Preface

There has been some dispute from certain quarters of this board about whether Barbara Pierce Bush contributed anything of significance or importance to the country through her life and works. Even a cursory examination of the record demonstrates that such an assertion simply does not square with historical reality.

How, then, has Barbara Bush demonstrated her stature and significance as a gritty, graceful and guiding light in the personal and political annals of the United States of America? Regardless what one’s own partisan affiliations may be, the evidence on that score is clear and undeniable. Let us count the ways:

She was a strong and tireless advocate of youth literacy—a focused, personal and committed cause of hers that has taken form of reading programs for youth and their families across the nation.

In the summer of 1943, during WWII, she worked in a nuts-and-bolts factory.

She was the mother of a future president and the wife of another.

Among the thousand-plus people who attended her funeral service were four former US presidents.
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And that’s just for starters. Here’s an overview of her remarkable life’s milestones:

“Barbara Bush was the wife of the 41st President of the United States, George H. W. Bush, and the mother of the 43rd President, George W. Bush. She served as the First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993, and was the Second Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. She is one of the only two women to be both a wife and a mother to a president of the United States, the other one being Abigail Adams. . . .

“. . . [S]he grew up to be an athletic and smart young girl with a keen interest in reading. She met her future husband, George Herbert Walker Bu She fully supported her husband’s career when he eventually moved into politics and became involved in advancing social causes like universal literacy.

“While serving as the First Lady she founded the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy and continued promoting this cause even after leaving the White House. Along with her involvement in the foundation, she also served on the Boards of AmeriCares and the Mayo Clinic. . . .

“. . . She was a very loyal wife and a dedicated mother to her children.

“Along with his business interests, George ventured into politics as well. Once again Barbara supported him wholeheartedly. He ran for the U.S. Senator from Texas in 1964 and even though he lost, this campaign helped him gain national recognition.
George Bush was elected as a U.S. Representative in Congress from Texas two years later in 1966, marking the beginning of a successful political career. Bush rose through the political ranks over the ensuing years and Barbara supported him in every way she could.

“As a politician’s wife, she became involved in various charities and Republican women's' groups in Washington, D.C. Following her husband’s appointment as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, she became acquainted with prominent diplomats and developed friendships with them.

“In 1981, George Bush became the Vice President under the administration of President Ronald Reagan and Barbara Bush became the Second Lady. In this position, she began working with several literacy organizations and soon became a popular household name. She also became a confident public speaker and endeared herself to the masses with her witty sense of humor and approachability.

“Vice President Bush announced his candidacy for president to succeed Ronald Reagan in 1988. Barbara played an active role in her husband’s campaigns and herself addressed the national party convention. George Bush was elected as the president and assumed the office on January 20, 1989, thus elevating Barbara Bush to the position of the nation’s First Lady.

“As the First Lady, Barbara Bush intensified her involvement with literary organizations and served on many literary committees. She supported programs where parents were encouraged to read along with their young children, and stressed the importance of reading aloud to children. Eventually, she helped develop the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.

“She became involved with the White House Historical Association and worked to revitalize the White House Preservation Fund, which she renamed the White House Endowment Trust. She successfully raised $25 million for the trust which raises funds for the refurbishment and restoration of the White House. She was well loved by the public as she came along as a simple lady who was deeply devoted to her family and nation.

“Barbara Bush was very actively involved with charities and when she received the Henry G. Freeman Jr. Pin Money Fund of $36,000, she gave most of it to her favorite charities.

“Her husband stepped down as the president on January 20, 1993, succeeded by Bill Clinton, and the couple left the White House. Barbara Bush continued her work with the literary organizations now that she was free of her responsibilities as the First Lady.

“Barbara Bush was involved with literacy organizations. As the First Lady, she helped develop the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy which was formed with the aim of encouraging low-income parents to read along with their children. Some of the funding came from the proceeds of a book she wrote about the Bush family dog, Millie.

“Awards and Achievements

“Barbara Bush received the ‘Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged’, from the Jefferson Awards, in 1995.

“She was honored with ‘The Miss America Woman of Achievement Award’ for her work with literacy programs, in 1997.

