Barbara Pierce Bush was the first lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993 as the wife of President George H. W. Bush.
As the first lady, Barbara Bush selected literacy as a cause that she would support and promote. She referred to making Americans literate as “the most important issue we have.” As she became more involved with literacy, she was named Honorary Chairman of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Literacy. In support of this cause, Barbara Bush visited Barbara Bush Elementary every couple of years and read a book to the students. Her most recent visit was in March 2006. She read aloud the book Superdog by Caralyn & Mark Buehner. In the spring of 2004 she read Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney.
