Barbara Bush Dies at 92

henryfjordan 8 years ago | |

Jeb Bush lived through both his dad and his brother's presidency too (though his career might not have).

_m8fo 8 years ago | | |

Not going to lie, I totally forgot about him. Nice catch!

roryisok 8 years ago | | |

And George W Bush's children?

sparky_z 8 years ago | | |

And his three other siblings.

bausshf 8 years ago | | |

So basically all of the Bush family

smelendez 8 years ago | |

Eleanor Roosevelt was distantly related to both presidents Roosevelt (closer to Theodore). She would be an obvious rival for most influential first lady, as well.

protomyth 8 years ago | | |

Depends a lot on who you believe about FDR and her. I think Barbara Bush probably raised a bit more money and had a bigger impact on more people even if some don’t realize it. The loss of her daughter at a very young age had a profound impact on her charity work.

geowwy 8 years ago | |

I don't think your spouse is considered a blood tie.

harshgupta 8 years ago | |

> Perhaps the most influential woman (literally) in American history

That's a little far fetched.

brlewis 8 years ago | | |

I'm not sure why this is downvoted. Even limited to politics, it would be tough to compete with Harriet Beecher Stowe or Rosa Parks.

freedomben 8 years ago | | |

I didn't downvote, but it does seem to violate this HN guideline:

> Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something.

And potentially this one since she is clearly a political figure:

> Please don't use Hacker News primarily for political or ideological battle...

Again I don't agree with that, just speculating at reasons why.

PostOnce 8 years ago | | |

Rosa Parks, I would argue, was limited to a particular sphere of influence (civil rights), whereas the president's wife may have his ear directly, every day of his entire career, in every field, from diplomacy to economic development to national infrastructure to military strategy to civil rights, theoretically.

And then your son is also the president? Talk about power.

loggedinmyphone 8 years ago | | |

How about Rachel Carson or Louisa May Alcott? Sorry if this is off topic, but I find it fascinating how American history is increasingly viewed through the lens of race relations.

harshgupta 8 years ago | | |

Just to be clear, this was a response to the comment.

I do not have any opinion on Barbara Bush in particular other than knowing that she has a lifetime of experience in top American political circles and has been widely respected for that.