129: Laura Bush
Former First Lady of the United States During Her Husband George W Bush’s Administration
Born: 4 November 1946, Midland, Texas, United States of America
Her advocacy focuses while in office and now after are literacy, education, and women’s rights.
In 2001 she was the first First Lady to deliver the President’s weekly radio address—her address focused on trying to bring international attention to how the Taliban treats women.
The George W Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Texas is home to a museum and library as well as a public policy center that was built to help advance the causes of human freedom, education reform, global health, and economic growth.
She currently serves as chair of the Bush Institute’s Women’s Initiative—they work primarily in helping empower women in Africa. Laura also continues to work to preserve the rights of women in Afghanistan.
Starting in 2003 she has served as the United Nations Honorary Ambassador for the Literary Decade.
She also works to bring attention to women and heart disease and in 2006 she helped launch the first international partnerships for research and raising breast cancer awareness.
Laura also currently serves on boards for the Salvation Army, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
She is a mother to twin girls and has two grandchildren.
Badges Earned:
Located In My Personal Library:
First Ladies: Presidential Historians on the Lives of 45 Iconic American Women by Susan Swain and C-SPAN
Laura Bush: An Intimate Portrait of the First Lady by Ronald Kessler
The Smithsonian First Ladies Collection by Lisa Kathleen Graddy and Amy Pastan
Sources:
https://www.bushcenter.org/people/laura-bush.html
https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/first-ladies/laura-welch-bush/