This article concerns the wife of the 41st U.S. President, George H.W. Bush. For the daughter of George W. Bush, see Barbara and Jenna Bush.

Barbara Pierce Bush (born June 8, 1925) is the wife of the 41st President of the United States, 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.

Early life

Barbara Pierce was born to Pauline and Marvin Pierce, 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.

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

Marriage and family

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.

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 (August 18, 1959 - ). Meanwhile, George built a business in the oil industry.

Career

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.

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 is interviewed by Paula Zahn in 1992.

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

Bush has written two books, Millie's Book , 1990, and an autobiography, , 1994.

Two primary schools in Texas, an Houston Independent School District school in Houston, and a school in a Dallas suburb, Grand Prairie, are named after her. Also named after her is one of George W. Bush's twin daughters.

Reference

• White House biography