99 Facts About Laura Bush

Laura Lane Bush is an American teacher and librarian who was the first lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009 as the wife of President George W Bush.

Laura Bush campaigned with her husband during his unsuccessful 1978 run for the United States Congress, and later for his successful Texas gubernatorial campaign.

Laura Bush became First Lady after her husband was inaugurated as president on January 20,2001.

Laura Bush continued to advance her trademark interests of education and literacy by establishing the annual National Book Festival in 2001, and encouraged education on a worldwide scale.

Laura Bush Lane Welch was born on November 4,1946, at Midland Memorial Hospital in Midland, Texas, the only child of Harold Welch and Jenna Louise Welch.

Laura Bush's father was a house builder and later successful real estate developer, while her mother worked as the bookkeeper for her father's business.

Laura Bush attended James Bowie Elementary School, San Jacinto Junior High School, and Robert E Lee High School in Midland.

Laura Bush graduated from Lee in 1964 and went on to attend Southern Methodist University in Dallas where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta.

Laura Bush graduated in 1968 with a Bachelor of Science degree in education.

Laura Bush then taught for three years at John F Kennedy Elementary School, a Houston Independent School District school in Houston, until 1972.

In 1973, Laura Bush attained a Master of Science degree in Library Science from the University of Texas at Austin.

Laura Bush was employed as a librarian at the Kashmere Gardens Branch at the Houston Public Library.

Laura Bush met George W Bush in July 1977 when mutual friends Joe and Jan O'Neill invited her and Bush to a backyard barbecue at their home.

Laura Bush bought a tan, two-toned dress off the rack for the wedding.

Laura Bush credited her father-in-law's election to the vice presidency with giving her and her husband national exposure.

On November 25,1981, Laura Bush gave birth to fraternal twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna.

The twins were born five weeks early by an emergency Caesarean section in Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, as Laura Bush had developed life-threatening pre-eclampsia.

George W Bush credited his wife with his decision to stop drinking in 1986.

Laura Bush reflected that she thought her husband "was drinking too much" amid her knowing it was not his desired way of living.

Laura Bush is credited with having a stabilizing effect on his private life.

Laura Bush became the First Lady of Texas when her husband was elected as the Governor of Texas and served as first lady of that state from January 17,1995, to December 21,2000.

Laura Bush implemented four major initiatives: Take Time For Kids, an awareness campaign to educate parents and caregivers on parenting; family literacy, through cooperation with the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, she urged Texas communities to establish family literacy programs; Reach Out and Read, a pediatric reading program; and Ready to Read, an early childhood educational program.

Laura Bush raised money for public libraries through her establishment of the Texas Book Festival, in 1995.

Laura Bush established the First Lady's Family Literacy Initiative, which encouraged families to read together.

Laura Bush further established "Rainbow Rooms" across the state, in an effort to provide emergency services for neglected or abused children.

Laura Bush used her position to advocate Alzheimer's disease and breast cancer awareness as well.

Laura Bush's husband announced his campaign for President of the United States in mid-1999, something that she agreed to.

Laura Bush did say that she had never dreamed that he would run for office.

The Laura Bush campaign worked to assure voters that as First Lady, she would not seek to emulate then-First Lady Hillary Clinton, who had faced controversy for leading several policy initiatives from within the White House despite being unelected.

Early into the administration, Laura Bush made it known that she would focus much of her attention on education.

In January 2002, Laura Bush testified before the Senate Committee on Education, asking for higher teachers' salaries and better training for Head Start programs.

Laura Bush is credited with creating a national initiative called "Ready to Read, Ready to Learn", which promotes reading at a young age.

Immediately following the September 11,2001 attacks, Laura Bush spoke regarding America's children:.

Laura Bush took an interest in mitigating the emotional effects of the attacks on children, particularly the disturbing images repeatedly replayed on television.

Laura Bush coordinated this as a result of her many trips abroad where she witnessed how literacy benefited children in poorer nations.

Laura Bush established the Women's Health and Wellness Initiative and became involved with two major campaigns.

Laura Bush first became involved with The Heart Truth awareness campaign in 2003.

