The matriarch : Barbara Bush and the making of an American dynasty / Susan Page.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Page, Susan, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bush, Barbara, 1925-2018.

Bush, Barbara.

Bush, George, 1924-2018--Family.

Bush, George.

Bush, George W. (George Walker), 1946---Family.

Bush, George W.

Bush family.

Bush, George W. (George Walker), 1946-.

Bush, George, 1924-2018.

Presidents' spouses--United States--Biography.

Presidents' spouses.

Families.

United States.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

viii, 418 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), portraits ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

Barbara Bush and the making of an American dynasty

Place of Publication:

New York : Twelve, 2019.

Summary:

"A vivid biography of former First Lady Barbara Bush, one of the most influential and underappreciated women in American political history. Barbara Pierce Bush was one of the country's most popular and powerful figures, yet her full story has never been told. [This book] tells the riveting tale of a woman who helped define two American presidencies and an entire political era. Written by USA Today 's Washington Bureau chief Susan Pale, this biography is informed by more than one hundred interviews with Bush friends and family members, hours of conversation with Mrs. Bush herself in the final six months of her life, and access to her diaries that spanned decades. The Matriarch examines not only her public persona but also less well-known aspects of her remarkable life. As a girl in Rye, New York, Barbara Bush weathered criticism of her weight from her mother, barbs that left lifelong scars. As a young wife, she coped with the death of her three-year-old daughter from leukemia, a loss that changed her forever. In middle age, she grappled with depression so serious that she contemplated suicide. And as first the wife and then the mother of American presidents, she made history as the only woman to see--and advise--both her husband and son in the Oval Office. As with many women of her era, Barbara Bush was routinely underestimated, her contributions often neither recognized nor acknowledged. But she became an astute and trusted political campaign strategist and a beloved First Lady. She invested herself deeply in expanding literacy programs in America, played a critical role in the end of the Cold War, and led the way in demonstrating love and compassion to those with HIV/AIDS. With her cooperation, this book offers Barbara Bush's last words for history--on the evolution of her party, on the role of women, on Donald Trump, and on her family's legacy. Barbara Bush's accomplishments, struggles, and contributions are many. Now, Susan Page explores them all in ... a groundbreaking book certain to cement Barbara Bush as one of the most unique and influential women in American history."--Dust jacket.

Former First Lady Barbara Pierce Bush was one of the country's most popular and powerful figures. Here Page tells the riveting tale of a woman who helped define two American presidencies-- and an entire political era. As first the wife and then the mother of American presidents, Barbara Bush became an astute and trusted political campaign strategist, invested herself deeply in expanding literacy programs in America, played a critical role in the end of the Cold War, and led the way in demonstrating love and compassion to those with HIV/AIDS. Pages offers Barbara Bush's last words for history-- on the evolution of her party, on the role of women, on Donald Trump, and on her family's legacy. -- condensed from jacket

Contents:

Six brutal months

"The fighting Pierces"

The football star and the campus beauty

Stuck in the middle

Love and war

"The street cop"

How hard could it be?

Darkness

"What are we going to do about Bar?"

The frost that never thawed

Triumph

First at last

Grandma's house

The reckoning

Détente

The reluctant campaign

Evicted

First son

A second first lady named Bush

Dynasty

"We've had enough Bushes"

"Hit in the solarplex"

Indispensable.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 391-400) and index.

ISBN:

9781538713648

1538713640

OCLC:

1032584246