Barbara Bush, 1925–2018

Former First Lady Barbara Bush died on April 17 at the age of 92.

Originally from the Flushing neighborhood of Queens in New York City, Barbara Pierce met then-naval officer, future 41st president, George Herbert Walker Bush in 1941 at a Christmas dance in Greenwich, Connecticut. She was just 16, and would later say, “I married the first man I ever kissed, When I tell this to my children, they just about throw up.”

Barbara and George married in 1945. Their 73 year marriage is the longest presidential marriage in U.S. history.

When George became vice president to Ronald Reagan in January 1981, she became Second Lady. When George became president in 1989, she became the 14th Second Lady to become First Lady.

Together they had six children, including President George W. Bush and former Florida Governor, and presidential nominee, Jeb Bush. As a result of the former, Barbara Bush and Abigail Adams, both of whom had six children, are the only two women in American history to be married to a president and to be the mother of another.

Their marriages converged in 1999 when the Bush marriage reached 54 years, surpassing the Adams marriage for the longest presidential marriage. On October 16, 2019, their marriage will converge with the marriage of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter.

Her Funeral was held on April 21 at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston. Former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama attended the service, as well as First Ladies Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama and Melania Trump. The White House said Donald Trump did not attend “to avoid disruptions due to added security, and out of respect for the Bush Family.”

Her son Jeb delivered the eulogy.

“If more people could read, write, and comprehend, we could be much closer to solving so many of the other problems our country faces today.”