LAURA BUSH
Name: Laura Bush
Born: November 4, 1946 Midland, Texas
Laura Lane Welch Bush (born November 4, 1946) is the current First Lady of the
United States and the wife of the forty-third and current President of the
United States George W. Bush.
Laura Lane Welch was born in Midland, Texas, the only child of Harold Welch (1912–1995)
and Jenna Louise Hawkins Welch (born 1919).
In 1963 Laura was involved in a car accident when she ran a stop sign and
crashed into another car, killing a friend and classmate, Michael Dutton Douglas,
alleged to have been her boyfriend, who was driving the other car. According to
the two-page accident report released by the city of Midland, neither driver was
drinking, and no charges were filed.
Welch earned a Bachelor of Science degree in education in 1968 from Southern
Methodist University in Dallas where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta.
After graduating, she became a school teacher at Longfellow Elementary School in
Dallas Independent School District until 1969. She then taught for three years
at John F. Kennedy Elementary School, a Houston Independent School District
school in Houston, until 1972.
She then attained a Master of Science degree in Library Science in 1973 from the
University of Texas at Austin, following which she was employed as a librarian
at the Kashmere Gardens Branch at the Houston Public Library until 1974, when
she moved back to Austin. She was a librarian at an Austin Independent School
District school, Dawson Elementary School until 1977.
Laura and George W. Bush with their daughters Jenna and Barbara Bush
Kennebunkport, 1990
Laura Welch met George W. Bush in 1977 at a backyard barbecue at the home of
mutual friends. After a three-month courtship, she married him on November 5 of
that year at the First United Methodist Church in Midland, the same church in
which she had been baptized.
In 1981, she gave birth to twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna. The twins
graduated from high school in 2000 and from Yale University and the University
of Texas at Austin, respectively, in 2004.
During her years raising her children, Laura Bush served as a volunteer in a
number of organizations, including Friends of the Midland Public Library, the
executive board of the Junior League of Midland, the Friends of Dallas Public
Library Board Executive Committee, the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) at
Preston Hollow Elementary School, and the Community Partners Board of Child
Protective Services.
Laura Bush is credited with influencing the maturation of her husband in the
1980s and with being one of the factors in his decision to stop drinking alcohol
in 1986.
Her mother, Jenna Louise Hawkins, was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of
78. She endured surgery and has no further signs of cancer. Laura has become a
breast cancer activist on her mother's behalf.
Mrs. Laura Bush smiling at her husband at the White House in 2005
Several times a year, Laura Bush and her husband travel to their sprawling
family estate, the Bush Compound better known as Walker's Point. Located in
Kennebunkport, Maine, the compound is where Bush family gatherings have been
held for nearly 100 years.
Bush became the First Lady of Texas when her husband was elected as the Governor
of Texas and served as first lady of that state from 1995 to 2000. She worked
for women's and children's causes, establishing the Adopt-a-Caseworker Program
and the Rainbow Room program. She also focused on literacy and libraries, and
established the First Lady's Family Literacy Initiative, which encouraged
families to read together. During her years in the Governor's Mansion, she
did not hold a single formal event.
After the outcome of the 2000 Presidential Election was finally resolved in
December 2000, her husband resigned as Texas Governor to prepare for his
inauguration as President of the United States in January 2001, making Laura
Bush the First Lady of the United States.
Name: Laura Bush
Born: November 4, 1946 Midland, Texas
Laura Lane Welch Bush (born November 4, 1946) is the current First Lady of the
United States and the wife of the forty-third and current President of the
United States George W. Bush.
Laura Lane Welch was born in Midland, Texas, the only child of Harold Welch (1912–1995)
and Jenna Louise Hawkins Welch (born 1919).
In 1963 Laura was involved in a car accident when she ran a stop sign and
crashed into another car, killing a friend and classmate, Michael Dutton Douglas,
alleged to have been her boyfriend, who was driving the other car. According to
the two-page accident report released by the city of Midland, neither driver was
drinking, and no charges were filed.
Welch earned a Bachelor of Science degree in education in 1968 from Southern
Methodist University in Dallas where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta.
After graduating, she became a school teacher at Longfellow Elementary School in
Dallas Independent School District until 1969. She then taught for three years
at John F. Kennedy Elementary School, a Houston Independent School District
school in Houston, until 1972.
She then attained a Master of Science degree in Library Science in 1973 from the
University of Texas at Austin, following which she was employed as a librarian
at the Kashmere Gardens Branch at the Houston Public Library until 1974, when
she moved back to Austin. She was a librarian at an Austin Independent School
District school, Dawson Elementary School until 1977.
Laura and George W. Bush with their daughters Jenna and Barbara Bush
Kennebunkport, 1990
Laura Welch met George W. Bush in 1977 at a backyard barbecue at the home of
mutual friends. After a three-month courtship, she married him on November 5 of
that year at the First United Methodist Church in Midland, the same church in
which she had been baptized.
In 1981, she gave birth to twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna. The twins
graduated from high school in 2000 and from Yale University and the University
of Texas at Austin, respectively, in 2004.
During her years raising her children, Laura Bush served as a volunteer in a
number of organizations, including Friends of the Midland Public Library, the
executive board of the Junior League of Midland, the Friends of Dallas Public
Library Board Executive Committee, the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) at
Preston Hollow Elementary School, and the Community Partners Board of Child
Protective Services.
Laura Bush is credited with influencing the maturation of her husband in the
1980s and with being one of the factors in his decision to stop drinking alcohol
in 1986.
Her mother, Jenna Louise Hawkins, was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of
78. She endured surgery and has no further signs of cancer. Laura has become a
breast cancer activist on her mother's behalf.
Mrs. Laura Bush smiling at her husband at the White House in 2005
Several times a year, Laura Bush and her husband travel to their sprawling
family estate, the Bush Compound better known as Walker's Point. Located in
Kennebunkport, Maine, the compound is where Bush family gatherings have been
held for nearly 100 years.
Bush became the First Lady of Texas when her husband was elected as the Governor
of Texas and served as first lady of that state from 1995 to 2000. She worked
for women's and children's causes, establishing the Adopt-a-Caseworker Program
and the Rainbow Room program. She also focused on literacy and libraries, and
established the First Lady's Family Literacy Initiative, which encouraged
families to read together. During her years in the Governor's Mansion, she
did not hold a single formal event.
After the outcome of the 2000 Presidential Election was finally resolved in
December 2000, her husband resigned as Texas Governor to prepare for his
inauguration as President of the United States in January 2001, making Laura
Bush the First Lady of the United States.