Looking Back / April 1990

Looking

FUTURE FIRST FAMILY:

Before he was the 43rd president, and even before he was the governor of Texas, George W. Bush was managing partner and part owner of the Texas Rangers—and together with twin daughters Jenna and Barbara, the subject of DallasChild’s April 1990 magazine cover.

The late John Haynsworth, a renowned Dallas photographer, introduced us to the family, and went on to take the cover photo at Arlington Stadium, where the Rangers then played—across North Texas from the family’s home in Preston Hollow. Jenna and Barbara were 8 years old; their dad was 43 (a number that went on to have great significance in his life).

Our publisher, Joylyn Niebes, was at the shoot and remembers the future first couple as extremely gracious with their time and very down to earth. “I kept trying to get Laura to be in the picture,” Niebes recalls, “but she sweetly declined.”

More than 30 years later, the now-former president is enjoying life as a grandfather, painting in his studio at the family’s ranch in Crawford, Texas, and leading events at the George W. Bush Presidential Center on SMU’s campus. His daughters, who will turn 40 in November, have both made New York their home base. Jenna Bush Hager co-hosts NBC’s TODAY with Hoda & Jenna and is a married mom of three. In late September, Barbara Pierce Bush (named for her paternal grandmother) and her husband welcomed their first child, a daughter. Bush is the board chair as well as co-founder of Global Health Corps, a nonprofit that offers a fellowship to support emerging leaders in global health. —Alexis Patterson

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