hammer and Kathy Hamilton, a retired couple and farm owners from Union, Iowa, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, July 15, 2013. Obama welcomed Bush to the White House in a salute to public service and to the drive for volunteerism that the 41st president inspired with his “thousand points of light” initiative more than two decades ago. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Former President George H.W. Bush is now on Twitter.

In his first message, Bush honored former South African President Nelson Mandela and expressed regret that he could not attend Tuesday’s memorial service:

“@GeorgeHWBush Barbara and I wish we could have joined the U.S. delegation honoring President Mandela today. He, and his countrymen, are in our prayers.Barbara and I wish we could have joined the U.S. delegation honoring President Mandela today. He, and his countrymen, are in our prayers.”

Bush spokesman Jim McGrath confirmed via Twitter that the account, @GeorgeHWBush, is indeed that of the 41st president.

Bush is the third U.S. president to join the social networking site, along with President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton (who joined in April).