Biography
Born June 8, 1925, Barbara Pierce Bush held the distinction of being the only woman besides Abigail Adams to be both the wife and mother of a United States president. Her father Marvin was a distant descendant of former President Franklin Pierce and her mother Pauline was the daughter of an Ohio Supreme Court justice. After starting her schooling in Rye, N.Y., Barbara went off to Charleston, S.C. to attend the Ashley Hall boarding school. In 1941, while she was home on Christmas break, 16-year-old Barbara met her future husband, 17-year-old George H.W. Bush, at a dance. They continued to write each other as he finished high school in Massachusetts, then became the Navy's youngest combat pilot in World War II. She dropped out of Smith College following her freshman year in 1944. After George had a brush with death during the war, the couple got married in January 1945. They moved to New Haven, Conn., where George enrolled at Yale University, after the war ended and Barbara gave birth to the couple's first child, George W. Bush, on July 6, 1946. The Bushes' second child, Pauline Robinson "Robin" Bush, was born on Dec. 20, 1949, just three months after Barbara's mother died in a car accident. John Ellis "Jeb" Bush, the couple's third child, was born on Feb. 11, 1953, and Robin died of leukemia eight months later. The couple had three more children - Neil, Marvin and Dorothy - between 1955 and 1959 before the family settled in Midland, Texas. Barbara supported her husband's budding political career by participating in his campaign, as he was elected to Congress for the first time in 1966, a year before the Bushes moved to Washington, D.C. When George took a political post in China in 1974, Barbara followed him there and immersed herself in the culture. They moved back to D.C. in 1975 when George became director of the CIA. During his time at the agency, while their children were away at school, Barbara fell into a depression, keeping the condition to herself and not seeking treatment -- an experience that gave Barbara a better understanding of mental health issues. As George continued his rise through the political ranks, he entered the White House as Ronald Reagan's vice president in 1981. That gave Barbara a chance to represent the country abroad and gave her a platform to support literacy, a cause that was close to her because of Neil's dyslexia. After her husband beat Michael Dukakis in the 1988 presidential election, Barbara became first lady when George was sworn into office in January 1989. While living in the White House, she was diagnosed with Graves' disease and underwent treatment to lessen its effects. During George's presidency, Barbara started the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy and raised nearly $1 million for literacy programs by writing "Millie's Book" about the family's dog. After George lost to Bill Clinton in the 1992 election the Bushes moved back to Texas, but Barbara remained committed to supporting literacy projects and served as an ambassador-at-large for AmeriCares. After a lengthy period of ill health, a spokesperson for Barbara Bush announced in April 2018 that the 92-year-old former first lady was foregoing further medical treatment. Barbara Bush died in Houston on April 17, 2018.
