Former First Lady Barbara Bush Has Passed Away at Age 92, Rest in Peace

BARBARA BUSH, WIFE OF 41 AND MOTHER OF 43 HAS DIED.

Barbara Bush, only the second woman in American history who was the wife and mother of United States Presidents and the only woman in American history to be alive for both Presidencies, has died at the age of 92. We say goodbye to a true original. Barbara and George H.W. Bush were married for 73 years. A spokeswoman says former President George H.W. Bush held the hand of his wife, Barbara Bush, all day and was by her side when she died. Funeral services for Barbara Bush are planned for 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston, which she and former President George H.W. Bush regularly attended. She was an amazing woman. She will be so missed, Rest In Peace.

Barbara’s Pearls of Wisdom

”The American Dream is about equal opportunity for everyone who works hard. If we don’t give everyone the ability to simply read and write, then we aren’t giving everyone an equal chance to succeed.“
—Barbara Bush

Barbara Bush, the widely admired wife of one president and the fiercely loyal mother of another, died Tuesday evening at her home in Houston. She was 92.

Jim McGrath, a family spokesman, announced the death in a statement posted to Twitter.

On Sunday, the office of her husband, former President George Bush, issued a statement saying that after consulting her family and her doctors, Mrs. Bush had “decided not to seek additional medical treatment and will instead focus on comfort care.”

The Bushes had celebrated their 73rd wedding anniversary in January, making them the longest-married couple in presidential history.

Mrs. Bush had been hospitalized with pneumonia in December 2013. She underwent surgery for a perforated ulcer in 2008 and had heart surgery four months later.

Karl Rove, Newt Gingrich, Bret Baier and Brit Hume pay tribute to Barbara Bush

She was born Barbara Pierce on June 8, 1925, at a maternity hospital in New York City run by the Salvation Army principally for unwed mothers. The family obstetrician practiced there one month a year, and that month happened to be June. She was the third child of the former Pauline Robinson and Marvin Pierce. Her father was in the publishing business and eventually became president of the McCall publishing company. Her mother, the daughter of an Ohio Supreme Court justice, was active in civic affairs in Rye, N.Y., the New York City suburb where the family lived.

After graduating in 1942, Mr. Bush enlisted in the Navy and trained as a pilot. The next year, he was assigned to a torpedo squadron in the Pacific and piloted a Grumman Avenger. On one combat mission, in 1944, he was shot down and rescued by a submarine. Barbara did not hear from him for a month.

After enrolling at Smith College but before entering the freshman class, she shocked her mother by spending the summer working in a nuts-and-bolts factory.

She and Mr. Bush, on leave from the Navy, married in Rye on Jan. 6, 1945; the bride, not yet 20, had dropped out of Smith at the beginning of her sophomore year. “The truth is, I just wasn’t interested,” she said in interviews. “I was just interested in George.”

Barbara Pierce Bush delivers the Commencement Address at Wellesley College. Delivered 1 June 1990.

Barbara Bush delivered her speech to a less than thrilled audience as the liberal arts all women’s college had wanted another speaker. Little did they realize that she would win them over and give them pearls of wisdom they would use the rest of their lives. Barbara’s comments at the 9:36 mark of the video brought down the house!

George W. Bush  discussed how lucky he was to have Barbara as his mother:

“Laura, Barbara, Jenna, and I are are sad, but our souls are settled because we know hers was,” George W. Bush said. “Barbara Bush was a fabulous First Lady and a woman unlike any other who brought levity, love, and literacy to millions. To us she was so much more.”

“Mom kept us on our toes and kept us laughing until the end,” George W. Bush said. “I’m a lucky man that Barbara Bush was my mother. Our family will miss her dearly, and we thank you all for your prayers and good wishes.”

Former President Jimmy Carter paid tribute to Barbara Bush’s “warmth, generosity and keen wit” following the former first lady’s death.

Carter says Bush was “the matriarch of a family dedicated to serving.” In a statement, he says that through Bush’s “work to promote literacy as a value in every American home, countless families now have the knowledge and skills they need to thrive in all aspects of their lives.”

Carter says he and former first lady Rosalynn Carter are saddened by her death and they’ll miss her.

2013 C-SPAN First Ladies interview, Barbara Bush: “I have no fear of death, which is a huge comfort because we’re getting darn close.”

GOP Debate II: Donald Trump’s Best Liunes and Zingers of the CNN Republican Debate … “He (Obama) Just Doesn’t Have Courage, There is Something Missing From Our President.”

