Barbara Pierce Bush, the former first lady, died at her Houston home Tuesday after a long struggle with congestive heart failure and pulmonary disease. The down-to-earth matriarch who saw both her husband and son win the White House, was 92.
The wife of America’s 41st president and mother to its 43rd, Barbara Bush has been among the nation’s most prominent and respected women for decades. USA TODAY looks at some facts about her life you may not be aware of.
1. She met her husband, George H. W. Bush, at a dance when she was just 16. He was then a senior at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass.
2. Formerly Barbara Pierce, Bush is a distant relative to the country’s 14th president, Franklin Pierce.
3. In the summer of 1943, during World War II, she worked at a nuts-and-bolts factory in Port Chester, N.Y., Bush wrote in her memoir.
4. In 1969, while her husband served in Congress, Bush began writing a column for Houston newspapers about life in Washington.
5. She wrote two children’s books, C. Fred’s Story and Millie’s Book. Both were written from the perspective of a family…