“Personal Life & Legacy

“She met George Herbert Walker Bush when she was just 16 years old. They started dating and got married a few years later on January 6, 1945. They had six children, including daughter Robin who died of leukemia at the age of four, and son George Bush who became the 43rd President of the United States.

“The death of her daughter at such a young age devastated Barbara and inspired her to care more for the underprivileged. This is one of the reasons the former First Lady was so dedicated towards social causes.

“She died at her home in Houston, Texas on April 17, 2018, at the age of 92. She was suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and congestive heart failure.

“Several schools have been named in her honor. The Barbara Bush Library in Harris County, Texas, and the Barbara Bush Children's Hospital at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine, are also named after her.”

(“Barbara Bush Biography,” by editors at thefamouspeople.com, April 18, 2018)
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But, wait, here are more details:

“Former First Lady Barbara Bush, who died Tuesday, was known for many things. Most notably, her status as the wife of one president and the mother of another. She was also beloved for her quick wit and dry sense of humor, as well as her longtime advocacy for improving literacy around the world.

“These facts, of course, only make up a bit of who Bush was and what made up her 92 years. Read on to learn a few more lesser-known facts about the legendary first lady:

-“The Bushes faced tragedy early on in their marriage
In 1953, George and Barbara’s second child, daughter Robin, died of leukemia at just three years old.

“The loss affected both Bushes deeply, and Barbara had said it made them more compassionate people: ‘Because of Robin, George and I love every living human more.’ Robin remained a strong and positive presence in her mother’s life through the years. ‘Robin to me is a joy. She’s like an angel to me, and she’s not a sadness or a sorrow,’ the former First Lady said in 2012.


-“She showed her then-teenage son George W. Bush a fetus in a jar following a miscarriage.

“In George W. Bush’s book, ‘Decision Points,’ he recalled a moment after his mother had a miscarriage. He said that she put the fetal remains in a jar, and showed them to her son as he drove her to the hospital. ‘She says to her teenage kid, ‘Here’s a fetus,’ George W. later said in an interview about the incident. ‘There’s no question that it affected me.’ Barbara later confirmed a version of the story in an interview with Larry King, but noted that someone else named Paula — not identified but possibly a housekeeper — ‘put it in the jar, and I was shocked when she gave it to him.’


-“She thought abortion and sexuality were personal issues, not political ones.

“During the 1992 presidential election, Barbara deviated from her husband’s stance on abortion and gay rights, saying that she believed both were ‘personal.’ She said: ‘The personal things should be left out of, in my opinion, out of platforms and conventions.’


-“Her husband and son aren’t the only presidents she’s related to

“Barbara, whose maiden name is Pierce, was also a distant relative (a fourth cousin, four times removed) of President Franklin Pierce, according to ‘Vanity Fair’ and other outlets.


-“She helped change the way people interacted with AIDS patients

“In addition to being a champion for literacy, the former first lady also championed the cause of AIDS patients. She made history in 1989 when she visited a Washington hospice, and hugged and kissed abandoned infants afflicted with the virus.


-“She’s the second woman in U.S. history to have her husband and son serve as president.

“The first was Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams and mother of John Quincy Adams.


-“Chinese authorities (probably) spied on the family one Thanksgiving.

“At least, that’s what she thought, according to her memoir. She and George were living in Beijing as he served as the head of the U.S. Liaison Office in the country in the ’70s, and had then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and his family over for Thanksgiving dinner as they were in town. During the lunch, Barbara said she could tell that the Chinese authorities were spying on the party.


-“She was a ghostwriter for her dogs, and also wrote a memoir
The two children’s books, ‘C. Fred’s Story’ and ‘Millie’s Book,’ were both told from the perspective of Bush family dogs. Her memoir, the self-titled Barbara Bush, was published in 1994.


-“And a newspaper column.

“When George was first elected to Congress, the Bushes relocated from Houston to Washington, D.C., but Barbara still remained involved with her local community by writing a newspaper column called ‘Washington Scene’ that was published in newspapers throughout the city.


-“She was diagnosed with Graves’ disease In March of 1989, during her husband’s first year as president, Barbara was diagnosed with Graves’ disease, an autoimmune disorder that impacts a person’s thyroid.


