My son-in-Law worked at the White House at about that same time frame, traveled with Bush on Air Force 1. I was at a Saturday afternoon party at my daughters house and a bunch of White House staffers were there.

The universal opinion about Bush was "dumb as a box of rocks, he does what the people around him tell him to do" (think Cheney).

He probably just happened to have a gas pain about the time you came in the room. He is to dumb to see anything in anyone.