On the flight home, Mrs. Bush says she’s bothered by her image as a traditional 1950s housewife, Harriet to George Bush’s Ozzie. “There is a certain group of reporters and columnists who want to portray me like that and really don’t know anything about me,” she says. The stereotype is derived partly because of her “women’s jobs” as a teacher and a librarian, she thinks–but “why women would not value those jobs, I don’t know.” Nor is she willing to devalue her potential successors. Asked about the scrutiny of Judy Dean’s decision to remain home with her school-age son and her patients, the First Lady replies, “I’m sure American women admire Dr. Dean… I really do think Americans want the First Lady to do what she wants to do.” She says the criticism of the other candidates’ wives and herself is “really rather petty.” “How people perceive them,” she says, “doesn’t have anything to do with how they are.”
Some of her self-confidence is new. She spent much of the first year of the administration out of public view, decorating the Crawford ranch house where she and the president now bond with world leaders and their spouses. “I always thought she was a far better communicator than she thought,” says Karen Hughes, the president’s former communications director. But now Mrs. Bush enjoys using the bully pulpit to promote women’s health and literacy issues, as well as education. On the plane last week she recalled that it wasn’t until she recorded a radio address on the plight of Afghan women that she realized the opportunity her role offered. She was in Austin that weekend and was thanked by a department-store cosmetics saleswoman for speaking out. “It also alerted me to how important women’s issues are to women,” she says.
The First Lady looks forward to returning to the Crawford ranch as a private citizen–but not soon. “After you’ve been in office it will be much more disappointing than had you lost that first one,” she explained. “Mainly because you’ve started working on a lot of issues that you want to complete.” Are the Bushes relaxed about the election? “Of course we’re not really relaxed about it. We know how brutal campaigns are… I’m not looking forward at all to the mean things said about my husband. [But] we know that’s just a fact of life in politics.” The First Lady is wary about offering her husband advice. “We have a loving relationship,” she explains. “If we spent all of our time giving each other advice, our relationship might not be so loving.” Laughing, Mrs. Bush adds, “Just kidding.”
