Profile of the Day: Barbara Bush

Barbara Bush

Today we remember former First Lady of the United States Barbara Bush, who passed away yesterday at the age of 92. The matriarch of the Bush family, Barbara was known for her frank and outspoken manner. As First Lady, she worked tirelessly to advance the cause of literacy and founded the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.

Barbara Pierce was born on June 8, 1925 in Rye, New York to Pauline Robinson and Marvin Pierce. She first met George H.W. Bush at the age of 16 during a Christmas dance at the Round Hill Country Club in Greenwich, Connecticut. After 18 months, they became engaged and married in 1945. Just this January, the couple had celebrated their 73rd wedding anniversary.

During her husband’s presidency, Barbara took on the cause of family literacy. She worked with many literacy organizations and eventually founded the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, which seeks to improve literacy in the United States with programs where parents and children could learn together.

When her son, George W. Bush was sworn in as the 43rd President of the United States, she became the second woman to be the wife of one president and the mother to another. The first was Abigail Adams, who was married to John Adams (the 2nd President of the United States) and the mother of John Quincy Adams (the 6th President of the United States).

During the last years of her life, she battled several health problems. She passed on April 17, 2018 at her home in Houston, Texas.
 

View Barbara Bush’s Geni Profile

 
Image: Wikimedia Commons