Remembering Barbara Bush

Some of you may have already heard but Barbara Bush passed away a few short days ago at the age of 92. She was the wife of our 41st president, George H. W. Bush.

She was one of only two women in history who can be called first lady or first mother. Her and former president, George H. W. Bush had been married for 73 years. That’s amazing compared to most marriages today.

Barbara Bush’s eight years as Second Lady made her a household name. After her son Neil was diagnosed with dyslexia, she took an interest in literacy issues and began working with several different literacy organizations. She spent much time researching and learning about the factors that contributed to illiteracy—she believed homelessness was also connected to illiteracy—and the efforts underway to combat both. She traveled around the country and the world, either with the vice president on official trips or by herself. In 1984, she wrote a children’s book, C. Fred’s Story, which recounted the adventures of a family as related by their cocker spaniel, C. Fred. She donated all of the book’s proceeds to literacy charities.

By the mid-1980s, Bush was comfortable speaking in front of groups, and she routinely spoke to promote issues in which she believed. She became famous for expressing a sense of humor and self-deprecating wit. During the 1984 presidential campaign, Barbara made headlines when she told the press that she could not say on television what she thought of vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, but “it rhymes with rich”. She later apologized to Ferraro.

In 1988, Vice President Bush announced his candidacy for President to succeed his boss Ronald Reagan. By this time Barbara had experienced two presidential campaigns but broke new ground by becoming the second candidate’s spouse to speak at the national party convention that nominated her husband (after Eleanor Roosevelt in 1940). She promised voters that she would be a traditional first lady and campaigned actively for her husband. The campaign at times focused on the large Bush family, and contrasted her with the First Lady, Nancy Reagan, by highlighting her interest in domestic staples such as church, gardening, and time spent with family while placing less emphasis on style sense and fashion; she drew attention to both her famous white hair and disinterest in wearing designer clothes. She generally avoided discussion of political issues during the campaign, particularly those on which she and her husband differed, and those closely involved with the campaign have reported that she was actively involved in campaign strategy. Bush was elected in November 1988 and sworn in on January 20, 1989.

Family literacy was Barbara Bush’s cause as First Lady, and she called it “the most important issue we have”.  She became involved with many literacy organizations, served on literacy committees and chaired many reading organizations. Eventually, she helped develop the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. She continued to be dedicated to eliminating the generational cycle of illiteracy in America by supporting programs where parents and their young children are able to learn together. During the early 1980s, after statistics had shown that foreign-born immigrants from Latin America had nearly quintupled just since 1960, statistics showed that 35 million adults could not read above the eighth-grade level and that 23 million were not able to read beyond a fourth-grade level. Mrs. Bush appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss the situation and spoke regularly on Mrs. Bush’s Story Time, a national radio program that stressed the importance of reading aloud to children. Her children Jeb Bush and Dorothy Bush Koch serve as co-chairs of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. During her lifetime Mrs. Bush remained active in the foundation and served as honorary chair.

To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there. – Barbara Bush

My thoughts and prayers are with the Bush family for the passing of their loved one, Barbara. There will be a huge void there in their lives for sure.

Believe in something larger than yourself… get involved in the big ideas of your time.