Born November 4, 1946, Laura Welch was raised in
Midland, TX. She received a
B.S. degree in
Education from
Southern Methodist University in 1968, then worked as a teacher at
elementary schools in
Dallas and
Houston until 1972. A year later she received a
Master's degree in
Library Science from the
University of Texas at
Austin, then worked at a branch of the Houston
Public Library until 1974. She returned to Austin and worked as an elementary school
librarian until 1977, when one day after her thirty-first birthday she married
George W. Bush. Following a difficult pregnancy, she gave birth to
fraternal twin daughters Barbara and Jenna in 1981, naming them for their grandmothers. When the girls were seven years old, the family moved to Dallas where she served on many
literacy and child safety related boards. When her husband became
governor of
Texas in 1994, the family moved back to Austin where she continued to work as an advocate for reading and education. When she was
relocated to
Washington DC after her husband became the
President of the United States, she started a number of literacy programs and also worked for
breast cancer research.
Little-known facts:
- At the age of 17, she was involved in a fatal car accident when she drove through a stop sign and struck a car driven by a high school friend, who later died. No charges were brought.
- She enjoys birdwatching and rafting.
- A former cigarette addict, she used to sneak Winstons in the backseat of friends' cars.
- She considered herself a Democrat before marriage.
- She cleans out her medicine cabinet to relax.
- Her nickname for her husband is "Bushie."
Sources:
"Laura Welch Bush: Shy no more" by John Hanchette for USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/e98/e2147.htm
Biography of First Lady Laura Bush. http://www.whitehouse.gov/firstlady/flbio.html