Ice Bucket Challenge: George W Bush takes part in charity water craze

Former US President George W Bush insisted it “wouldn’t be presidential” to take part in the ice bucket craze – and then had freezing water poured over him by his wife Laura.

In a video posted on Facebook, Mr Bush appeared set to turn down a challenge from his daughter Jenna and others to take part in the viral charity challenge, which been accepted by the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Justin Timberlake, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates.

“To you all who’ve challenged me, I do not think it’s presidential for me to be splashed with ice water, so I’m simply going to write you a cheque,” he said with pen in hand. But moments later Mrs Bush appeared with a bucket and poured the contents over him, eliciting a startled “oh” from her husband. She then said: “That cheque is for me. I don’t want to ruin my hairstyle.”

The stunt is in aid of the ALS Association, which funds research into amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also called motor neurone disease.

After drying himself off with a towel, Mr Bush then called on his predecessor in the White House to join in.

“And now it’s my privilege to challenge my friend Bill Clinton to the ALS challenge. Today was Bill’s birthday – and my gift to Bill is a bucket of cold water,” he said.