She was a former second lady and a first lady; she was also a former first mother if you can call it that. Barbara Bush, the fierce campaigner of family literacy, passed away yesterday Tuesday 17 April 2018 from ill health. She was 92.
The former first lady celebrated her 73rd wedding anniversary with husband and former President George HW Bush making them the longest married couple in presidential history. Mrs. Bush had been suffering ill health for some time and was in the hospital. Her family and she decided last Sunday not to seek additional medical treatment. She was brought home to be cared for by the family.
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No statement was issued what Mrs. Bush died from, but in 2013, she had been hospitalized for pneumonia and had been suffering heart problems since undergoing heart surgery in April 2014.
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Mrs. Bush leaves behind Husband and former President George HW Bush who himself is 93 and the longest living US President in the history of the country. He is also the second father-son duo who have both served as presidents since John and John Quincy Adams.
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Her sons are George Bush JR and Jeb Bush so also served as Governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. George Bush Jr issued a statement saying "My dear mother has passed on at age 92. Laura, Barbara, Jenna, and I are sad, but our souls are settled because we know hers was. Barbara Bush was a fabulous First Lady and a woman unlike any other who brought levity, love, and literacy to millions. I’m a lucky man that Barbara Bush was my mother. Our family will miss her dearly, and we thank you all for your prayers and good wishes."
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What many may not know is the fact that Barbara Bush suffered the ultimate tragedy of a mother when she and George Bush were just a young couple living in Midland, Texas. They had a three-year-old daughter Pauline Robinson Bush whom they called Robin.
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She was the only girl child of the Bush family and was healthy and as rowdy as her brothers. The entire family doted on her. Tragedy struck one day when she complained of being tired.
When Barbara took her to the paediatrician, she was given the rudest shock of her life when the doctor mentioned a word that the Bush couple had never heard before. The child was suffering from leukemia and this is what the couple said the doctor told them “Her advice was to tell no one, go home, forget that Robin was sick, make her as comfortable as we could, love her - and let her gently slip away," Bush wrote in her 1994 memoir. "She said this would happen very quickly."
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In October 1953, Robin died after losing the battle to blood cancer in spite of bone marrow transplants. Her parents were in the room with her when she breathed her last “For one last time I combed her hair and held our precious little girl," was what Barbara told her biographer after 64 years although the tears were still fresh as if the incident happened recently.
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Barbara Bush was a strong advocator of family literacy and civil rights even going against her husband’s Republican supporters with her liberal view and abortion rights.
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Barack and Michelle Obama described Mrs. Bush as "the rock of a family dedicated to public service" and as "an example of the humility and decency that reflects the very best of the American spirit". President Trump said “Mrs Bush would be long remembered for her devotion to country and family, "both of which she served unfailingly well".
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Barbara Bush was known fondly as the silver fox because of her snow-white hair. Although she was accused many times for influencing her husband’s policies, she dismissed all of them saying that "I don't fool around with his office and he doesn't fool around with my household."
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Barbara Bush was also outspoken on her view on civil rights and gender equality. She had even sparked off a huge debate in 1990 when she addressed the all-women Wellesley College when she told graduates “Who knows, somewhere out in this audience may even be someone who will one day follow in my footsteps and preside over the White House as the president's spouse and I wish him well."
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Barbara Bush was born Barbara Pierce and the daughter of Marvin Pierce, the publisher of Mcall’s magazine. She grew up in Rye New York and met George HW Bush in 1941 when she attended a Christmas party in Connecticut. In January this year, the couple celebrated their 73rd wedding anniversary. The couple went on to have six children George and Jeb, Neil, Marvin, Dorothy and Robin who died at the age of 3 from leukaemia.
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Mrs Bush has earned the distinction of being one of two women whose husband and son became the president of the USA. She is the only one to see both sworn in as president.
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Barbara Bush will lie in repose at St Martin’s Church in Houston where the public will be allowed to come and pay their respects between 12 pm and midnight on Friday, April 20. Her funeral will be held on Saturday the 21st and will only be open to invited guests.
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Barbara Bush is an advocator of family rights and literacy will leave behind a legacy which she believed was her best contribution to society. In her own words "No, I'm the mother of wonderful children. And the wife of the world's greatest man," She spoke these words in an interview with CBS in 2016. RIP Barbara Bush.
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