Sweet Barbara Bush Could Be Tough When Needed

In the wake of her death late Tuesday, former first lady Barbara Bush has been remembered as the mild-mannered, loving wife and mother of two presidents who helped shape an American political dynasty.

But presidential historian Craig Shirley recalled Wednesday morning on “The Laura Ingraham Show” that Bush had a steely demeanor and could be tough as nails when the situation required.

He pointed to a moment in 1988 that probably saved her husband’s political career.

It occurred shortly after the Iowa caucuses, in which then-Vice President George H.W. Bush had been humiliated, coming in third behind Sen. Bob Dole and televangelist Pat Robertson.

The campaign was reeling and “there was blood in the water,” Shirley said, and Dole was rising fast in New Hampshire.

Without a particular issue, ideological cause or loyal constituency within the Republican Party, Bush almost certainly would have imploded if he were to lose the upcoming New Hampshire primary, Shirley said.

Bush’s political team, led by campaign manager Lee Atwater and New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu, hatched a scorched-earth rescue plan. Shirley, who has written several books about Bush’s predecessor, Ronald Reagan, said the Bush brain trust concluded he could only win by going negative on Dole.

“Barbara Bush looked at him, and she told her husband they should run the ads.”

Shirley said the team produced caustic TV spots and showed them to Bush.

“The old man, Bush, the vice president then, was very hesitant,” said Shirley. “He didn’t like negative campaigning, I mean not that type, not that frontal [approach] … He preferred to, you know, use a little bit more tact.”

So the candidate’s advisers appealed to Barbara Bush, Shirley said.

“Barbara Bush looked at him, and she told her husband they should run the ads,” he said. “The ads went on. Bob Dole never responded, and Bush won New Hampshire — and he went on to win the nomination and then the presidency. So, in her own way, when she was asked to do something — politically, policy, certainly child-rearing — you know, people listened. They paid attention to her.”

Related: This Is the Secret Ingredient to Long, Loving Relationships

Shirley said Barbara Bush was a descendant of President Franklin Pierce, her blood “as blue as the Connecticut River.” But while her friends and classmates all started families among the New England upper crust and took jobs on Wall Street, she took a chance on a brash World War II fighter pilot and followed his quest for fortunes in the West Texas oil fields.

“She was not afraid of taking chances, and she was not afraid of being at his side when he took chances,” he said.

Shirley, who came to Washington as a young conservative, said Barbara Bush helped define a generation during the 1980s, which for conservatives was like the 1960s Camelot era for liberals.

“She was a part of it,” he said. “She and Nancy Reagan, you know, never really warmed up to each other, but she was there. She was a part of it … This is another page in history turning, and I get a little wistful looking back on that.”

PoliZette senior writer Brendan Kirby can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter.