Former first lady Laura Bush admits she let out a ‘sigh of relief’ when her husband George W Bush left the White House after two turbulent terms in office.
Mrs Bush opened up about the influence of first ladies and life away from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on CBS This Morning on Monday, before attending a panel discussion with the first lady of Namibia in New York.
Mrs Bush and her counterpart Monica Geingos have joined forces to help improve education and health care for women and girls as part of the First Ladies’ Initiative at the George W. Bush Institute.
First Lady speaks out: Laura Bush says when her husband left office in early 2009, she breathed ‘a slight sight of relief because you don’t feel absolutely responsible all the time’
Bush opened up about the influence of first ladies and life away from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on CBS This Morning on Monday (pictured in the studio)
Reflecting on her time in the White House, Mrs Bush, 70, said her proudest achievement as a first lady was launching the US-Afghan Women’s Council to shine a spotlight on the plight of women in Afghanistan, who were marginalized and oppressed in their country.
Asked by CBS This Morning hosts what advice she would offer future first ladies, Mrs Bush said, ‘start with what you know.’
In her earlier life, Mrs Bush had been a librarian and a teacher, so when George W Bush was elected president in 2000, she chose to focus her attention on literacy and founded the first national book festival.
George W. Bush and his wife Laura arrive on stage for the Inaugural Opening Celebration on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial January 18, 2001, in Washington, DC
‘Start with what you know’: Mrs Bush was a librarian and teacher, so when George W Bush was elected president in 2000 (pictured in 2007), she chose to focus her attention on literacy
Mrs Bush, 70, said her proudest achievement as a first lady was launching the US-Afghan Women’s Council to shine a spotlight on the plight of women in Afghanistan (pictured in Kabul in 2005)
Reflecting on her role as a first lady, Mrs Bush said she had the ‘huge advantage’ of watching and learning from her mother-in-law, Barbara Bush, whom she described as a major influence in her life.
When CBS presenter Charlie Rose quipped that as the wife of the president, she had George W Bush’s ear in the morning and at night before bed, Laura Bush coyly conceded with a smile: ‘you certainly have a lot of influence.’
During the eight years she had spent living in the Executive Mansion under the watchful eye of the US Secret Service and with news cameras trained on her at all time, Mrs Bush said she still got to enjoy some moments of freedom, like taking morning walks on the National Mall, with a baseball cap pulled low over her face.
But, she said, moving out of the ‘People’s House’ in 2009, following the election of Barack Obama, gave her a sense of liberation.
Changing of the guard: Laura Bush says she let out a ‘slight sigh of relief’ when their family left the White House in 2009, to make way for Barack and Michelle Obama (pictured together in November 2008)
Unlikely friends: Laura Bush addressed the friendship between her husband and former first Michelle Obama, saying ‘they like to laugh’ (pictured together in March 2015)
‘I think there’s a slight sight of relief just because you don’t feel absolutely responsible all the time, and of course that’s what the president feels,’ she said.
When asked if she had any words of advice for the current occupant of the White House, Melania Trump, Laura Bush said she had none.
But Mrs Bush shared an anecdote from the time she came over to the White House to have tea with Mrs Trump, and the newly minted first lady assembled the entire staff, many of whom Laura had known from her time at the Executive Mansion, to say ‘hello’ to their former boss.
Laura Bush also addressed the well-documented friendship between her husband and Michelle Obama, saying of the unlikely duo: ‘they like to laugh, and that’s fun.’