A ‘dear friendship’

Hall of Fame owner remembers time with George H.W. Bush

John Zweifel, owner of the popular Presidents Hall of Fame attraction in Clermont, remembered on Monday his “dear friendship” with George Herbert Walker Bush, including a time when he played horseshoes with the former president.

“He just had such friendliness about him that you would not think he was president, but that he was a dear friend,” said Zweifel, 82, of Orlando. “George was just so fantastic. … He was a person who would give you a pat on the back.”

Bush, who was the 41st president of the United States from 1989 to 1993, died Friday at his Houston home. He was 94.

Zweifel is the creator of the Miniature White House, a 20-ton scaled-down replica of the famous home on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue that with painstaking detail shows the inside of each iconic room, including the Oval Office. The model is currently on display at the Presidents Hall of Fame off U.S. Highway 27 next to the Citrus Tower north of State Road 50.

With each new administration, Zweifel and his wife, Jan, have been granted access into the famous home so that they can update their replica with the new interior decor.

After the elder Bush was sworn into office in January 1989, John Zweifel was allowed by First Lady Barbara Bush and the president’s staff to spend five days to write notes, take measurements and snap photographs of every detail inside the White House.

Zweifel said he last visited the White House a few months ago, as he currently works with First Lady Melania Trump and her staff to update the current decor.

The Zweifels’ mission is to educate Americans about the famous home that they like to say “belongs to all Americans.”

And the Bushes wholeheartedly helped the Zweifels in that mission by working together to promote the replica and knowledge about the White House, Zweifel said.

“They loved the White House and believed so much in what I was doing,” Zweifel said. “They made sure that their staff was very welcoming.”

Since the 1970s, the Zweifels and their children have exhibited their Miniature White House in all 50 states and at political conventions. They have also set it up at presidential libraries, including the George H.W. Bush Presidential