This article is about the first lady of the United States. For her granddaughter, see Barbara Bush (born 1981).For other people named Barbara Bush, see Barbara Bush (disambiguation).
Barbara Bush
Bush in 1989
First Lady of the United States
In role January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993
President
George H. W. Bush
Preceded by
Nancy Reagan
Succeeded by
Hillary Clinton
Second Lady of the United States
In role January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989
Vice President
George H. W. Bush
Preceded by
Joan Mondale
Succeeded by
Marilyn Quayle
Personal details
Born
Barbara Pierce
(1925-06-08)June 8, 1925 New York City, U.S.
Died
April 17, 2018(2018-04-17) (aged 92) Houston, Texas, U.S.
Resting place
George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum
Political party
Republican
Spouse
George H. W. Bush
(m. 1945)
Children
George
Robin
Jeb
Neil
Marvin
Dorothy
Parent
Marvin Pierce (father)
Education
Smith College (dropped out)
Signature
Barbara Bush (née Pierce; June 8, 1925 – April 17, 2018) was the first lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993, as the wife of George H. W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States. She was previously the second lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989, and founded the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. Among her children are George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States, and Jeb Bush, the 43rd governor of Florida. She and Abigail Adams are the only two women to be the wife of one U.S. president and the mother of another. At the time she became first lady, she was the second oldest woman to hold the position, behind only Anna Harrison, who never lived in the capital. Bush was generally popular as first lady, recognized for her apolitical grandmotherly image.
Barbara Pierce was born in New York City and grew up in Rye, New York. She met George H. W. Bush at the age of sixteen, and the two married in 1945. They moved to Texas in 1948, where George was successful in the oil industry and later began his political career. Bush had six children between 1946 and 1959, and she had to endure the loss of her four-year-old daughter Robin to leukemia in 1953. She lived in Washington, D.C., New York, and China while accompanying her husband in his various political roles in the 1960s and 1970s. She became an active campaigner for her husband whenever he stood for election. Bush became second lady after her husband became vice president in 1981. She took on the role of a social hostess as second lady, holding frequent events at the vice president's residence, and she traveled to many countries with her husband on his diplomatic missions.
Bush became first lady in 1989 after her husband was inaugurated as president. She enjoyed the role and life in the White House, though her experience as first lady was complicated by her protectiveness over her family and her diagnosis of Graves' disease in 1989. She frequently carried out charity work, including her projects to promote literacy and her support for people with AIDS. Among the most prominent of her actions as first lady was the commencement speech she gave at Wellesley College; it saw considerable publicity and her selection was controversial, but it was widely regarded as a success. She remained active in political campaigning after leaving the White House, as two of her sons ran for office in both gubernatorial and presidential campaigns.
BarbaraBush (née Pierce; June 8, 1925 – April 17, 2018) was the first lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993, as the wife of George H. W. Bush, the...
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And my brother is very flattered." Former President George H. W. Bush and BarbaraBush were in the front row at the Lauren Pierce Spring 2011 show during...
BarbaraBush (née Pierce). His five siblings are George W. Bush, Jeb Bush; a former governor of Florida; the late Pauline Robinson Bush; Marvin Bush;...
published in 2019, a biography of former First Lady BarbaraBush titled The Matriarch: BarbaraBush and the Making of an American Dynasty. In 2021, her...
Pierce Bush (born October 22, 1956) is an American businessman. He is a son of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush and First Lady BarbaraBush and the...
president, CIA director Barbara Pierce Bush (1925–2018), wife of George H. W., Second Lady and later First Lady of the U.S. George Walker Bush (born 1946), George...
America for heart care, orthopedics and gynecology, and home to the BarbaraBush Children's Hospital, cited as one of the Top 25 children's hospitals...
former President George H. W. Bush and former First Lady BarbaraBush, and a younger brother of former President George W. Bush. He graduated from Phillips...
awareness campaign; BarbaraBush promoted literacy; Hillary Clinton sought to reform the healthcare system in the U.S.; Laura Bush supported women's rights...
introduced in a daytime soap opera in the United States. She was credited as BarbaraBush in her early roles. Originally from Capreol, Ontario, she moved with...
“underprivileged anyway” and better off in the Astrodome). “The Bush family — including BarbaraBush — supported policies that harmed and destroyed the lives...
original on October 13, 2014. Retrieved October 27, 2012. Bush, Barbara (2015). BarbaraBush: A Memoir. Scribner. p. 180. ISBN 978-1-5011-1778-7. "Sisters...
Hillary Clinton and Melania Trump. However, she was less popular than BarbaraBush and Michelle Obama, and her disapproval rating was double that of Carter's...
States First Lady Barbara Pierce Bush, the maternal grandfather of former U.S. President George W. Bush and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and the father-in-law...
with a long span of fellow First Ladies, from Eleanor Roosevelt to Laura Bush. She was protected by the United States Secret Service for 44 years. Biographer...
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