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| Barbara Bush |
|
|
In office
January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993 |
| Preceded by |
Nancy Reagan |
| Succeeded by |
Hillary Rodham Clinton |
|
In office
January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989 |
| Preceded by |
Joan Mondale |
| Succeeded by |
Marilyn Quayle |
|
| Born |
June 8 1925 (1925--) (age 82)
Flushing, New York, U.S. |
| Spouse |
George H. W. Bush |
| Relations |
Marvin Pierce and Pauline Robinson |
| Children |
George W. Bush, Robin Bush, Jeb Bush, Neil Bush, Marvin Bush and
Dorothy Bush Koch |
| Occupation |
First Lady of the United States |
| Religion |
Episcopal |
Barbara Pierce Bush (born June 8, 1925) is the wife of
the 41st President of the United States, George H. W. Bush, and was First Lady of the United
States from 1989 to 1993. She is the mother of the current
U.S. President George W. Bush and former Florida
Governor Jeb Bush. She was also the Second
Lady of the United States from 1981 - 1989.
Biography
Early life
Barbara Pierce was the third child of the former Pauline Robinson
(1896-1949) and her husband, Marvin
Pierce (1893-1969), who later became president of McCall
Corporation, the publisher of the popular women's magazines Redbook and
McCall's. She was born at Booth Memorial
Hospital in Flushing, Queens in New York
City, and raised in the suburban town of Rye, New York, and went to Rye Country Day School, followed by boarding school at Ashley
Hall in Charleston, South
Carolina.
Her ancestor Thomas Pierce, an early New England colonist, was also
an ancestor of Franklin Pierce, the 14th President of the United States. She is a direct descendant, great-great-granddaughter, of
James Pierce, Jr. who was a fourth cousin of 14th President Franklin Pierce.[1]
Her mother — whom W magazine once described as "beautiful, fabulous, critical,
and meddling" and "a former beauty from Ohio with extravagant tastes" — was killed in a
car accident. The accident was caused when her husband, who was driving, lost control when he reached over to stop a cup of hot
coffee from sliding across the seat onto his wife. The car crashed into a stone wall, killing her instantly.
Marriage and family
Barbara Bush, center, surrounded by her family, early 1960s
It was at a dance during Christmas vacation when she was 16 that she met George H. W. Bush, a student at Phillips Academy in Andover, MA. One and a half years
later, the two engaged, just before he went off to World War II as a Navy torpedo bomber pilot. He named three of his planes after her: Barbara, Barbara II,
and Barbara III. When he returned on leave, she had dropped out of Smith College in
Northampton, Massachusetts. Two weeks
later, on January 6, 1945, they married. After the war, he
graduated from Yale University, and they moved to Midland, Texas. She gave birth to six children:
Meanwhile, George H. W. Bush built a business in the oil industry, where he founded Zapata Corporation. The Bush family moved 30 times over the years. She raised her children while her
husband, who served in a variety of government jobs, was away.
First Lady of the United States
Barbara Bush with children and White House staff in the
China Room. The first lady is
attempting to make a paw print of her pet Millie for a holiday card.
Barbara Bush was active with the White House Historical
Association and worked to revitalize the White House Preservation Fund, which she renamed the White House Endowment Trust. The trust raises funds for the ongoing refurbishment and
restoration of the White House. Mrs. Bush set a goal of raising $25 million awards the
endowment, and met it.
Bush was known for her affection for her pet English Springer Spaniel
Millie. She (Mrs. Bush) wrote a child's book about Millie's new litter of puppies. Barbara
Bush became the first U.S. First Lady to become a recipient of the Henry G.
Freeman Jr. Pin Money Fund, receiving $36,000, most of which she gave to favorite charities.
Later life
Currently, she lives with her husband in Houston, Texas, and at the Bush Compound in Kennebunkport, Maine.
Three primary schools in Texas are named after her. One
is a Houston ISD school in
Houston. One Conroe ISD
school in the The Woodlands in Montgomery County is named for her. A Grand Prairie ISD school in the Dallas
suburb of Grand Prairie is also named after her. An
elementary school in Mesa, Arizona's Mesa Public
Schools is also named after her.
Two middle schools are named after her. One is in San Antonio in the
North East ISD. One is in Irving in the Carrollton-Farmers
Branch ISD.
A Harris County Public Library branch in Cypress Creek, Harris County, Texas called the Barbara Bush Library[2] is named after her.
The Barbara Bush Children's Hospital at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine is named after Bush. Also named for her is one of
George W. Bush's twin daughters. They are frequent honored guests at the White House.
She serves on the Boards of AmeriCares and the Mayo Clinic, and heads the Barbara Bush
Foundation.
Mrs. Bush was initiated into Beta Sigma Phi women's fraternity as an alumna honor
initiate. Mrs. Bush also was initiated into the Texas Eta chapter (Texas A&M
University) of Pi Beta Phi women's fraternity in 2002 as an alumna honor
initiate.[3] Even before her initiation, she served as
honorary chairperson of the fraternity's literacy[4]
philanthropy, continuing a cause she championed as the wife of the Vice President and later as First Lady.[5]
Controversies
In 1984, Bush told the press that she could not say on television what she thought of then Vice-Presidential candidate
Geraldine Ferraro, but "it rhymes with rich".[6]
In September 1990, Bush said in an interview for People Magazine that the
then-brand new TV show The Simpsons was the dumbest thing she had ever seen. Six
years later, she and her husband were parodied heavily in an episode of the show, titled "Two
Bad Neighbors" in which they were satirized in a Dennis the Menace style
context. Bush was portrayed as being like Martha Wilson, even using the "Oh George" catchprase made famous by the latter.
Speaking on March 18, 2003, two days before the beginning of
the war on Iraq, she told ABC's Good Morning America:[7][8]
-
- "Why should we hear about body bags and deaths? Oh, I mean, it's not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on
something like that?"
Critics said that this statement showed how callous and cold she is, while supporters countered that she was merely dismissing
speculation of deaths before the Iraq War began.
While visiting a Houston relief center for people displaced by Hurricane Katrina,
Bush told the radio program "Marketplace,
-
- "Almost everyone I've talked to says, 'We're gonna move to Houston.' What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all
want to stay in Texas... Everybody is so overwhelmed by the hospitality, and so many of the people in the arenas here, you know,
were underprivileged anyway. This is working very well for them".[9][10]
- John Nichols of The Nation wrote, "Mrs. Bush chuckles audibly as she observes just
how great things are going for families that are separated from loved ones, people who have been forced to abandon their homes
and the only community where they have ever lived, and parents who are explaining to children that their pets, their toys and in
some cases their friends may be lost forever."[11] The
White House, when asked for comment, stated that she was expressing the gratitude she had heard from the evacuees for the help
and welcome they had received in Houston.[12]
In 2006, it was revealed that Barbara Bush donated an undisclosed amount of money to the
Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund on the condition the charity do business with an educational software company owned by her son
Neil Bush.[13]
"More Moon Money Flows to Bush Family - Washington Times Foundation ... a $100,000 contribution ... to the Barbara Bush
Foundation for Family Literacy"[14]
References
External links
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