Laura Bush serves in the honorary position of ambassador for the program leading the federal government's effort to give women a "wake up call" about the risk of heart disease.

Laura Bush has participated in fashion shows displaying red dresses worn on celebrities as well.

Laura Bush endured surgery and had no further signs of cancer.

Laura Bush has become a breast cancer activist on her mother's behalf through her involvement in the Susan G Komen for the Cure.

Laura Bush campaigned for Republicans around the country in 2002 for that year's midterm elections, attending and hosting fundraisers as well as giving speeches.

Opponents deemed this as the Laura Bush administration "working against women's rights issues and using women to do their dirty work" and partly a test for Laura Bush on how well she could campaign for her husband in the impending two years when he sought re-election.

Laura Bush advocated for his re-election in a speech at the 2004 Republican National Convention, and was credited with having raised $15 million for her husband's campaign as well as the Republican Party while still succeeding in keeping a separate schedule that allowed for her to tend to the traditional duties she had as First Lady.

Laura Bush stated that she forgave her while insisting her apology was unnecessary, citing her understanding of the "trick questions" asked by the media.

Laura Bush was a participant in the 2006 midterm elections, beginning her campaigning in April.

In September 2008, Laura Bush spoke during the first night of the 2008 Republican National Convention, her joint appearance with Cindy McCain geared toward raising hurricane relief funds for victims of Hurricane Gustav.

In races where the moderates are in the most trouble, Laura Bush is the one who can do the most good.

Jude Ellison Sady Doyle reasoned that Laura Bush was hard to dislike due to her adopting "the least partisan causes" such as literacy and breast cancer, which would attract the support of most Americans and her coming off as a "mild, polite, ordinary woman who might go to church with your mother, or organize suburban potlucks".

Laura Bush traveled to numerous countries as a representative of the United States.

Laura Bush has taken many other trips to other countries to promote and gain support for President Bush's Emergency Plan for AIDS relief; these countries include Zambia, Mozambique, Mali, Senegal, and Haiti.

Laura Bush said she was in the region in an attempt to improve America's image by highlighting concern for women's health, specifically promoting her breast cancer awareness work with the US-Middle East Partnership for Breast Cancer Awareness and Research.

Laura Bush defined the trip as successful, saying that stereotypes were broken on both sides.

Laura Bush is a Republican and has identified herself with the GOP since her marriage.

Laura Bush did not comment on whether women had the right to an abortion.

Laura Bush did say that the country should do "what we can to limit the number of abortions, to try to reduce the number of abortions in a lot of ways, and that is, by talking about responsibility with girls and boys, by teaching abstinence, having abstinence classes everywhere in schools and in churches and in Sunday school".

On July 12,2005, while in South Africa, Laura Bush suggested her husband replace retiring Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor with another woman.

In late October 2008, days before that year's presidential election, Laura Bush hosted a three-hour session with staffers and historians discussing how she would like to be remembered, leading to this meeting being termed the "legacy lunch".

Attendants of the meeting said that Laura Bush wanted to change the perception that she was a traditional First Lady in that she always stayed by her husband's side.

At a 2014 National Press Club, Anita McBride opined that it would be harder for people to understand where Laura Bush had "the greatest impact" due to the several signature issues that Laura Bush advocated for while First Lady.

Laura Bush enjoyed widespread approval by the American public both as the incumbent First Lady and during her retirement.

In May 2010, Laura Bush released her memoir, Spoken from the Heart, in conjunction with a national tour.

On May 11,2010, during an interview on Larry King Live, Laura Bush was asked about same-sex marriage.

Laura Bush said she viewed it as a generational issue and believed it would be made legal in the future.

Laura Bush continued to remain involved and concerned over the state of women in Afghanistan, speaking out editorials and appearances during 2013 that the women and girls who had been helped could not be abandoned during and after the planned withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.

In March 2016, Laura Bush wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post on changes occurring among women in Afghanistan while noting continued violence and calling for American involvement in Afghanistan to be consistent and predictable in continuing along with the international community "to provide significant development assistance in the areas of health care, entrepreneurship and education".

