Laura Lane Welch Bush (born November 4, 1946) is the wife of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. She was the First Lady from 2001 to 2009. She graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1968 with abachelor's degree in education and soon took a job as a second grade teacher . After attaining her master's degree inLibrary Science at the University of Texas at Austin, she was employed as a librarian. She met George W. Bush in 1977, and they were married later that year. The couple had twin daughters in 1981.
Bush's political involvement began during her marriage. She campaigned with her husband during his unsuccessful 1978 run for the United States Congress and later his successful Texas gubernatorial campaign. As First Lady of Texas, Bush implemented many initiatives focused on health, education, and literacy. In 1999, she aided her husband in campaigning for the presidency in a number of ways, most notably delivering a keynote address at the 2000 Republican National Convention, which gained her national attention. She became first lady after her husband defeated Democrat Al Gore in the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election.
Polled by The Gallup Organization as one of the most popular First Ladies, Laura Bush was involved in both national and global concerns during her tenure. She continued to advance her trademark interests of education and literacy by establishing the semi-annual National Book Festival in 2001 and encouraged education on a worldwide scale. She also advanced women's causes through The Heart Truth and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. She represented the United States during her foreign trips, which tended to focus on HIV/AIDS and malaria awareness. Bush's memoir Spoken from the Heart was published in 2010.
It's no surprise that we're fond of TODAY contributor Jenna Bush Hager, but if you ask her or her twin sister, Barbara, how they turned out to be the women they are, they'd point you to one woman: their mom.
Marc Bryan-Brown/Women in the World
The sisters and their mother, former first lady Laura Bush, participated in a panel, moderated by TODAY anchor Savannah Guthrie, at Tina Brown's Women in the World Summit Thursday in New York. While they addressed the Bush women's active lives in public service (Barbara is the CEO and co-founder of Global Health Corps while Jenna efforts Childhood Education and Literacy), Jenna and her sister continually spoke about Laura's strong example.
Marc Bryan-Brown / Women in the World
Laura Bush
"It's not like my parents sat us down and said, 'This is a map to be the type of person we want you to be.' It was more that they showed us," an emotional Jenna Bush Hager told the audience.
Marc Bryan-Brown/Women in the World
"I'm hoping I can use some of that quiet grace as a mother and not force my daughters to do anything. She also allowed us to make mistakes — I know nobody's shocked by that — but I hope to do that too."
Jenna Bush Hager / Twitter
Jenna Bush Hager with her mother, Laura Bush, and daughter, Mila
George W. Bush served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009, starting when Jenna and Barbara were college students, and it wasn't their first brush with family in the White House. Their grandfather, George H.W. Bush, was president from 1989 to 1993.
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