Barbara Bush

Barbara Pierce Bush (born June 8, 1925) as the wife of President George H. W. Bush was First Lady of the United States. She is the mother of President George W. Bush and Governor Jeb Bush, and the sister of Scott Pierce, who was the president of E. F. Hutton & Co. when it engaged in criminal activity in the 1980s. Her ancestor, an early New England colonist named Thomas Pierce, was also the ancestor to President Franklin Pierce.

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 and went to boarding school at Ashley Hall in South Carolina.

It was at a dance during Christmas vacation when she was only 16 that she met George H. W. Bush, a senior at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. They became engaged a year and a half later, just before he went off to war as a Navy torpedo bomber pilot. By the time George returned on leave, Barbara had dropped out of Smith College. Two weeks later, on January 6, 1945, they were married.

After the war, George graduated from Yale University, and they moved toTexas. Six children were born to them: George, Robin (died of leukemia in childhood), Jeb, Neil, Marvin, and Dorothy. Meanwhile, George built a business in the oil industry.

Today Barbara Bush lives with her husband in Houston, Texas. The Bushes also have family summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine. She serves on the Boards of AmeriCares and the Mayo Clinic, and heads her Barbara Bush Foundation.

Reference

• White House biography

Barbara Pierce Bush (born November 25, 1981) is the daughter of President George W. Bush and twin sister of Jenna Bush. She is named after her grandmother, discussed above. (See Barbara and Jenna Bush)

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