The Bush Clan

The extended family of George W. Bush can now claim two U.S. presidents, a U.S. senator and a state governor among its many members. Here are the more prominent members of the Bush Clan.

PRESCOTT BUSH is the patriarch of the modern Bush family. Born in 1895, he attended Yale, served as an artillery captain in World War I, and later joined a Wall Street firm. In 1952 he became a U.S senator from Connecticut; in the Senate he was known as a moderate Republican and a staunch supporter of president Dwight D. Eisenhower. He is the father of the 41st U.S. president, George Bush.

GEORGE BUSH served as a Navy pilot in World War II, once being shot down during a mission over the Pacific Ocean. After the war he went to Yale, and then entered the oil business. He worked his way up through several political posts, including head of the Republican National Committee and director of the CIA, before becoming vice-president under Ronald Reagan and then being elected president himself in 1988. Four years later he was defeated by Bill Clinton.

BARBARA BUSH was Barbara Pierce when she married George Bush in 1945; he was 20, she was 19. They had six children: George W., Robin, John (known as Jeb), Neil, Marvin, and Dorothy. (Robin died of childhood leukemia at age 3.) As First Lady, Barbara Bush was especially known for her support of literacy programs; she wrote the best-selling Millie's Book (1990, William Morrow), a lighthearted report on White House life as seen by the family dog, with the proceeds going to literacy programs.

George and Barbara's son JEB BUSH was the governor of Florida during that state's contested presidential elections of 2000 -- the elections which pitted his brother George W. Bush against Democrat Al Gore. Jeb Bush moved to Florida in 1981, helped start a real estate development firm, and in 1998 he was elected governor.

Jeb Bush's son GEORGE PRESCOTT BUSH got heavy media attention during the 2000 elections as a member of the clan's next generation. Many consider him a potential future candidate himself, thanks to his political pedigree, good looks and bi-cultural heritage: his mother, Jeb Bush's wife Columba, was born in Mexico.

Prescott's younger sister NOELLE BUSH got unwanted media attention in January 2002 when she was arrested by police in Tallahassee, Florida for prescription fraud. According to news reports, she attempted to buy the sedative Xanax from a Walgreen's pharmacy by phoning ahead with a fake authorization from a doctor; upon checking, the pharmacy discovered the doctor had not made the prescription and in fact no longer practiced in Tallahassee. The incident was compared by some to the underage drinking troubles of "First Daughters" Jenna and Barbara Bush (see below).

The youngest of Jeb Bush's children, JEB BUSH, JR., also had a well-publicized scrape with the law, in September of 2005. "Jebbie" was arrested for public drunkenness by officers in Austin, Texas, who then tacked on a charge of resisting arrest.

When GEORGE W. BUSH became the 43rd U.S. president in 2001, he replaced the man who had beaten his father: Bill Clinton. Born in 1946, George W. is the oldest of the five surviving children of the former president. Bush was governor of Texas from 1995-2001, when he resigned to take his place as president. He served two full terms as chief executive, from 2001-09. Like his father and grandfather, he attended Yale.

Bush's wife LAURA BUSH was born in Texas, the Bush clan's adopted home state. She married George W. in 1977, not long after they were set up by friends at a backyard barbecue. Laura Bush was by profession a school librarian, and shares her mother-in-law Barbara's interest in literacy.

JENNA and BARBARA BUSH are the twin daughters of George W. and Laura Bush, born in 1981. The girls are named for their maternal and paternal grandmothers, respectively. In the fall of 2000 Barbara began attending Yale and Jenna became a freshman at the University of Texas.

NEIL MALLON BUSH is the third son of George and Barbara (the elder) and the younger brother of the 43rd U.S. president. Neil made headlines in the late '80s and early '90s as the young director of the Silverado Savings and Loan, a federally-insured bank in Colorado (he was 30 when he got the job). Neil had already been involved in the JNB Exploration oil-drilling company, until its financial failure in 1988. By 1990 the bankruptcy of Silverado was said to have cost U. S. taxpayers $1 billion. For his role in the bank's failure, Neil was sued by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), but he ended up settling the case for $50,000. After Silverado, Neil was involved in another failed business called Apex Energy. Currently he serves as the CEO of an educational software company based in Austin, Texas.

Neil's daughter LAUREN BUSH made a different kind of splash, turning up in the pages of fashion magazines after she began modelling in her teens. In 2002 she signed a contract do advertising for the clothing designer Tommy Hilfiger, who called her "the quintessential all-American girl."

The Bush clan shares a canine connection, as noted in the Who2 loop Presidents Closely Related: George W. Bush's springer spaniel SPOT is a daughter of MILLIE, Barbara Bush's co-author and "First Dog" under Bush the elder.

You may also enjoy our feature on another political dynasty, Clan Kennedy.

See more Who2 Loops!

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