Ronald Kessler - Laura Bush: An Intimate Portrait of the First Lady

CONTENTS

For Pam, Greg, and Rachel Kessler

PROLOGUE

W hen the call came in just after 6 P.M. on October 20, 2004, Laura Bush had just finished an hour-long yoga session with Pamela Hudson Nelson, her high school friend from Midland, Texas. The day before, USA Today had run an interview with Teresa Heinz Kerry. When asked how she would be different from Laura Bush as first lady, the wife of the Democratic presidential candidate sniffed: I dont know that shes ever had a real job....

Within hours, Heinzwho would drop Kerry from her name after the electionissued an apology. Now she was calling the first lady. Having finished their yoga in the exercise room on the third floor of the White House, Laura and Nelson were on the second floor of the residence in Lauras dressing room. Off the first couples bedroom, the dressing room had a chaise longue, a fireplace, a small desk, drawers for jewelry, and racks of clothes in cleaners bags. Pinned to the bags were lists of when and where each item had been worn.

With a touch of drama, Daniel Shanks, an usher, came in and announced Heinzs call. Also present were Lindsey M. Lineweaver, Lauras assistant and personal aide, and Maria Galvan, the Bushes personal housekeeper from Austin. In photos, Lineweaver could be seen with Laura carrying a huge bag that held the first ladys extra contact lenses and Cover Girl makeup.

It was twelve days before the election, and Laura had been out campaigning in New York, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania. Today was her only break from the campaign, and she and her husband were planning to enjoy a rare dinner together with their daughters and Pamela Nelson. The next day, Laura was set to leave again for New Hampshire. The president was heading for Pennsylvania.

Earlier that afternoon, after Heinzs public apology, Laura had told reporters that there had been no need for her to do so.

I know how tough it is, and actually I know those trick questions, she said.

Laura did not take Teresas call. Instead, she turned to Andrea G. Andi Ball, her chief of staff in the White House and during the years Laura had been first lady of Texas. Lets not make this into anything, she said. Call her back and tell her that Mrs. Bush understands that when you talk to the media, things get quoted that you didnt quite say or mean to say.

Ball went back to her office in the East Wing and called Heinzs assistant. Unlike Hillary Clinton, who moved the first ladys office to the West Wing, Laura has her office in the East Wing. However, she operates most of the time out of a small office in the residence portion of the White House. That office is also where she has her hair done. Ball told the assistant that if Teresa was calling about her comment, there was no need for either of them to take time out of their day to talk about it. Mrs. Bush thinks nothing of it. I dont think Mrs. Kerry meant that she never worked.

Pamela Nelson had been staying overnight at the White House for several days each month for meetings of the Commission on Fine Arts, which reviews and approves architectural plans submitted by the federal and District of Columbia governments. As Laura continued selecting clothes to pack, she explained to Nelson, If I took the call from Mrs. Kerry, it would escalate. The next story will be: Mrs. Kerry Talked to Mrs. Bush. I dont want this to be news. I dont want reporters to grab this and start beating up on Teresa Kerry. She doesnt know how to talk to the media. She blurts things out. You cant blurt.

Despite Lauras excuses for Teresa Heinz, her comments in the USA Today interview were not off-the-cuff responses during a high-pressure press conference. They were part of a recorded Q&A. Heinz had apparently forgotten that, for ten years, Laura had been an elementary school teacher and librarian at inner-city schools. Heinz also appeared to be implying that women who dont have jobs and devote themselves to raising a family are unworthy of respect.

Soon after this, press secretary Gordon Johndroe called Laura at the residence to say that a new Gallup Poll for USA Today and CNN showed that 74 percent of Americans had a favorable opinion of her. Only 16 percent had an unfavorable opinion. Were going to get those sixteen percent, Johndroe told Laura jokingly. Were going to wring their necks and get them over to us. The following year, Lauras approval rating would soar to 85 percent, according to a Gallup Poll. Since opinion polls first began asking about them in 1939, no first lady had received a higher rating. After Hillary Clinton and Oprah Winfrey, Laura Bush was the most admired woman in America.

At the table that night in the pale green family dining room, Laura took the same positive approach to Teresa Heinzs remark as she had in public. Bush had been campaigning that day in Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. His arrival for dinner at 8 P.M. did not have to be announced. Laura and Pamela Nelson could hear the helicopterMarine Onelanding on the South Lawn.

After Bush took his place at the dinner table, he said grace.

Sometimes, Ive been asked to say grace, which is a little nerve-racking because of where you are and maybe who is sitting around the table, Nelson observed. You never know who is going to be asked, so you have a little prayer just in case he goes, Pam, go pray. One time I kind of waited too long; I was taking deep yoga breaths.

Are you going to come out with it? Bush asked.

Wait, its coming out, Nelson responded.

That October 20, 2004, evening, as a butler passed cheese and chicken enchiladas, daughters Jenna and Barbara Bush expressed outrage at Teresas comment. Typically, Jenna was the more vocal.

You know, Mom, she put down every woman who raised their children, Jenna said. She was saying thats not a real job. That was what was so bad about it. Not that she forgot you had a teaching job, but that she was putting down raising children.

Meanwhile, Nelson, a vegetarian, selected a chicken enchilada by mistake. Laura plucked it from her friends plate and put it on her own. She then talked about how easy it was for words to be twisted and taken out of context.

You know that comment, Bring them on, Laura said, referring to Bushs July 2003 statement challenging those who would attack American forces in Iraq. It had so many political repercussions. Everything can be used a million times against you.

This has to be the meanest campaign ever, Nelson said.

No, the leaflets they dropped when Lincoln was running that disparaged him and his family were horrible, Laura said. People blame everything that happens on this office.

Bush was tired from his trip and expressed no opinion about Heinzs comment. Instead, Nelson recalled, Every time the butler came in, the president asked who was ahead in the St. Louis Cardinals versus Houston Astros National League Championship. After dinner, Bush went into his office in the residence and worked a hand-cut mahogany jigsaw puzzle lent to the White House by Elms Puzzles of Maine. Another Elms puzzle was a present from the White House staff. Imprinted on it was the face of Barney, the Bushes omnipresent Scottish terrier.

Among themselves, members of the Bush campaign staff were expressing joy over Heinzs comment. On behalf of the campaign, Karen Hughes took the offensive, saying on television that Heinzs remarks were indicative of an unfortunate mind-set that seeks to divide women based on who works at home and who works outside the home.