Editing Barbara Bush (section)

== First Lady of the United States (1989–1993) ==
=== White House life and ceremonial activity ===
[[File:Mrs. Bush and Raisa Gorbachev deliver Commencement Addresses at Wellesley College - NARA - 186412.tif|thumb|Bush with [[Raisa Gorbacheva]] at [[Wellesley College]] in 1990|alt=Barbara Bush and Raisa Gorbacheva stand smiling and clasping each other's hands. Bush is wearing a graduation robe.]]
The Bushes moved into the [[White House]] on January 20, 1989, and Barbara became the first lady of the United States.{{Sfn|Schneider|Schneider|2010|p=334}} She was the oldest First Lady to live in the White House to that date, taking the position at age 63. The only First Lady older than her to that point, [[Anna Harrison]], did not live in Washington during her husband's term.{{Sfn|Caroli|2010|p=289}} She did begin purchasing designer gowns, but this went unnoticed by the press.{{Sfn|Beasley|2005|p=191}} Bush described the position of First Lady as "the best job in America"{{Sfn|Schneider|Schneider|2010|p=334}} and "the most spoiled woman in the world".{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|p=141}} She was also the last Second Lady to become First Lady until [[Jill Biden]] in 2021.{{Sfn|Schneider|Schneider|2010|p=334}}<ref name="Biden-Bush">{{Cite web |last=Chamlee |first=Virginia |date=2021-10-21 |title=Jill Biden reflects on Barbara Bush and what it means to be first lady: 'Nothing can prepare you' |url=https://people.com/politics/jill-biden-reflects-on-barbara-bush-and-what-it-means-to-be-first-lady/ |access-date=2023-09-15 |website=People |language=en |archive-date=October 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002235442/https://people.com/politics/jill-biden-reflects-on-barbara-bush-and-what-it-means-to-be-first-lady/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Wishing to avoid the example of Nancy Reagan, Bush ensured that Vice President [[Dan Quayle]] and Second Lady [[Marilyn Quayle]] were involved in social affairs.{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 12}} Shortly after becoming First Lady, Bush was diagnosed with [[Graves' disease]], which gave her [[double vision]] and caused her to lose weight.{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|p=127}} Both the condition and the treatment (which included [[methimazole]], [[prednisone]], and [[radiation therapy]]) brought her discomfort. The public was aware of her diagnosis, though she publicly denied it was seriously affecting her. Her husband was diagnosed with the same autoimmune disease in 1991.{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 16}}

Bush loved the White House, admiring the historical significance of each room.{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|p=121}} She also liked that her husband worked in the same building that they lived in, given the problems of previous years when he was often away for long periods of time.{{Sfn|Schneider|Schneider|2010|p=334}}{{Sfn|Gutin|2008|p=59}} Her day-to-day activities often included charity work, meetings, or interviews until 6pm, at which point the Bushes would host company and Barbara would give tours of the White House.{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|p=121}} She also exercised in the White House pool, swimming 72 laps to complete a mile each day.{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|p=128}} She sought to engage in normal activities while living in the White House, patronizing local businesses and walking her dog along [[Pennsylvania Avenue]].{{Sfn|Anthony|1990|pp=423–424}} She believed it was important for her to leave the White House grounds during the day to avoid feeling trapped or isolated. She theorized that if she went in public enough, people in the area would grow used to her presence.{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|p=121}}
[[File:Stowers MOH ceremony - Palmer and Bush.JPEG|thumb|Bush presents a posthumous [[Medal of Honor]] to the sister of a [[World War I]] veteran in 1991.|alt=Bush, seated, hands a plaque to the woman sitting next to her.]]Bush was generally skeptical of reporters and the press,{{Sfn|Beasley|2005|p=185}} feeling that she was entitled to have a private life separately from her public life.{{Sfn|Beasley|2005|pp=186–187}} Though she did not hold regular press conferences, she worked to develop relationships with several individual reporters. When dealing with the press, she imposed her policy of "if I said it, I said it", in which her staff was not allowed to explain or justify her statements to the press.{{Sfn|Gutin|2008|pp=37–38}} Bush's press secretary, Anna Perez, was the first Black woman to hold a high ranking position in the [[East Wing]] of the White House.{{Sfn|Caroli|2010|p=290}}{{Sfn|Beasley|2005|p=196}}

On June 1, 1990, Bush gave a commencement speech to the graduating class of [[Wellesley College]]. Her selection as speaker was controversial among students, many of whom felt that Bush was not representative of a successful woman and was only selected because of her husband's accomplishments. The controversy became a national debate.{{Sfn|Feinberg|1998|pp=7–8}} Publicly, she dismissed it as "much ado about nothing" by twenty-year-olds,{{Sfn|Anthony|1990|p=434}} but privately she was angered by the protest. The media attention leading up the speech was such that when the day came, it was the first speech by a first lady ever to be nationally broadcast live.{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 14}} Bush chose to invite First Lady of the Soviet Union [[Raisa Gorbacheva]], who had a visit scheduled to the United States with her husband, to join her at the commencement.{{Sfn|Anthony|1990|p=434}} Upon giving the speech, Bush was well received by the students and the public, who responded positively to her message of prioritizing personal fulfillment and relationships.{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 14}}{{Sfn|Feinberg|1998|pp=8–9}}

