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Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Former US first lady Barbara Bush dies at 92 lady Barbara Bush dead at 92 Tuesday April 17,2018


Former U.S. first lady Barbara Bush, the only woman to see her husband and son sworn in as U.S. president, died on Tuesday April 17,2018, the Bush family said.

She was 92.

Bush was the wife of the 41st president, George H.W. Bush, and mother of the 43rd, George W. Bush.

Barbara Bush and George H W Bush pictured together in the residence they shared when he was Vice President in 1983



The Bush family had announced in a statement on April 15 that she was in failing health, had decided not to seek further medical treatment and instead would focus on "comfort care."

Barbara Bush was dubbed "The Silver Fox" by her husband and children. She was known for her snow-white hair and for being fiercely protective of her family.

She was first lady when her husband was in the White House from 1989 to 1993.

Her son, Republican George Walker Bush, triumphed in the disputed 2000 U.S. election and was president from 2001 to 2009.

The father-and-son presidents were sometimes referred to as "Bush 41" and "Bush 43."

The Bushes had celebrated their 73rd wedding anniversary in January 2018.

Bush had an independent streak and could be sharp-tongued. As first lady, she promoted literacy and reading but said she was more interested in running a household than in helping her husband run the country.

She discouraged speculation that she wielded political influence with the president like her predecessors - Ronald Reagan`s wife, Nancy Reagan, and Jimmy Carter`s wife, Rosalynn Carter.

"I don`t fool around with his office and he doesn`t fool around with my household," she once said.

"She`ll speak her mind but only to him," said Jack Steel, a longtime Bush aide.

The only other woman to be both wife and mother of U.S. presidents was Abigail Adams, the first lady from 1797 to 1801. She was a major influence on husband John Adams, the nation`s second president, but died before son John Quincy Adams was elected president in 1824.

Another of Bush`s sons, Jeb, who served as governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007, sought the 2016 Republican presidential nomination and she campaigned for him before he dropped out of the race.

The Bushes had six children. A daughter, Robin, died of leukemia in 1953 at age 3. Barbara Bush`s hair began to turn prematurely white after the shock of the girl`s death. In addition to George W. and Jeb, the other Bush children were sons Neil and Marvin and daughter Dorothy.

The Bushes married on Jan. 6, 1945, and Barbara set up households in numerous cities as her husband moved from being a Texas oilman to being a member of Congress, Republican Party leader, U.S. envoy to China and the United Nations and head of the CIA.


George W. Bush made no secret that when he was growing up, it was his mother he had to answer to when he got into trouble

A year younger than her husband, she was born Barbara Pierce on June 8, 1925, and grew up in Rye, New York. Her father was Marvin Pierce, publisher of McCall`s magazine.

She was home from boarding school in 1941 when she met her future husband at a Christmas party in Connecticut.

She dropped out of prestigious Smith College to marry Bush, then a young naval aviator home on leave from World War Two.

George Bush said marrying Barbara, whom he called "Bar," was "the thing I did right." But the marriage nearly did not take place.

 While they were engaged, his bomber was shot down by the Japanese in the Pacific in 1944. He bailed out and was rescued in the ocean by a submarine crew but his crew mates died

After leaving the White House, she found time to write her memoirs. In 1990, she authored "Millie`s Book," a humorous look at the adventures of the family`s English springer spaniel in the White House.



The Bushes mark their 60th wedding anniversary on January 6, 2005, with a family photo in the White House. Pictured on the front row (left to right): Marvin Bush, Laura Bush, George W. Bush, Barbara Bush, George H. W. Bush, Jeb Bush. Also pictured, from left: Georgia Grace Koch, Margaret Bush, Brian Berzins Walker Bush, Jenna Bush Hager, Doro Bush, Barbara Pierce Bush, Robert P. Koch, Pierce Bush, Maria Bush, Neil Bush, Ashley Bush, Sam LeBlond, Robert Koch, Nancy Ellis LeBlond, John 'Jebby' Bush, Amanda Bush, George P. Bush, and Columba Bush




In one of their last public appearances, the Bushes attended the 2017 Super Bowl in Houston with George performing the ceremonial pre-game coin flip. Only a few days before the couple had been released from a hospital where George had been treated for pneumonia and Barbara for bronchitis.


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