Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academics

Distinguished Lecture Series

Title: An Intimate Evening With President and Mrs. George Bush

Monday, March 8, 1999, at 7:30 p.m.
Auditorium, Annenberg Presedential Conference Center
Texas A&M University

Abstract

President and Mrs. Bush, accompanied by their dog Millie, reminisce about their experiences. Moderated by President Bush's spokesperson, Peter Roussel.

About the Speaker
The Honorable George Bush
The Forty-First President of the United States

George Bush was elected President of the United States on November 8, 1988, sworn in on January 20, 1989, and served until January 20, 1993. President Bush's career in politics and public service began in 1963, when he was elected Chairman of the Harris County Republican Party. After losing his first campaign for the United States Senate in 1964, he was elected in 1966 to the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas' 7th District and served two terms. Mr. Bush accepted a series of senior level appointments following a second unsuccessful try for the Senate in 1970. These included U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (1971), Chairman of the Republican National Committee (1973), Chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in China (1974), and Director of Central Intelligence (1976). In 1980, Mr. Bush lost his first bid for the Republican Presidential nomination to Ronald Reagan, but he later accepted a spot on the national ticket and served as Vice President from 1981 to 1989.

Born on June 12, 1924, in Milton, Massachusetts, George Bush became a decorated naval pilot who flew torpedo bombers during World War II. He then graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Yale University in 1948 with a degree in economics and moved to Texas where he began making his way in the oil business. President Bush has received numerous honorary degrees and, since retiring from public life, has been awarded high honors from such countries as Kuwait, the United Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany, Nicaragua, Poland, and Saudi Arabia.

President and Mrs. Bush have been married 53 years. They reside in Houston, Texas, and Kennebunkport, Maine.

Barbara Pierce Bush

Barbara Bush often jokes that her successful life is a result of marrying well. Her husband's service as Vice President and President of the United States offered her a unique opportunity to make a difference in the public eye, but since leaving the White House in 1993, this Former First Lady continues to serve others with the same tireless energy, goodwill and good humor that has endeared her to millions around the world.

Born Barbara Pierce, she grew up in Rye, New York, where she met and later married George Herbert Walker Bush on January 6, 1945. The Bush's first daughter, Robin, died in 1953 after fighting Leukemia, but today the family includes four sons (George W., Jeb, Marvin and Neil); one daughter (Dorothy); four daughters-in-law; one son-in-law; and 14 grandchildren.

Throughout her years in public life, Mrs. Bush volunteered in and supported hundreds of charitable and humanitarian causes. Her number one cause, however, is family literacy. In 1990, she helped develop the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy whose mission is to support the development of family literacy programs. However her involvement in the literacy cause does not end with her foundation. She regularly undertakes a myriad of projects and a rigorous appearance schedule designed to emphasize reading as a part of daily family life.

She authored C. Fred's Story and the best-selling Millie's Book, whose profits benefitted the literacy cause, and she most recently wrote Barbara Bush: A Memoir, her best-selling autobiography emphasizing the importance of family, faith and friends.