=== Advocacy ===
[[File:First Lady Barbara Bush and Princess Diana.jpg|thumb|Bush with [[Princess Diana]] reading a copy of ''[[Millie's Book]]'' in 1990|alt=Bush and Princess Diana are seated on a couch: Diana examines an open copy of Millie's Book while Bush watches.]]
While she was First Lady, Bush continued her work in promoting literacy that she had begun as Second Lady.{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|pp=158–159}} In March 1989, she established the [[Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy]] to promote further literacy programs.{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|pp=160–161}} In 1990, she hosted the ''Mrs. Bush's Storytime'' radio program for ABC, in which she read to children.{{Sfn|Schneider|Schneider|2010|p=335}} Bush was known for the affection she had for her pet [[English Springer Spaniel]], [[Millie (dog)|Millie]], and she wrote the children's book ''[[Millie's Book]]'' about Millie's new litter of puppies in 1990.{{Sfn|Carlin|2016|p=625}} The book was a best-seller, producing earnings of nearly $800,000 ({{Inflation|index=US|value=800,000|start_year=1990|fmt=eq}}). This was more money than any first lady had ever made while serving in the role. She donated the profits to her literacy foundation.{{Sfn|Caroli|2010|p=291}} Bush emphasized the issue of [[adult illiteracy]] in particular, including work to increase literacy among the homeless and the incarcerated. During her time as First Lady, she raised millions of dollars to fund literacy programs, including from large companies such as [[General Motors|GM]] and [[Motorola]].{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 12}} Her interest in the subject broadly affected the administration's education policy: her advocacy contributed to the [[1989 education summit]], and she convinced her husband to end his opposition to the National Literacy Act of 1991, allowing it to be passed into law.{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 12}}

Bush was an advocate for [[AIDS]] patients while First Lady.{{Sfn|Schneider|Schneider|2010|p=335}} The issue was controversial at the time due to its association with the gay community. For this reason, her work on this issue was not as widely publicized.{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 13}} To prevent discrimination against AIDS patients and to challenge misconceptions about its contagiousness, a photograph was published of her hugging a child with AIDS.{{Sfn|Caroli|2010|p=290}}{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|p=162}} In private, she urged her husband to take a stronger stand on the rights of those with AIDS. She compared the discrimination faced by AIDS patients to the discomfort that people expressed when her daughter Robin had leukemia.{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 13}}

=== Political involvement ===
[[File:First Lady Barbara Bush at the White House.jpg|thumb|Bush reads to children in the White House library, 1990.|alt=Bush sits in a chair and reads with four children surrounding her]]
[[File:First Lady Barbara Bush at the Republican National Convention in Houston, Texas P34627-27 a.jpg|thumb|Bush speaking at the [[1992 Republican National Convention]]|alt=Bush stands smiling in front of a lectern with her family standing behind her]]
Bush was a frequent advisor to her husband, and her suggestions played a role in several of the administration's decisions, including multiple cabinet appointments.{{Sfn|Schneider|Schneider|2010|p=335}} A White House aide later described her as "the only voice that he 100 percent trusted".{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Introduction}} She was occasionally assigned more formal responsibilities, such as a diplomatic mission in 1990 when she represented the United States at the inauguration of Costa Rican president [[Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier|Rafael Calderón]].{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|p=142}}

In her role as First Lady, Bush built a rapport with the first lady of the Soviet Union, Raisa Gorbacheva. This was credited by Soviet leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], as well as other world leaders such as [[Helmut Kohl]] of Germany and [[Brian Mulroney]] of Canada, with improving Western–Soviet relations. In one discussion, Kohl assured Mikhail Gorbachev that talks between the United States and the Soviet Union would continue in part because of Barbara's influence. Bush had several relationships with global figures that were beneficial to her husband's administration, as she regularly made efforts to develop these social connections with visiting world leaders. These became especially prominent following the [[Iraqi invasion of Kuwait]], where her relationship with Gorbacheva and with French president [[François Mitterrand]] eased the process of building the [[Coalition of the Gulf War|coalition response]].{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 15}} During the subsequent [[Gulf War]], Bush endeavored to make the president's job easier. She curated guest lists to avoid those who she felt would "hammer him about his conduct of the war", and she limited the messages that she passed on to him so as not to disturb him.{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|pp=174–175}}

Bush's attention shifted to her husband's reelection campaign during the [[1992 United States presidential election|1992 presidential election]], and she was invited to give a speech at the [[1992 Republican National Convention|Republican National Convention]].{{Sfn|Schneider|Schneider|2010|p=336}} She was reluctant to engage in another campaign, dreading the political attacks against her husband and her children.{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 16}} Despite this, Bush took a major role in campaigning, more actively endorsing her husband's policy accomplishments than she previously had.{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 16}}{{Sfn|Carlin|2016|p=629}} The campaign efforts were complicated by the [[early 1990s recession]] and the president's subsequent drop in approval ratings.{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|pp=190–191}}

Due to her strong approval ratings compared to her husband, Barbara was made a more prominent face of the campaign. This also allowed the campaign to contrast her with [[Hillary Clinton]], the wife of opposing candidate [[Bill Clinton]].{{Sfn|Kilian|2002|p=199}} Bush had conflicting feelings about leaving the White House after her husband lost reelection. She was sorry to see her husband lose but relieved to return to Houston and be free from the frequent criticism of her family.{{Sfn|Schneider|Schneider|2010|p=336}} Bush invited Hillary Clinton to tour the White House two weeks after the election, wishing to avoid repeating the example set by Nancy Reagan, who had delayed the tour. On this tour, she gave Clinton advice to avoid the press: "They're not your friends. They're not trying to help you."{{Sfn|Page|2019|loc=Chapter 23}}