Andie and I were the benefactors of Anita's Celebrity Forum tickets with Laura Bush as last night's guest speaker. She was a gracious & classy speaker! Laura Bush updated the full auditorium on her family members, reflected on their 8 years in The White House and now their "afterlife" (her choice of words). Then, she spoke fairly passionately about her champion causes: literacy, education and women's issues.
She was really charming! For 63 (hey, she's even older than Elton John and Billy Joel) she looks beautiful. She was really impressive with her prepared delivery but rambled a little during the questions. Much more articulate with notes than on the stump (but then, so are most people).
Laura Bush has almost a folksy but dignified style. And a cute sense of humor. I remember during the transition from the Bush entourage to Team Obama the Bush's were constantly asked about their future plans. Laura Bush cleverly responded: "Though my plans at the moment are vague, I can assure you that I'll never run for the Senate in New York." Clever, a little jab at Hillary Clinton (who had never lived in the state of New York before the Clinton White House departure - but knew their was a potential Democratic Senate seat available)!
A touching moment for me in Laura Bush's remarks was when she addressed the constant barrage of criticism toward her husband. She said it did bother her but didn't disturb her because she "knows who she is and she knows who George is" ...(spoken with great conviction!)
Bush also felt a calm from living among the ghosts of past presidencies in The White House who also struggled over tough decisions. She came to feel that all of these men were decent men trying to do their best for our country.
Laura is one of the most popular 1st ladies which is amazing since George W. left office with a pretty decimated approval rating. She's currently working on her memoirs, coming out May 3rd, which she joked will be titled "Formerly Shy Librarian Tells All." I think her comments gave us a good sneak preview of the book. And, Andie, of course, was a fun date and probably the youngest person in the audience!
