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Editor:
I read the comments section for the RT report on Barbara Bush’s death, and the tone of much of it repulsed me. You don’t mock a family at a time of death… that’s what my people taught me. I’ll confide that most of us received the same upbringing. Yes… I stand on the other side of the political barricades from the Bushes. There’s no doubt on that, for I’m a loud n’ proud leftist. I also like to think that I’m a decent human being. You don’t dance on anyone’s grave nor mock anyone giving condolences to a grieving family. I bow before the stark reality of death, which comes for all of us. I’m not a Rod Dreher, who mocked Patriarch Kirill for sending condolences to the Castro family on the death of Fidel Castro (His Holiness’ personal friend, I might add). I bow before the Bushes and give them my sincere condolences. I do NOT agree with their politics, but there are things that transcend politics, and if we don’t know that, we’re very poor and wretched human beings, indeed.
Вечная ей память
BMD
The wife of former President George H W Bush and mother of former President George W Bush, Barbara Pierce Bush, passed away at the age of 92. Bush served as both First Lady and Second Lady of the United States and was the mother of 2016 presidential candidate and 43rd Governor of Florida Jeb Bush. During her time as First Lady, she founded the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, a nonprofit that began a number of educational programs across the country. For her work improving literacy, she received The Miss America Woman of Achievement Award in 1997. She also received the Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged in 1995. Bush said of her efforts to promote literacy:
It’s the most important issue we have.
She took an interest in the cause after her son Neil was diagnosed with dyslexia, and made frequent appearances on television and radio encouraging parents to read aloud to their children. In 1984, she wrote a children’s book called C. Fred’s Story. The book detailed the life of the Bushes from the perspective of the family dog. A second collection, Millie’s Book, also included stories about her beloved dogs. She donated all proceeds to literacy charities. In her later years, her children, Jeb Bush and Dorothy Bush Koch, ran the foundation while she remained an honorary chairman.
As First Lady, Bush was uncomfortable with the luxurious lifestyle that sometimes accompanies the presidency. She preferred a small car to a limousine and tried to journey by train or commercial airline whenever she travelled, much to the chagrin of the Secret Service. She was also famously disinterested in high fashion, preferring subtler tastes to designer clothes. Many began to emulate the “Barbara Blue” look, a simple dress with her signature three-strand pearls. A private woman, Bush also argued that the Republican Party should leave personal matters like abortion and homosexuality out of its platform. She once said, according to the Daily Telegraph:
I hate abortions, but I just couldn’t make that choice for someone else.
She also expressed her support for the Equal Rights Amendment, meant to improve gender equality, even though doing so nearly derailed her husband’s chances of becoming Ronald Reagan’s Vice-President in 1980. In 1988, she became the second future First Lady to speak at a national party convention, the first being Eleanor Roosevelt. While she generally stayed out of the limelight during her husband’s presidential campaign, those familiar with the campaign say she played an active role in developing strategy.
During a visit to a paediatric AIDS care centre, Bush also helped dispel myths about how people contract the disease. She was photographed holding a baby infected with the virus, at a time when many incorrectly believed that one could catch AIDS through physical contact. Time magazine credited Barbara Bush with influencing her husband’s decision to increase research funding for the disease. In 1990, she gave a commencement address at Wellesley College alongside R M Gorbachyova, wife of Soviet leader M S Gorbachyov. Confronting criticism from female students that she was too singularly defined by her husband’s actions, Bush gave a stirring speech that is now ranked as one of American Rhetoric’s Top 100 Speeches of the 20th Century. She ended the speech with:
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.
She also became active with the White House Historical Association and helped raise 25 million USD (1.54 billion Roubles. 157.2 million Renminbi. 1.64 billion INR. 31.4 million CAD. 32.2 million AUD. 20.2 million Euros. 17.5 million UK Pounds) to refurbish and restore the presidential residence.
Early Life
Born in New York City in 1925, Barbara Bush was the daughter of Pauline and Marvin Pierce. Her father was the president of McCall Corporation, a publishing company behind major American magazines like Redbook, Popular Mechanics, and the Saturday Review. She was also a distant relative of Franklin Pierce, the 14th President of the United States. With her three siblings Martha, James, and Scott, Barbara grew up in the New York City suburb of Rye NY. Enjoying bike riding, tennis, and swimming, she attended boarding school in South Carolina as a teenager. At the age of 16, she met her future husband during a dance at Phillips Academy in Massachusetts. They dated for a year and a half, becoming engaged just before George H W went off to serve as a US Navy bomber pilot in World War II. During the war, he named three planes after his fiancée… Barbara, Barbara II, and Barbara III. When he returned in 1945, the two married in Barbara’s hometown.
