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Laura BushLaura Welch Bush (born Laura Lane Welch on November 4, 1946) is the wife of President George W. Bush and serves as First Lady of the United States. Early life and tragedy Laura Lane Welch was born in Midland, Texas, the only child of Harold and Jenna Welch. She was a very popular student at school and attended the same high school as General Tommy Franks. On November 6, 1963, while driving to a party in the early evening, a seventeen year old Laura failed to stop at a stop sign and collided with a Corvair sedan http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/e1698.htm driven by Michael Douglas. Douglas was thrown from his car and broke his neck, dying instantly. The tragedy was made even worse by Welch's close friendship with Douglas, who attended the same high school as Laura. Commenting on the tragedy when First Lady, she said "All I can say about that (is) it was a very, very, tragic accident I was involved in when I was 17 years old, almost 40-something years ago. It was a terrible accident. It was terrible for everyone involved...I know this as an adult, and even more as a parent, it was crushing...for the family involved and for me as well," she said. http://www.bartcop.com/pickles.htm The Police were unable to establish which of the two drivers was at fault and did not believe believe Laura guilty of any wrongdoing that warranted any charges. Her biographer explained that Laura "did not find out that the driver of the other vehicle had died at the scene until later when she and her girlfriend were being treated at the hospital. And she did not learn his identity until later still, when her parents arrived and broke the news to her. It shattered her."http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/laura.asp Another author said the accident "was one of those hinges in a life, a moment when destiny shuddered, then lurched in a new direction. In its aftermath, Laura became more cautious and less spontaneous, more inclined to be compassionate, less inclined to judge another person."http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/07/earlyshow/leisure/books/main591951.shtml College years and marriage Laura earned a Bachelor of Science degree in education in 1968 from Southern Methodist University in Dallas. After graduating, she became a schoolteacher at Longfellow Elementary School in Dallas Independent School District until 1969. She then taught at John F. Kennedy Elementary School, a Houston Independent School District school in Houston, until 1972. Bush also earned a Master of Science degree in Library Science in 1973 from the University Texas in Austin. She is the second First Lady (after Hillary Clinton) to hold a post graduate degree. After that, she worked 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. She met George W. Bush in 1977 and after a three month courtship married him on November 5 of that year. In 1981, she gave birth to twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna, who have now graduated from college. First Lady Laura became the first lady of Texas when her husband George was elected as the Governor of Texas and served as first lady of that state from 1995 to 2000. After the outcome of the 2000 Presidential Election was finally resolved in December 2000, George Bush resigned as Texas Governor to prepare for his inauguration as President of the United States in January 2001; Laura then became the First Lady of the United States. As First Lady of the United States, she has championed education causes and women's health issues, and launched the first National Book Festival. She also worked for women's and children's causes while she was the First Lady of Texas, when she established the Adopt-a-Caseworker Program and the Rainbow Room program. Bush has taken a decidedly less prominent role in policy-making than her predecessors. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, which defined her husband's presidency during his first term, Bush took an interest in mitigating the emotional effects of the attacks on children, which were disturbing particularly as the images were repeatedly replayed on TV. Many schools closed early, especially those with children whose parents worked in Washington, D.C. and NYC. The following day, after consulting with many experts, Bush commented to parents that it was not good for children to be exposed to the numerous replays of the incidents, and that parents should consider turning off the television, especially understanding how children reacted when watching television coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. She also composed open letters which were distributed by state education officials. A "Dear Students" letter went to middle and high school students http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/letter1.html, while elementary school students got one saying, "Dear Children." http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/letter2.html In November 2001, she became the first person other than a president to deliver the weekly presidential radio address. She used the opportunity to discuss the plight of women in Afghanistan during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. In May 2002, she made a speech to the people of Afghanistan through Radio Liberty, a radio station in Prague, Czech Republic. Her Secret Service codename was reported to be "Tempo" (the Secret Service changes codenames as soon as they become public knowledge). External links
Bush, Laura Bush, Laura Bush, Laura Bush, Laura
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