Those of you who know me best, also know that I am far from being a fan of politics. Now and then, however, a few sage tidbits pique my interest. For example, as you likely know, Barbara Bush and Abigail Adams have the distinction of being the only two women to be married to a U.S. President and be the mother of another U.S. President. Barbara Bush was married to George H.W. Bush, the 41st U.S. President, and was the mother of George W. Bush, the 43rd U.S. President. Anyone who met Barbara Bush loved her and her ability to relate to anyone with the utmost honesty and wit. I was blessed to meet and interview her several times, including when she gave the commencement address at Wellesley College in Massachusetts on June 1, 1990. Always a powerful advocate for children and families, she offered up plenty of sage words for the graduates, including this tidbit.
“You must read to your children, and you must hug your children, and you must love your children. Your success as a family, our success as a society, depends not on what happens in the White House, but on what happens inside your home.”
— Barbara Bush (1925 – 2018)
Abigail Adams, now referred to as the 2nd First Lady of the United States, although that title had not yet been established during her tenure, was also the mother of John Quincy Adams, the 6th President of the United States. Further, she was not only the wife of John Adams, the 2nd President of the United States… She also served as his closest advisor. Even prior to the American Revolution she was utterly unimpressed with political “talk,” as indicated in the following quote from a letter she wrote to John Adams in 1774.
“We have too many high-sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them.”
— Abigail Adams (1744 – 1818)