Republican GOP Debate on CNN …

It was the Donald Trump show once again as all of the other GOP candidates tried to knock The Donald off his perch. However, as usual Trump got off some zingers and lines that will be covered by the media in the post-debate analysis. Probably his best ones were pointed at Jeb Bush, especially when he said the following … “Your brother and your brother’s administration gave us Barack Obama.” Followed up with the disappointment with George W. Bush’s presidency made it impossible to elect a Republican to succeed him: “It was such a disaster those last three months that Abraham Lincoln couldn’t have been elected.”

Love him, hate him or if you are indifferent, Trump has a point.

The Politco: Trumped: His 14 most memorable debate lines.

Donald Trump did it again. After an explosive first debate in which Trump clashed with the moderators and stole the show, the bomb-throwing frontrunner came out swinging at the second Republican debate in Simi Valley, California, on Wednesday. He dissed Rand Paul (twice), put down George Pataki and hit Jeb Bush with a backhanded compliment. He also had plenty of praise — for himself and his business record.

Here are his 14 most quotable lines from the second Republican debate. (read here)

Daily Commentary – Wednesday, April 15, 2015 – FBI Investigating Ex White House Military Aide

• Retired Air Force Col. Timothy Milbrath and former aide to three US Presidents is under investigation for allegedly bilking investors out of millions of dollars

Daily Commentary – Wednesday, April 15, 2015 Download

Former President George H.W. Bush Rushed to Houston Methodist Hospital

90 year old, former president George H.W. Bush was hospitalized overnight at the Houston Methodist Hospital after experiencing shortness of breath. A statement from the 41st president of the United State’s office said that the elder Bush was taken to the hospital as a  precautionary measure.

Former President George H.W. Bush was hospitalized on Tuesday evening after experiencing what a spokesman called a “shortness of breath.”

Bush, 90, was taken by ambulance to Houston Methodist Hospital Tuesday evening as a precaution. The former president will remain there under observation.

In late 2012, he was admitted to the hospital with a bronchitis-related cough. Bush was released Nov. 19 but returned the day after Thanksgiving with a persistent cough. He was later admitted to intensive care with a stubborn fever. Bush spent that Christmas at the hospital, only leaving intensive care on Dec. 30.

Presidential spokesman Eric Schultz issued a statement on behalf of Barack Obama: “The President has been made aware that President Bush was admitted to the hospital. President Obama and the First Lady send their good wishes to the former President and the entire Bush family during this holiday season.” I guess Obama was too busy to interrupt his vacation and golfing to make a statement himself.

UPDATE I: George H.W. Bush to stay in hospital a third night.

Despite having “another terrific day,” former President George H.W. Bush will spend a third night in a Texas hospital, his office announced on Christmas.

The 41st president “is in great spirits” and wishes everyone a merry Christmas, his office said in a statement Thursday. He received visits from his wife, former first lady Barbara Bush, and from his son and daughter-in-law Neil and Maria Bush, it said.

Whack Job Benjamin Smith Arrested for Threatening to Kill George W. Bush … “I have to slay a dragon and Barbara Bush is mine”

44 year old Benjamin Smith was arrested Friday after threatening to kill former President George W. Bush. Smith was arrested in Manhattan, NY sitting in his car with a loaded .38-caliber rifle, two boxes of ammunition, a container of gasoline and a machete. According to the complaint, Benjamin Smith, a resident of upstate New York, threatened to “kill, kidnap and inflict bodily harm” on Bush. Smith professed a love interest in Barbara Bush, one of the Bush 43′s twin daughters, according to the complaint filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

A New York man sitting in a car armed with a rifle, a container of gasoline and a machete was arrested Friday after allegedly threatening to kill former President George W. Bush, according to a federal court complaint.

Benjamin Smith, 44, threatened to “kill, kidnap and inflict bodily harm” on Mr. Bush, and he professed a love interest in one of the former president’s twin daughters, Barbara, the complaint said, CNN reported.

“Bush will get his,” Smith allegedly screamed as he was taken into custody. When asked about his marital status, Smith said, “I’m divorced and not currently seeing anyone, but I am working on a relationship with Barbara Bush,” according to the complaint.

Secret Service agents found Smith on Friday morning sitting in his car in Manhattan with a loaded .38-caliber rifle, two boxes of ammunition, a container of gasoline and a machete, CNN said.

From ABC News:

 ”I’m going to work for George W. Bush and the pentagon,” Smith allegedly wrote. “I have to slay a dragon and Barbara Bush is mine.”

Smith’s mother also told police that a rifle was missing from the house.

Secret Service agents were able to track Smith’s cell phone to a Midtown street in Manhattan on Friday, where he was taken into custody around 6 a.m.

During questioning Smith appeared to be fixated on the daughter of George W. Bush, according to the complaint.

When he was asked about his marital status, he responded, “I am divorced and not currently seeing anyone but I am working on a relationship with Barbara Bush.”