Editing Barbara Bush (section)

==Entering political life==
=== 1960s ===
[[File:George and Barbara Bush in Houston, Texas on the night which George Bush was elected to Congress - NARA - 186373.tif|right|thumb|The Bushes celebrate George's election to Congress in 1966.|alt=George and Barabara stand in front of a George Bush for Congress sign. George's arm is around Barbara's shoulders.]]
In 1962, Bush learned to campaign when her husband ran for the chairmanship of the [[Harris County, Texas|Harris County]] Republican Party. She initially believed that he had been appointed to the position, only later realizing that he would need to seek election. Bush accompanied her husband as he traveled to each precinct in the county.{{Sfn|Schneider|Schneider|2010|p=331}}{{Sfn|Carlin|2016|p=615}} She grew to like campaigning, as it provided her a change of pace and gave her an opportunity to spend more time with him, though found the downtime boring and took up [[needlepoint]] to occupy herself.{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|p=65}} Bush campaigned with her husband again when he ran to represent [[Texas]] in the U.S. Senate [[1964 United States Senate election in Texas|in 1964]].{{Sfn|Schneider|Schneider|2010|p=331}} This campaign demonstrated to her a less pleasant aspect of political life, as false information was spread during her husband's [[Partisan primary|primary election]], alleging that her father was a communist.{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|p=66}}{{Sfn|Gutin|2008|p=17}} While campaigning, she would sometimes hide her last name to solicit more honest feedback about her husband.{{Sfn|Carlin|2016|p=615}} Bush won the primary, but he lost the general election to incumbent [[Ralph Yarborough]]. Because of her involvement with the campaign, she took his loss personally.{{Sfn|Gutin|2008|p=17}}

Bush returned to the campaign trail for her husband [[1966 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas|in 1966]] when he ran for a seat in the [[U.S. House of Representatives]],{{Sfn|Gutin|2008|p=18}} and the family moved to [[Washington, D.C.]] after his victory.{{Sfn|Carlin|2016|p=615}} In Washington, her primary focus was to raise her younger children and manage her household, but she also involved herself in the activities of the capital. She attended political briefings and social events,{{Sfn|Schneider|Schneider|2010|p=331}} and her attendance at regular events at the White House endeared her to First Lady [[Lady Bird Johnson]].{{Sfn|Anthony|1990|p=144}} She also started a newspaper column, "Washington Scene", that was published in Houston.{{Sfn|Carlin|2016|p=615}} Bush was active in the neighborhood where she lived, befriending prominent neighbors such as [[Shirley Neil Pettis]], [[Potter Stewart]], and [[Franklin D Roosevelt Jr.]]{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|pp=68–70}} The Bushes became known in Washington for the barbecues that they hosted each Sunday, a practice that they carried over from their time in Houston. [[Andrew Card]], a member of the Bush administration, cited Barbara's hosting during this time as a significant factor in George's good relations with members of Congress during his presidency.{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 7}}

=== 1970s ===
George [[1970 United States Senate election in Texas|ran for the U.S. Senate again]] in 1970, and was again unsuccessful.{{Sfn|Carlin|2016|p=615}} As with the previous Senate race, Barbara took an emotional toll from her husband's electoral defeat.{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|p=73}} She also decided to stop dyeing her hair after her dye ran during a campaign trip, instead maintaining the white hair that would become a recognizable part of her public image.{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 7}} After George lost his campaign, President [[Richard Nixon]] appointed him the [[United States Ambassador to the United Nations|United States ambassador to the United Nations]].<ref name="FL bio"/> A large apartment was provided as a residence for the UN ambassador, providing them a home in [[New York City]].{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|p=73}} She particularly enjoyed sharing this period of her husband's career, as it provided the couple with extensive social opportunities.{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|p=74}} This also allowed her to form relationships with prominent diplomats.<ref name="FL bio"/> While in New York, she volunteered each week at [[Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center]], where her daughter had been treated for leukemia years before.{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|p=74}}

