VIP's attending the carrier Bush commissioning

Former President George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush

President George W. Bush

Vice President Dick Cheney

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates

Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff

Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations

Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine

Former Vice President Dan Quayle

John Sununu, George H.W. Bush's chief of staff, former N.H. governor

Brent Scowcroft, national security adviser under George H.W. Bush and Gerald Ford

Alan Simpson, retired Wyoming senator

Andrew Card, George W. Bush's former chief of staff

Carla Hills, U.S. trade representative under George H.W. Bush

Jeb Bush, former Florida governor

Dorothy Bush Koch, George H.W. Bush's daughter and the ship's sponsor. She is the founder of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy Maryland Initiative and a member of the foundation's board.

Neil Bush

Marvin Bush

Brian Mulroney, former Canadian prime minister

Ronald D. Sugar, chairman and CEO, Northrop Grumman

James McNerney Jr., chairman/president/CEO of The Boeing Co.

Ambassadors to the United States from China, England and Thailand

Greg Norman and Chris Evert, pro golfer and tennis player, respectively

James Carville and Mary Matalin, husband and wife political strategists and television personalities

Herb Kohler, head of Kohler Co.

Lou Gentine, CEO of Sargento Foods