Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
A vivid, immersive biography of former First Lady and Bush clan matriarch Barbara Bush, one of the most storied women in American political history.
Barbara Pierce Bush -- political powerhouse, Bush family matriarch, former First Lady, and celebrated public servant -- has not been the focus of a robust, mainstream biography for over a decade.
In THE MATRIARCH, her story is revived and told in full: from growing up in Rye, New York to becoming America's First Lady, every tragedy and triumph is rivetingly told. An institution in and of herself, Barbara Bush's role in American history cannot be understated. Beginning while Second Lady and through her time as First Lady, she invested herself deeply in expanding literacy programs in America, launched efforts to combat homelessness, and eventually became the first woman since Eleanor Roosevelt to speak at her party's national convention in 1988. While her own political beliefs sometimes differed from her husband's, Barbara Bush nevertheless became an astute political campaign strategist, helping him to gain the nomination and win the election.
Barbara Bush's accomplishments, struggles, and contributions are many. Now, Susan Page brings them all into one place in THE MATRIARCH, a book certain to cement Barbara Bush as one of the most unique and influential figures in American history.
Synopsis
A vivid biography of former First Lady Barbara Bush, one of the most influential and under-appreciated women in American political history. Barbara Pierce Bush was one of the country's most popular and powerful figures. Yet her full story has never been told.
THE MATRIARCH tells the riveting tale of a woman directly responsible for two American presidencies and for helping to define an entire political era. Written by USA TODAY's Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page, the book is punctuated by more than 100 interviews with Bush friends and family members, hours of conversations with Mrs. Bush herself before her death, and access to her diaries that spanned decades. THE MATRIARCH will also delve into less well-known aspects of Bush's remarkable life: as a girl in Rye, New York, she weathered criticism of her looks and weight from a disapproving mother, which left lifelong scars; as a young wife, she coped with the death of her three-year-old daughter to leukemia, a loss that defined the rest of her life; in middle age, she grappled with depression that led her to contemplate suicide; and in triumph, she became first the wife and then the mother of an American President, the only woman in history to life through both her husband's and her son's terms of office.
While her own political beliefs sometimes differed from her husband's, Barbara Bush nevertheless became an astute and trusted political campaign strategist, helping him to gain the nomination and win the election. She invested herself deeply in expanding literacy programs in America, played a critical role in the end of the Cold War, and led the way for demonstrating love and compassion to victims of HIV/AIDS. With her cooperation, this book offers Barbara Bush's last words for history -- on the evolution of her party, on the role of women, on Donald Trump, and on her family's legacy.
Barbara Bush's accomplishments, struggles, and contributions are many. Now, Susan Page brings them all into one place in THE MATRIARCH, a book certain to cement Barbara Bush as one of the most unique and influential figures in American history.
Synopsis
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
" The] rare biography of a public figure that's not only beautifully written, but also shockingly revelatory." -- The Atlantic
A vivid biography of former First Lady Barbara Bush, one of the most influential and under-appreciated women in American political history. Barbara Pierce Bush was one of the country's most popular and powerful figures, yet her full story has never been told.
THE MATRIARCH tells the riveting tale of a woman who helped define two American presidencies and an entire political era. Written by USA TODAY's Washington Bureau chief Susan Page, this biography is informed by more than one hundred interviews with Bush friends and family members, hours of conversation with Mrs. Bush herself in the final six months of her life, and access to her diaries that spanned decades. THE MATRIARCH examines not only her public persona but also less well-known aspects of her remarkable life.
As a girl in Rye, New York, Barbara Bush weathered criticism of her weight from her mother, barbs that left lifelong scars. As a young wife, she coped with the death of her three-year-old daughter from leukemia, a loss that changed her forever. In middle age, she grappled with depression so serious that she contemplated suicide. And as first the wife and then the mother of American presidents, she made history as the only woman to see -- and advise -- both her husband and son in the Oval Office.
As with many women of her era, Barbara Bush was routinely underestimated, her contributions often neither recognized nor acknowledged. But she became an astute and trusted political campaign strategist and a beloved First Lady. She invested herself deeply in expanding literacy programs in America, played a critical role in the end of the Cold War, and led the way in demonstrating love and compassion to those with HIV/AIDS. With her cooperation, this book offers Barbara Bush's last words for history -- on the evolution of her party, on the role of women, on Donald Trump, and on her family's legacy.
Barbara Bush's accomplishments, struggles, and contributions are many. Now, Susan Page explores them all in THE MATRIARCH, a groundbreaking book certain to cement Barbara Bush as one of the most unique and influential women in American history.