Four years ago they were bitter enemies on opposing sides of a long and fractious battle for the Democratic presidential nomination.
In New York on Monday night, however, Bill Clinton lent his star power to Barack Obama to help the President to see off his Republican challenger in this November’s election. But behind the smile and back slaps, the relationship remains complicated and uneven.
The star-studded fundraiser came four years and a day after Hillary Clinton gave her final speech as a candidate against Mr Obama in a protracted primary battle in which Mr Clinton leapt forcefully to his wife’s defence, accusing Mr Obama of launching a sexist attack.
While Mrs Clinton quickly forgave her opponent, giving him her strong public backing long before he picked her to be his Secretary of State, Mr Clinton was said to harbour longer-lasting resentment, even questioning whether she should accept the job. And as Mr Obama’s own star power waned under the strain of day-to-day governance, the President seemed happy to maintain the distance, hoping to avoid unfavourable comparisons between himself and his hugely popular predecessor.
Over the past several months, however, Mr Clinton has become an ever more frequent and reliable political ally, campaigning for Mr Obama’s re-election.
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On Monday, Mr Obama publicly thanked Mr Clinton for his legacy, while Mr Clinton praised Mr Obama’s approach, saying that a Mitt Romney presidency would be “calamitous for our country and the world”.
But only last week, Mr Clinton undermined a key Obama campaign theme when he praised Mr Romney’s “sterling” business career, the subject of sustained Democratic attacks on the Republican candidate. And the very next day, the men landed on opposite sides of a Democratic primary race for Congress in New Jersey, mirroring the 2008 presidential fight. Mr Clinton was in New Jersey to campaign for Bill Pascrell, who endorsed Mrs Clinton four years ago, while Mr Obama repaid the rival candidate, Steve Rothman, for his endorsement in 2008.
Mr Clinton, like his wife, enjoys approval ratings that soar above Mr Obama’s and is seen as a unifying figure for Democrats. Mr Clinton is also anxious to stay in the limelight in the hope of persuading his wife to run for the White House in 2016, despite her repeated insistence that she will not seek public office again.