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Barbara Bush

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Barbara Bush
Barbara Bush

Barbara Pierce Bush (born June 8, 1925) is the wife of President George H. W. Bush and was First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993. She is the mother of current U.S. President George W. Bush and Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and the sister of Scott Pierce, who was the president of E. F. Hutton & Co.. Barbara Pierce was born to Pauline and Marvin Pierce.

Ancestry

Her ancestor, an early New England colonist named Thomas Pierce, was also the ancestor to Franklin Pierce, the 14th President of the United States.

Early life

Her father was a successful businessman who later became president of McCall Corporation. She grew up in the suburban town of Rye, New York, near New York City and went to boarding school at Ashley Hall in Charleston, South Carolina.

Meets George H.W. Bush

It was at a dance during Christmas vacation when she was 16 that she met George H. W. Bush, a senior at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. One and a half years later, the two became engaged, just before George went off to war during World War II as a Navy torpedo bomber pilot.

When he returned on leave, Barbara had dropped out of Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. Two weeks later, on January 6, 1945, they married.

The young George and Barbara Bush and their children
The young George and Barbara Bush and their children

Children

After the war, George graduated from Yale University, and they moved to Midland, Texas. Six children were born to them: George; Pauline Robinson "Robin" (December 20, 1949 - October 11, 1953, died of leukemia); Jeb; Neil; Marvin, and Dorothy Walker (born August 18, 1959). Meanwhile, George built a business in the oil industry.

Moves

Barbara's family moved twenty-nine times during the years that she and George H. W. Bush were married. She managed her family while her husband was away, as her husband obtained a menangerie of government jobs.

Retirement

Today Barbara Bush lives with her husband in Houston, Texas. The Bushes also have family summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine. They are frequent honored guests at the White House.

Barbara Bush serves on the Boards of AmeriCares and the Mayo Clinic, and heads her Barbara Bush Foundation.

Public appeal

Barbara Bush and her dog, Millie, are interviewed in the Green Room by Paula Zahn for CBS This Morning October 30, 1992: File:Barbara bush interview.jpg

Author

Barbara Bush has written two best-selling books, Millie's Book, 1990, and an autobiography, Barbara Bush: A Memoir, 1994.

Honors

Two primary schools in Texas, an Houston Independent School District school in Houston, and a school in a Dallas, Texas suburb, Grand Prairie, Texas, are named after her.

Barbara Bush is at far right , as the Bush family watches tee ball on the White House lawn in 2001.


Preceded by:
Nancy Reagan
First Ladies of the United States Succeeded by:
Hillary Clinton

Reference


Barbara Pierce Bush (born November 25, 1981) is the daughter of President George W. Bush and twin sister of Jenna Bush. She is named after her grandmother, discussed above. (See Barbara and Jenna Bush)