Together, they had six children:
- George W
- Pauline Robinson
- Jeb
- Neil Mallon
- Marvin Pierce
- Dorothy
Pauline died of leukaemia at the age of four, a tragedy that greatly affected Barbara Bush. She was the grandmother of 17, and great-grandmother of seven. Frequently on the move, Barbara raised the children while her husband travelled on business. Throughout their marriage, they’d move 29 times, though they spent significant time in Texas, where her husband lost a race for the US Senate but later won a seat in the US House of Representatives. It was during her husband’s time as a Texas representative that Barbara first became involved in a number of charity organizations and formed relationships with a number of high-profile diplomats. George H W served as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency in 1976, and the severe secrecy of the job left Barbara feeling isolated. US News and World Report quoted her as saying:
I’d feel like crying a lot and I really painfully hurt.
To overcome her depression, she began volunteer work at a local hospice. She also delivered a number of speeches about the years the Bushes spent in China when George worked for the US Liaison Office. Barbara became Second Lady of the United States in 1980 after George H W became Vice-President under Ronald Reagan. It was during this time that she began to develop her interest in literacy issues. Barbara became First Lady after George H W defeated Democratic rival Michael Dukakis in 1988. Within 100 days of stepping foot inside the White House, Barbara had higher approval ratings than her husband and the Vice-President.
Life After the White House
George H W lost re-election to Bill Clinton in 1992, and the Bush family moved to Houston, Texas in 1993. Barbara continued her work in public service, volunteering with a number of charitable organizations. She became AmeriCares ambassador-at-large, joined the board of the Mayo Clinic Foundation, and supported the Leukemia Society of America, the Ronald McDonald House, and Boys & Girls Club of America. She also helped plan her husband’s presidential library, dedicated in College Station TX in 1997. Bush expressed great pride in her son, George W Bush, who followed in his father’s footsteps to become the 43rd President of the United States after the 2000 election. During his victory speech, George W thanked both of his parents:
Dad, I’m proud to be your son. I’m proud of my mother, who gave me love and lots of advice. I gave her white hair.
Barbara Bush became the second woman in American history to be both the wife and mother of presidents, following Abigail Adams. Several elementary and middle schools across Texas are named after the former first lady. The Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital in Portland ME is also named for her. She was the author of two autobiographies, Barbara Bush: A Memoir, and Reflections. The Office of George H W Bush stated:
Bush is survived by her husband of 73 years, President George H W Bush, five children and their spouses, 17 grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and her brother, Scott Pierce.
According to a spokesman, Bush, in failing health, recently decided to forego further medical treatment,. Bush suffered from chronic pulmonary disease, which made breathing difficult, but she was alert and lively up until the night before she passed away.
18 April 2018
Sputnik International
https://sputniknews.com/us/201804181063667477-bush-former-first-lady-us/
Voices from Russia 
12 November 2016. The End of the Bush/Clinton Duopoly
Tags: 2016 US Presidential election, Bush, Donald Trump, Election, elections, George H W Bush, George Herbert Walker Bush, George W Bush, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Iran, Jeb Bush, neocon, neoconservatism, oligarchs, political commentary, politics, United States, US elections, USA
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Trump won because “more of the same” wouldn’t wash in Peoria. Full stop. The Clintons are dead politically. Chelsea Clinton will be a glitzy party animal in the usual NY Metro circles, nothing more. She might win a safe Dem congressional seat… that’s all. On the other hand, the Bushes have the financial and social creds to soldier on (they’re not parvenus like the Clintons… the Real Rich locked them out of Tarrytown). However, watch the Bushes “trim their sails”… they didn’t survive backing Hitler in the 30s for nothing. They’re survivors… like the Gardiners (a prominent NY family).
Nevertheless, the Bush/Clinton domination of American politics since 1988 is over. Obama was simply Hilly’s frontman… his foreign policy and domestic policy was hers, right down to the last jot n’ tittle. He did nothing to aid ordinary people in his administration… but he did wage war at Hilly’s instigation. Don’t forget that Vickie Nuland was Hilly’s protégé, and Obama obediently rolled over and played dead for every aggression that the Clintons and Bushes wanted. The American people voted out these two Mafia families. The Bushes have more savoir faire, but that’s because they’re Old Money. The Clintons are more open in their powerlust (do look at their associates such as Carville… I need say no more). Both Bushes and Clintons “triangulated”… both spat on their parties’ bases. Well… the American people spoke this year.
“No more Clintons”… “No more Bushes”… the Clintons will become tabloid nonentities (but they’ll always be in the news like the equally powerless Kardashians) and the Bushes will return to being one of the Old Money Set (trust me, they’re Social Register, and that’ll NEVER change). However, both are out of real politics. The people have seen through them…
BMD