(CNN)On Wednesday, three men wearing overcoats stood in the amphitheater of Arlington National Cemetery, grouped at a pandemic-proper social distance as American flags whipped in the wind behind them.

In the center was former President George W. Bush and alongside him were former Presidents Clinton and Barack Obama. They had just attended President Joe Biden's inauguration and were here to pledge their support to him in front of the American people.

"The fact that the three of us are here talking about a peaceful transfer of power speaks to the institutional integrity of our country," said Bush, a Republican, in a video that was broadcast that evening. The tradition of such a transfer, Obama, a Democrat, pointed out, is "over two centuries old."

You wouldn't know from the harmony of their appeal that a little over 20 years ago, Bush had promised an administration, in contrast to Clinton's, that "will appeal to our better angels, not our darker impulses" or that Obama had told Americans who were out of work in 2008 to blame "the failed policies of George W. Bush."