-“She met her future husband at just 16 years old
George and Barbara met at a dance when both were still teenagers. She was 16 and attending boarding school in South Carolina, while he was 17 and doing the same in Massachusetts.

“They were engaged after a year and a half, although their wedding was postponed until 1945, after George returned home from World War II.


-“She worked at a factory during World War II.

“While her husband-to-be was away at war, Barbara joined the many women who were getting involved in the workforce during WWII. According to her memoir, she worked at a nuts-and-bolts factory during the summer of 1943.


-“Six schools have been named after her

“Five of them are in Texas, and one is in Arizona. Also in Texas, there is a Barbara Bush Library.”

(“15 Lesser-Known Barbara Bush Facts — Including Her Graphic Miscarriage Moment with Son George W.,” by Diana Pearl, “People” magazine, April 19, 2018)


Finally, a description of one of her most lasting accomplishments:

“The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy is a non-profit organisation, based in Florida, that seeks to improve literacy in the United States through programs directed towards preschool children and parental literacy.

“History

“During Barbara Bush's time as Second Lady, while her husband was Vice President of the United States, she took an interest in literacy issues, prompted by her son Neil's diagnosis with dyslexia. She subsequently began working with several different literacy organizations and spent much time researching and learning about the factors that contributed to illiteracy—she believed homelessness was also connected to illiteracy.k In 1984 she wrote a children's book about her family told from the point of view of her dog C. Fred entitled ‘C. Fred's Story,’ and donated all proceeds to literacy charities. When her husband became President her most public cause was family literacy. She called it ‘the most important issue we have’. Barbara Bush stated her dedication 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, statistics showed that 35 million adults in the United States could not read above the eighth-grade level and that 23 million were not able to read beyond a fourth-grade level. She 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.

“Barbara Bush became involved with literacy organizations, served on literacy committees and chaired reading organizations. Eventually, she helped develop the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. The foundation formed in 1989 with a stated aim of getting low-income parents reading, creating positive examples for their children. The foundation aimed to help young parents pass their high school general educational development tests via literacy programs. It was first announced at a luncheon in March 1989. Barbara Bush was to be the foundation's honorary chairman, and Joan Abrahamson the chairman.

“Some funding came from a book, credited to the Bush’s dog Millie but ghostwritten by Barbara Bush, ‘Millie's Book: As Dictated to Barbara Bush.’ The book reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller nonfiction list. The book earned $1.1 Million of royalties to July 1991. All of the after-tax royalties were donated to the foundation.

“Management and Activities

“Barbara Bush chaired the foundation until 2012. From then her children Jeb Bush and Doro Bush Koch served as co-chairs. Jeb Bush resigned in 2015, leaving Doro Bush Koch as the honorary chairman, though Barbara Bush remains active in the foundation.

“As of 2014, the foundation ran 1500 literacy programs spread across in all US states.[6] The foundation's stated mission is ’to make literacy a core value in every home in America’. It is registered as a public charitable organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

“In 2016, the organization announced a new partnership with ‘Talk With Me Baby,’ a Georgia-based organization that the Foundation helped launch nationwide. The partnership was announced at a White House Summit on Behavioral Science Insights, along with the development of an online toolkit. The Foundation aimed for the toolkit to be used by any care providers, from parents to nurses to teachers, to engage children and work with them in the first three years of their lives to develop language, literacy and social skills.

“In February 2017, the Foundation announced the creation of Voices for Literacy. Four other organizations will join with the Foundation with a commitment to improve the lives of both children and adults through literacy. The other organizations have varied backgrounds and areas of expertise, allowing Voices for Literacy to reach and connect with many different groups. The other organizations are: the Coalition on Adult Basic Education, Digital Promise, Pi Beta Phi, and Reading is Fundamental. The groups began their efforts with the ‘Leave Your Mark for Literacy’ campaign, which involved an interactive online map tool.”

(“Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy,“ at Wikipedia)

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Barbara Bush was indeed a notable individual, with significant and life-long commitments and achievements that are well-known and easily accessible to those interested enough read up on them. Yes, read. That is what she would want people to do. (And, no, I am not a Republican).



Edited 16 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/2018 04:26PM by steve benson.