One of Barbara Bush’s enduring legacies is her commitment to books and reading.
Motivated by her son Neil’s dyslexia, she chose family literacy as her main cause while first lady.
In 1991 she helped pass the National Literacy Act, which focused on teaching millions of American adults to read.
She also founded the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, a charity that encourages reading and writing in low-income households. Since 1989, the foundation has partnered with local organizations and raised more than $110 million to create and expand literacy programs across the country.
An avid reader, Bush also wrote three books. In addition, her pet dogs, C. Fred Bush and Millie Bush are each credited with penning their own works (“edited slightly by Barbara Bush,” according to their covers). The Bush family donated the money raised by their dogs’ books to adult and family literacy programs.
If you would like to donate to Bush’s foundation and contribute to her legacy, visit https://www.barbarabush.org.
