Reviews for The Matriarch

by Susan Page

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A deeply admiring biography of the former first lady.Veteran journalist Page, who is currently the Washington Bureau chief of USA Today and has covered six presidential administrations, had the good fortune to conduct five interviews with Barbara Bush (1925-2018) in her final months, and, as the author notes, "her mind was sharp to the end." Also sharp was Bush's tongueso much so that even her own sons had to ask her to tone it down. Page begins with Bush's memorial service in Houston and then moves to her most wrenching experiencethe loss of her daughter, 3, to leukemia in 1953before settling into a steady chronology of her revered subject. The author notes that Barbara Pierce (not yet Bush) had a difficult relationship with her own mother, who demeaned her for her appearance. She met her future husband at a country club party shortly after Pearl Harbor, and they married a few years later. Then they moved to Texas to start their livesand successfully so. Page takes us through their campaigns, victories, losses, and disappointments. As the author notes, Bush assumed a traditional wife/homemaker/mother role while her husband made many of the decisions for the family. This choice did not endear her to feminists of the time. She would not criticize her husband (or, later, her sons) in public, though during the 1980 presidential campaign (her husband was running to be Reagan's vice president), she fell silent about her support for abortion rights, and, later, she was displeased with her son's entanglement in Iraq. The author also explains the Bushes' growing friendship with the Clintons. Opponents of Donald Trump have an ally in Barbara Bush, who disliked him long before he disparaged her son Jeb in the 2016 primaries. In a late interview, she also expressed unhappiness about the current course and priorities of the GOP.A mostly sweet biography with occasional small drops of none-too-bitter acid. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.


Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

The recently deceased wife of President George H. W. Bush and mother of President George W. Bush exemplifies an old-school style of feminine strength and influence in this warmhearted biography. USA Today Washington bureau chief Page paints Bush, possibly the last First Lady to have had no career, as a sometimes controversial icon of postwar wifely devotion, gamely uprooting herself from her affluent New England home to a chancy new life in Texas and being a full-time (and occasionally depressed) mom to six children-her daughter's death from leukemia is a moving centerpiece of the narrative-to accommodate her husband's ambitions. But she was also a canny political animal, Page contends. She persuaded her vacillating husband to go negative with racially tinged campaign ads against Michael Dukakis in the 1988 presidential election, and asked her son pointed questions about the invasion of Iraq; in her own right, she forcefully advocated for literacy programs and opposed discrimination against AIDS patients. There's little drama in Bush's story apart from tension between her and Nancy Reagan, and the author's assessment of her as indispensable to her husband's political rise feels overstated. But Bush admirers will enjoy Page's vivid depiction of her as an appealing, down-to-earth, sharp-tongued figure who held her own in a man's world. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.


Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Page, Washington correspondent for USA Today, tackles the life of former first lady Barbara Bush (1925-2018) in this new biography. While the work is not officially authorized, Page interviewed Bush many times before her death in 2018 and had access to her voluminous diaries that no other historian has seen. Page's coverage includes key moments, such as her marriage to George Bush, the death of her daughter Robin, her struggles with depression, the development of her own political consciousness, and her contentious relationship with Nancy Reagan. While the Bushes' marriage is often held up as an ideal one, Page concludes that the long-rumored affair that George Bush had with aide Jennifer Fitzgerald was likely true, even though both always denied it. The author spends considerable time analyzing Barbara Bush's personality, including her quick wit, bluntness, self-deprecation, loyalty to her husband, and strict methods for raising her children and grandchildren; all traits that captivated the public. VERDICT An engaging read full of rich behind-the-scenes details of a fascinating matriarch and public leader, including her struggles and triumphs.-Kate Stewart, Arizona Historical Soc., Tuscon © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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