Bush, Barbara, 1925-2018

Barbara Bush (1925-) was First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1992. She was born Barbara Pierce on June 8, 1925, to Marvin Pierce (a president of McCall publishing company) and Pauline (Robinson) Pierce. She attended Smith College. She grew up in Rye, New York, where she met and later married George Herbert Walker Bush on January 6, 1945. The Bushes' first daughter, Robin, died in 1953 after fighting Leukemia, but today the family includes four sons (George W., Jeb, Marvin and Neil); one daughter (Dorothy); four daughters-in-law; one son-in-law; and 14 grandchildren. Throughout her years in public life, she volunteered in and supported hundreds of charity and humanitarian causes. During her time as first lady, she focused on literacy, visiting literacy programs around the United States and founding the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy in 1989.