Editing Barbara Bush (section)

== Political beliefs ==
[[File:President George W. Bush and Former First Lady Barbara Bush Participate in a Discussion on Strengthening Social Security in Orlando, Florida.jpg|thumb|Bush and her son speaking about [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]] in 2005|alt=Barbara Bush and George W. Bush stand in front of a backdrop reading "Keeping Our Promise to Seniors"]]
Bush regularly spoke with her husband about political topics, including issues that he faced in the White House.{{Sfn|Schneider|Schneider|2010|p=335}}{{Sfn|Anthony|1990|p=426}} Though it was generally understood that she disagreed with him on several major political issues, she refused to speak about policy to the press.{{Sfn|Caroli|2010|p=291}} Unlike her husband, she favored an [[assault weapon]]s ban, though she was resistant to broader gun control as she believed that it would only restrict law-abiding citizens while criminals would subvert the law.{{Sfn|Schneider|Schneider|2010|p=335}}

Bush described her positions on [[social policy]], and those of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], as [[Liberalism in the United States|liberal]], defining liberalism in this context as "caring enormously about people".{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|p=140}} She increasingly disagreed with the Republican Party as its social positions became more conservative.{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 9}} She supported causes that would support the poor and the sick, though she limited herself to those that were not politically charged.{{Sfn|Anthony|1990|pp=428–429}} She emphasized literacy because of its apolitical nature and because of her belief that illiteracy caused other societal issues.{{Sfn|Carlin|2016|p=617}} Bush's friends and relatives cited the death of her daughter for informing her social beliefs, saying that she became highly empathetic for the unfortunate after Robin died.{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 1}} She was opposed to the idea of political parties taking stances on issues such as abortion or [[homosexuality]].{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|p=198}}

Barbara's opinion on abortion was a problem for George during his political career.{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 9}} Though early on she said that it should be limited to the [[first trimester]], she generally refused to comment on the issue.{{Sfn|Schneider|Schneider|2010|p=335}} She privately reconciled her beliefs surrounding abortion during the 1980 presidential campaign, when she wrote several pages of notes referencing philosophical questions and her own personal experience with the death of a child. She concluded with the belief that the [[soul]] enters the body at birth, and that this made abortion morally permissible. She further believed that abortion should be federally funded so it was accessible to the poor and that government action to prevent unwanted births should take the form of education.{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 9}} Only later in life did she openly state that she believed abortion was permissible.{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|p=140}}

Though Bush was not an advocate for gay rights, she was not hostile to the idea as many were during her time as First Lady. Her work in AIDS relief made her sympathetic to the discrimination faced by the LGBT community, and she said in response to the issue that "we cannot tolerate discrimination against any individuals or groups in our country". This was the first time that someone from the White House made a public statement in support of gay rights. While speaking in 1994, she expressed her opinion that a family caring for its children is more important than whether or not the parents were a same-sex couple. She was skeptical of the Obama administration's publicized hiring of a transgender person in 2015 until her mind was changed following a conversation with historian [[Timothy Naftali]].{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 13}}

Bush was skeptical of the [[Feminism in the United States|feminist movement]], in part because of the criticism that she received about her lifestyle as a housewife.{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Introduction}} She supported the [[Equal Rights Amendment]] through the 1980s, though she stopped expressing public support for it while the first lady.{{Sfn|Anthony|1990|p=434}} She was ambivalent about [[women in the military]] during the [[United States invasion of Panama]], believing that women were emotionally capable of handling war but less so physically. She decided that the issue was unimportant so long as [[Manual Noriega]] was captured.{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|p=140}} She more explicitly supported American action in the Gulf War,{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|p=177}} and she received little pushback when she suggested that Iraqi president [[Saddam Hussein]] should be charged with [[war crime]]s and hanged.{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|pp=180–187}}

Bush opposed the rightward shift of the Republican Party following her husband's presidency.{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 9}} When [[Pat Buchanan]] challenged her husband in the [[1992 Republican Party presidential primaries|1992 primary elections]] on a nationalist [[Opposition to immigration|anti-immigration platform]], she accused him of using "[[dog whistle (politics)|racist code words]]".{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 16}} Bush was also highly critical of Donald Trump, dating back to 1990 before his political career. She opposed his [[Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign|2016 presidential campaign]] and his subsequent [[First presidency of Donald Trump|presidency]]. She described her reaction to his victory as "horror", and she was confused as to how any woman could support him. After Trump's election, she was given a digital clock that counted down the days until the end of his term, which she kept in her bedroom. By early 2018, shortly before her death, Bush decided that she did not identify with the Republican Party as it existed at the time.{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 21}} Despite not voting for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, Bush wrote a letter to incoming First Lady [[Melania Trump]] in November 2016 saying she was "glad" to be welcoming her to the "First Ladies' very exclusive club" and that she would be entering the White House instead of [[Bill Clinton]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kwong |first=Jessica |date=2019-03-27 |title=Barbara Bush Was 'Glad' Melania Trump Entered White House Instead of Bill Clinton |url=https://www.newsweek.com/barbara-bush-glad-melania-trump-instead-bill-clinton-1376925 |access-date=2024-12-28 |website=Newsweek}}</ref>