Barbara Bush: Presidential Matriarch.

Barbara Bush: Presidential Matriarch. By Myra G. Gutin. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2008. 216 pp.

Barbara Bush, wife of forty-first president of the United States George H. W. Bush and mother to forty-third president George W. Bush, is widely regarded as one of the most popular first ladies in U.S. history. According to annual Gallup Polls, she continues to rank as one of the most admired women in the world. The white-haired grandmother with the faux pearls is a familiar figure to most Americans. But Myra G. Gutin argues that there is more to Barbara Bush than her carefully crafted public image. In Barbara Bush: Presidential Matriarch, Gutin explores the public figure and private woman who spent much of her life in the political sphere thanks to the career ambitions of her husband and sons.

Gutin's book is part biography and part rhetorical analysis of Mrs. Bush's public communication. The opening chapter succinctly traces Mrs. Bush's life from childhood through her husband's 1988 presidential campaign. Chapter 2 is one of the book's richest chapters, examining how Mrs. Bush's public image was constructed through her appearance, her media coverage, and her speeches. Gutin notes that a conscious effort was made to contrast Barbara Bush with her predecessor, Nancy Reagan, who was perceived as autocratic, aloof, and out of touch with average Americans. Although she was very self-conscious about her weight and her prematurely white hair, Mrs. Bush recognized that her appearance made her more relatable to the public, so she often joked with reporters about her looks. Her press coverage was largely positive, even though Gutin notes that Mrs. Bush "never developed trust in the media" (p. 40). Mrs. Bush was also an effective and prolific speaker, giving more than 700 speeches during her husband's presidency and vice presidency. She stumped for candidates including her husband and sons, promoted causes such as her literacy project, and made numerous ceremonial appearances. Gutin offers examples of Mrs. Bush's speeches, including a detailed analysis of her controversial commencement address at Wellesley College, which Gutin calls her "greatest rhetorical challenge" (p. 48). The remaining chapters take more of a biographical focus, looking at specific aspects of Mrs. Bush's time as first lady, including her White House staff and social events, her literacy initiative and success as a children's book author, her activities in support of the first Gulf War, her role in the 1992 campaign, and her post-White House years.

One of the strengths of Barbara Bush is the wealth of research used to support each chapter. Gutin draws on a wide variety of sources, including personal interviews with Mrs. Bush and several of her former staff members, memos and private correspondence, speech texts, media coverage, and Mrs. Bush's White House memoir. The interviews are a particularly rich source of information, adding insight into things such as the speechwriting process and Mrs. Bush's relationship with the news media. Gutin's analysis of various drafts of speech texts also illuminates the careful crafting of Mrs. Bush's rhetoric.

The most significant contribution of this book is the attention it pays to Mrs. Bush's rhetoric and image making. Readers who are familiar with Gutin's previous work on the public communication of first ladies will find similarities, specifically her emphasis on Mrs. Bush's speeches. Some readers might find that the details of the speechwriting process distract from the biographical narrative or the larger argument regarding Mrs. Bush's public image. However, Gutin's detailed analysis of the construction of Mrs. Bush's public image, and the contradictions with her private life, make this book a worthwhile read for political communication researchers, presidential and first lady historians, and public address scholars. This study highlights the important role that political spouses play in crafting a candidate's image, as well as the celebrity status they gain as public figures in their own right. As Gutin demonstrates, even a so-called traditional political wife like Barbara Bush can play an important part in her husband's political success, whether it is crafting the image of the candidate as the ideal family man, spending countless hours stumping on his behalf, serving as the gracious hostess at numerous events, or taking care of a large family and household in his often prolonged absences. Mrs. Bush may not have influenced her husband's policy decisions, but she definitely helped to shape his political image and fortunes. Her popularity generated support for her husband and, later, her son. Gutin shows that much can be learned from this "Presidential Matriarch."

--Lisa M. Burns

Quinnipiac University