When the sad news arrived Tuesday night that Barbara Bush was dead at 92, she was hailed worldwide as a gracious first lady and the beloved matriarch of a family that included five children (including a second President Bush), fourteen grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.
But there was another side to the lady husband George H.W. Bush nicknamed "the Silver Fox": as one of the first political wives at the presidential level who not only campaigned separately for her husband but was included in the strategy sessions of his political team.
"She had more guts and attitude than most men in politics," Saul Anuzis, president of the SixtyPlus Seniors Association and former state GOP chairman of Michigan, told Newsmax.
Anuzis, who got his start as a 20-something campaigner for George H.W. Bush in 1980, added "Barbara Bush's aggressiveness was unique and inspirational for women and political spouses in general."
When former Texas congressman and CIA Director Bush entered the Republican presidential sweepstakes in 1980, wife Barbara stumped hard for him. But in contrast to most of the wives of presidential candidates, she was frequently away from her husband's side and made her own speeches and appearances.
Barbara Pierce Bush was, in effect, the heiress to Martha Taft, wife of Ohio Sen. Robert Taft, who made stops, speeches, and arrangements for him in his three bids for the Republican presidential nomination (1940, '48, and '52).
Just as Martha Taft made friends with her wit and sense of humor, Barbara Bush won over supporters for her husband by emerging on top from sometimes awkward situations.
One such situation occurred during the all-important Michigan primary of 1980 — in which George H.W. Bush trounced opponent Ronald Reagan by a margin of 2-1. After the silver-haired Barbara Bush spoke to a group, a woman in the audience came up and exclaimed to her: "I'm so glad your son is running for president!"
Mrs. Bush repeated the story to her husband's Michigan campaign chairman without any rancor.
Reagan, of course, made Bush his running mate and the Republican ticket won resoundingly that fall. As both second and first lady, Barbara Bush seemed to keep an invisible ledger of who had supported her husband in his national campaigns.
In 1982, lawyer Tom Ridge was the underdog Republican nominee for an open U.S. House seat in Erie, Pennsylvania. Many national Republicans privately wrote off his chances. Not the wife of the vice president, who knew Ridge had worked tirelessly as a Bush-for-President volunteer two years before.
Mrs. Bush came into Erie and stumped for Ridge. In a photo-finish, he won by 729 votes and went on to serve in Congress for 12 years, as governor of Pennsylvania for eight years, and as the first secretary of Homeland Security under George W. Bush.
In 1992, after the elder Bush was defeated for re-election, Republican Rep. Bill Gradison resigned to take a private sector job and thus set the stage for a special election in Ohio's 2nd District (Cincinnati). Rob Portman, deputy assistant to President Bush for legislative affairs, joined a GOP primary field of four contenders. Among them were Rep. Bob McEwen, who had represented the neighboring district for 12 years until his defeat that November, and Jay Buchert, president of the National Association of Homebuilders.
Opponents criticized Portman for his ties to the defeated president, but he proudly aligned himself with another Bush.
First lady Barbara cut a hard-hitting radio spot hailing Portman's character and hard work at the White House. He topped the field with 35 percent of the vote. Now a U.S. Senator from Ohio, Portman unfailingly recalls the boost he got in his first-ever race from Barbara Bush.
The former first lady had strong opinions on some issues. She was strongly pro-choice and let it be known she differed with her president-husband's strong pro-life stand. But any other differences on policy were kept private.
What is known from any who worked on a campaign with her is Barbara Bush had superb political instincts that proved quite valuable to her husband as well as his supporters and friends in the political arena.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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