Barbara Bush dies
Former US first lady, 92, lived in Beijing in the 1970s
Barbara Bush, the snowyhaired first lady and mother of a president whose plainspoken manner and utter lack of pretense made her more popular at times than her husband, president George H.W. Bush, died on Tuesday, a family spokesman said. She was 92.
Mrs Bush brought a grandmotherly style to buttondown Washington, often appearing in her trademark fake pearl chokers and displaying no vanity about her white hair and wrinkles.
“What you see with me is what you get. I’m not running for president, George Bush is,” she said at the 1988 Republican National Convention, where her husband, then vicepresident, was nominated to succeed Ronald Reagan.
Barbara had accompanied George H.W. Bush to China to head the US liaison office in Beijing in 1974, before the two countries established diplomatic relations.
The Bushes, who were married on Jan 6, 1945, had the longest marriage of any presidential couple in US history. And Mrs Bush was one of only two first ladies who had a child who was elected president. The other was Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams and mother of John Quincy Adams.
“I had the best job in America,” she wrote in her 1994 autobiography, Barbara Bush: A Memoir, describing her time in the White House. “Every single day was interesting, rewarding, and sometimes just plain fun.”
On Sunday, family spokesman Jim McGrath said the former first lady had decided to decline further medical treatment for health problems and focus instead on “comfort care” at home in Houston. She had been in the hospital recently for congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In 2009, she had heart valve replacement surgery, and she had a long history of treatment for Graves’ disease, a thyroid condition.
“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,” former president George W. Bush said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Barbara Bush was a fabulous first lady and a woman unlike any other who brought levity, love, and literacy to millions. To us, she was so much more. Mom kept us on our toes and kept us laughing until the end. 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.”
George H.W. Bush held his wife’s hand all day on Tuesday and was at her side when she died, according to Jean Becker, chief of staff at George H.W. Bush’s office in Houston.
A funeral was planned on Saturday at St Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston, which Mrs Bush and her husband regularly attended. Mrs Bush will lie in repose on Friday at the church for members of the public who want to pay respects. Saturday’s service will be by invitation only, according to the George Bush Presidential Library Foundation.
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.” George W. Bush, former US president
AP and Xinhua contributed to this story.