NEW YORK - Michelle Obama wrote a thank-you note to Laura Bush after the first lady spoke up in defense of the wife of the Democratic presidential candidate, Obama said on Wednesday.

Obama, who is married to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, created a controversy on the campaign trail in February when she said, “For the first time in my adult lifetime I am really proud of my country.”

After critics questioned her patriotism because of the remark, Obama has frequently said she is proud of her country.

During an appearance on ABC Television’s “The View” on Wednesday, she re-stated her pride in the United States and said her controversial comment was referring to being proud of the political process this year.

Laura Bush came to Obama’s defense earlier this month, telling ABC’s “Good Morning America”: “I think she probably meant, ‘I’m more proud.’ You have to be very careful in what you say. Everything you say is looked at and in many cases misconstrued.”

Obama said she appreciated Bush’s comments and concern.

“I was touched by it and actually I sent her a note,” Obama said on “The View.” “It took me a while to write it. Like, how do I address her? I sent it to ‘Madam First Lady.’ I don’t want to talk about it because she might not have it yet.

“That’s what I like about Laura Bush, her whole rational approach to these issues. I am taking some cues. There’s a reason why people like her, because she doesn’t sort of fuel the fire.”

- Reporting by Daniel Trotta

- Photo credit: Reuters/ Rick Wilking (Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama campaigning in Las Vegas in January 2008)

Michelle Obama has a new defender from those who say she isn’t patriotic enough — First Lady Laura Bush. In an interview with ABC News, Bush said that Obama’s February remark that she was proud of the United States “for the first time in my adult life” was misconstrued.

“I think she probably meant ‘I’m more proud.’ That’s what she really meant,” Bush said from Afghanistan.

“You have to be really careful in what you say because everything you say is looked at and in many cases misconstrued,” she said.

Some commentators have said the remarks show that Obama, wife of likely Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama, does not love her country.

Bush also praised her White House predecessor, Hillary Clinton, who formally ended her bid to be the first female president on Saturday.

“Well of course, I want the woman president to be a Republican woman,” Bush said, when asked whether she was sorry to see Clinton’s campaign end.

“But I will say I watched the campaign and I admired Hillary’s grit and strength,” she said.

“I have to say I had a lot of admiration for her endurance,” she added.

Bush, who has endured five political campaigns with her husband dating back to the 1970s, said she would not run for office herself.

 Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage.

Photo credit: Top: Reuters/Jason Reed (Barack and Michelle Obama board plane in Chicago recently); Bottom: Reuters/Larry Downing (Laura Bush visits Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan)

WASHINGTON - Most of the Bush clan have already thrown their support behind the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain, with one new notable exception — President George W. Bush’s daughter Jenna.

The president rolled out the red carpet at the White House last month to endorse McCain’s candidacy after he clinched the delegates for the Republican nomination. The White House hosted a lunch and Rose Garden photo-op for the Arizona senator.

When interviewed on CNN’s “Larry King Live” Wednesday night to promote a children’s book she wrote with her mother Laura, Jenna left the door open to possibly backing another candidate.

Here’s the transcript:

KING: Do you have a favorite between the two, the two Democrats?

L. BUSH: My favorite is the Republican.

(LAUGHTER)

KING: Yours, too, I would imagine.

J. BUSH: I don’t know.

KING: A-ha.

J. BUSH: But, I mean, you know…

KING: Are you open to…

J. BUSH: Yes, of course. I mean, who isn’t open to learning about the candidates? But, I mean, and I’m sure everybody is like that. But I really — I honestly have been too busy with books to really pay that much attention.

Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage.

- Photo credit: Reuters/Ray Stubblebine (Laura and Jenna Bush wave to people standing in line for signed copies of their new children’s book.)