In June 2016, Laura Bush stated that she hoped the US remained in Afghanistan and had consulted with women there who feared the departure of American troops would create "a vacuum" similar to Iraq, furthering that the US "would have to start all over again" if they withdrew troops.

On October 26,2009, Laura Bush spoke at the 25th Annual Women's Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Laura Bush jokingly told then First Lady Michelle Obama at the ceremony that "nothing makes a house a home like having portraits of its former occupants staring down at you from the walls".

Laura Bush was portrayed in the White House's Green Room in her portrait, wearing a midnight blue gown.

Laura Bush said that prior to this speech she visited houses of Mark Twain at his 166th anniversary on November 29,2001, and was a guest of the show Mark Twain Tonight.

Laura Bush mentioned not having trouble donating clothes to the library, admitting that she probably would have never worn them again in the first place.

Laura Bush was to arrive there with her daughter Barbara Pierce Bush, her husband George W Bush, and Soledad O'Brien, a journalist.

In 2015, Laura Bush had several speaking arrangements on issues relating to her husband's presidency.

Laura Bush was keynote speaker at the Go Red for Women Summit in Austin in February 2016, an event designed to promote both financing and awareness for women fighting heart disease.

On February 4,2017, Laura Bush appeared at the annual Union Regional Foundation's Heart of a Woman brunch, saying women do not worry about their own health due to often taking care of someone else and that their improving in health would benefit those around them.

Laura Bush defended Obama during her husband's campaign for president in 2008, publicly coming to her defense when she received criticism for a remark she made about being proud of her country for the first time in her adulthood during the campaign.

In September 2009, Laura Bush openly praised President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

Laura Bush reasoned that President Obama was performing well in the presidency despite having multiple initiatives taking place and complimented the First Lady's transformation of the White House into "a comfortable home for her family".

Shortly afterward, Laura Bush told The Washington Post that she believed Obama was ready to leave the White House.

On June 17,2018, Laura Bush wrote an opinion piece firmly opposing the Trump administration family separation policy in The Washington Post.

Laura Bush mentioned this to indicate her shock upon discovery that the workers at the children's border shelter have been instructed "not to pick up or touch the children to comfort them".

Laura Bush campaigned for vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, telling a crowd in Detroit that he and Romney had "better answers" on the economy and foreign policy.

Laura Bush responded that some of the candidates had "frightened some candidates", but at the same time expressed her liking of the Republican Party having room for difference of opinion and that within the party, "we have room for all".

In February 2016, amid her brother-in-law's campaign trailing Trump in South Carolina polls, Laura Bush traveled there with her husband.

Jeb Laura Bush dropped out of the race after the South Carolina primary.

In May 2015, Laura Bush bestowed a $7,000 grant to six schools within Austin, Texas.

Laura Bush's memoir, Spoken from the Heart, was published in 2010.

Laura Bush wrote another children's book with her daughter Jenna, Our Great Big Backyard.

Laura Bush was the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the Junior League of Dallas, of which she is a member.

Laura Bush received an award in honor of her dedication to help improve the living conditions and education of children around the world, from the Kuwait-American Foundation in March 2006.

Laura Bush accepted The Nichols-Chancellor's Medal on behalf of disaster relief workers around the world in May 2006 from Vanderbilt University.

Laura Bush was awarded the 2008 Christian Freedom International Freedom Award.

Laura Bush is on the Board of Selectors of Jefferson Awards for Public Service.

In October 2015, Laura Bush was conferred an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Wayland Baptist University in recognition of her longtime advocacy on behalf of education, health care and human rights following an address she gave on the university's campus.

In November 2016 Laura Bush received 10 for 10 award from Women's Democracy Network in recognition of her years of work on behalf of Afghan women's rights.

In May 2017 Laura Bush received an honor at the Women Making History Awards in Washington, DC.

Laura Bush is portrayed by Elizabeth Banks in Oliver Stone's film W Curtis Sittenfeld's bestseller novel American Wife is based on much of her life.

Laura Bush appeared in the last season of HGTV's Fixer Upper.