Bush was against the idea of her husband becoming the chair of the [[Republican National Committee]] in 1973, but he accepted the position.{{Sfn|Gutin|2008|p=18}} Instead of the opportunities of the ambassadorship, she spent her days away from her husband as he managed the fallout of the [[Watergate scandal]]. While in Washington, she reconnected with her friends from the city and attended [[World Affairs Council of Washington, D.C.|World Affairs Council]] meetings.{{Sfn|Schneider|Schneider|2010|p=332}} When [[Gerald Ford]] became president in 1974 and asked George where he wanted to go, George asked to be appointed [[United States Ambassador to China|United States ambassador to China]].{{Sfn|Gutin|2008|p=18}} He was given the position, and Barbara moved with him to China.{{Sfn|Schneider|Schneider|2010|p=332}} She enjoyed the time that she spent in the country and often rode bicycles with her husband to explore cities and regions that few Americans had visited.<ref name="FL bio"/> As she had while a Congressman's wife in Washington, she wrote a newspaper column which was published in Texas.{{Sfn|Gutin|2008|p=19}} She considered the experience to be a transformative one, allowing her to evaluate her life and sort her priorities.{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|p=76}}

The Bushes returned to the United States in 1975 when George accepted a job as the U.S. [[Director of Central Intelligence|director of central intelligence]].{{Sfn|Schneider|Schneider|2010|p=332}} Given the job's highly secretive nature, Barbara was completely excluded from her husband's work. With this, and the fact that her children had all moved away, she was overcome by a feeling of isolation.{{Sfn|Gutin|2008|p=20}} Bush suffered from depression, which became severe enough that George suggested she seek out a [[mental health professional]].{{Sfn|Schneider|Schneider|2010|p=332}} She did not take his advice, though she later regretted this.{{Sfn|Carlin|2016|p=616}} Bush later cited [[menopause]] as a factor that amplified her depression, and some who knew her speculated that George's close relationship with his assistant, Jennifer Fitzgerald, was another cause.{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 8}} Her doubts were amplified by the [[women's liberation movement]], which made her question whether her life as a housewife was the one she wanted.{{Sfn|Anthony|1990|p=255}}{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|p=78}} To distract herself, she began regular work at a [[hospice]] facility.{{Sfn|Gutin|2008|p=20}} Barbara eventually reacquainted herself with Washington social life, and built connections for her husband's political career while she gave [[slideshow]] demonstrations to practice public speaking, giving talks about China.{{Sfn|Schneider|Schneider|2010|p=333}} The Bushes returned to Houston after George left the CIA in 1977.{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|p=80}}

The Bushes never had a direct conversation about George running in the [[1980 United States presidential election|1980 presidential election]], but the decision was obvious to both of them, and George started his campaign in 1978.{{Sfn|Gutin|2008|p=21}} Early in the campaign, there were worries that Barbara would be a liability, in part because she looked significantly older than George in a primary election where age was an issue.{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 9}} When Barbara was asked what cause she would champion if she became First Lady, she decided on literacy, believing that it would be a non-controversial choice and that it affected all other major issues.{{Sfn|Carlin|2016|p=617}} Bush was a strong advocate for her husband during the campaign, though she caused a stir with the party's conservative wing when she said that she supported ratification of the [[Equal Rights Amendment]] and supported [[United States abortion-rights movement|legalized abortion]].<ref name="FL bio"/> For two years, she traveled the country with her aide Becky Brady to campaign for her husband.{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|pp=80–82}} He did not win the Republican nomination for the presidency, but the eventual winner, [[Ronald Reagan]], chose him as [[Vice President of the United States|vice president]]. Barbara accordingly became the [[Second Lady of the United States|second lady]].{{Sfn|Carlin|2016|p=617}} Upon the selection of her husband as Reagan's vice presidential nominee, she promised Reagan that they were "going to work our tails off for you".{{Sfn|Anthony|1990|p=313}}{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 10}}