President attends nephew’s wedding

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine – Three generations of the Bush family gathered here Saturday for the nuptials of presidential nephew George Prescott Bush and a weekend coastal respite from a vigorous re-election campaign.

While President Bush may have been the highest-ranking guest, he merely played the role of uncle at the late-afternoon wedding at St. Ann’s Episcopal Church near the family’s home at Walker’s Point. The groom, 28, is the oldest son of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Columba Bush.

Summer tourists in this seaside village were afforded only glimpses of the Bush family entourage as the 40-minute ceremony of George P. Bush and Amanda Williams took place under considerable security at the 117-year-old stone church overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

During the presidential race four years ago, George P. Bush played an active role, addressing the Republican convention in Philadelphia and leading a tour of college campuses. He also signaled an interest in public office, but he attended law school at the University of Texas, where he met Williams, a native of the state.

The weekend visit to Kennebunkport was the president’s first of the year. Locked in a tight campaign with Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, Bush has cut back his vacation time to focus on his re-election.

The newlyweds will live in Texas, with Bush joining the office of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, where he will work in corporate law. The bride specializes in commercial and labor litigation for the Jackson Walker law firm in Ft. Worth.

Hours before the ceremony, the Bush family embarked on a fishing trip aboard the Fidelity III, the former president’s new motorboat. As they trolled up the Atlantic coast, the current president declared that one of his twin daughters had reeled in a sizeable catch.

“Jenna caught it!” the president shouted to journalists from the boat. “Jenna caught the fish!”

Bush is scheduled to return to the White House on Sunday before beginning a weeklong campaign swing Monday.