Former First Lady Teaches ‘Life’s Lessons’

Wearing her trademark three-stranded pearl necklace, former First Lady Barbara Bush told members of a packed forum at the Kennedy School of Government last night to reach out to their neighbors and enjoy life.

Bush’s speech, entitled “Life’s Lessons,” began with the open, witty tone that characterized the entire evening, even as she addressed serious issues such as volunteerism after Sept. 11.

Bush, married to former President George H.W. Bush and mother of the current President Bush, said she was surprised to be invited to speak in a political setting—since many of her political predictions over the years have been wrong.

“I told my husband in 1992 that Ross Perot wouldn’t affect the election,” she said. “Then I told my son that running for governor would never work out. And when he wanted to run for president, that wouldn’t work out either. So much for my political expertise.”

Her speech was peppered with such jokes about her famous family and friends.

“When [Bush Sr. and I] watched [current President Bush] speaking to the nation on the 11th and the day after at the U. N., we were in awe,” she said. “Can this be the same miserable little kid I had to threaten with death and destruction to get him to clean his room?”

Throughout the speech, Bush shied away from serious talk of the politics she dealt with during her time as first lady.

She received a round of applause from the audience when she said that she expected to see a female president in her lifetime—even though she is 77.

After her jocular anecdotes, Bush turned to offering more philosophical life advice.

She said her life experience—encompassing 57 years of marriage, six children and three dress sizes—has taught her that people should always look to the good things in life.

“Too many of us live too timidly,” she said. “We are too afraid to speak up or to ask a boy or a girl out.”

“People don’t care if you’re good at any of these things, but they will care if you enjoy life,” Bush added.

She emphasized the importance of volunteering, particularly in one’s own community. She advised the audience not to wait for big, glamorous causes but instead to know their neighbors and become “everyday heros.”

In response to a question from a woman who works for AmeriCorps—a federal volunteer program—Bush said, “I love you.”

She also said that increasing literacy rates could help improve a broad range of issues.

For instance, she said, low literacy rates in Afghanistan should be reversed to increase national stability.

Bush founded the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy in 1989, which has awarded nearly $11 million for family literacy programs.

“I think that if more people could read, write and comprehend, then many of our problems could end,” she said.

—Staff writer Katherine M. Dimengo can be reached at dimengo@fas.harvard.edu.