Former US first lady Barbara Bush dead at 92: family

Former US first lady Barbara Bush died today at the age of 92, triggering an outpouring of praise for the matriarch of a Republican family once at the apex of American politics.

"A former first lady of the United States of America and relentless proponent of family literacy, Barbara Pierce Bush passed away Tuesday, April 17, 2018 at the age of 92," said a statement from the office of George H.W. Bush. They were married for 73 years.

Barbara Bush has long been considered the rock at the center of one of America's most prominent political families, as the wife of a president and the mother to another -- George W. Bush -- and to Jeb Bush, a former Florida governor and onetime presidential aspirant.

She first met her husband-to-be at the age of 16 when she was a schoolgirl and he was a student at an elite preparatory school in Massachusetts. They married in 1945 while he was on leave from wartime service as a naval officer. The couple had six children.

As first lady, from 1989 to 1993, she embraced the cause of universal literacy, and founded a foundation for family literacy.

As tributes poured in to honour the life of Barbara Bush, President Donald Trump hailed her as an "advocate of the American family."
"She will be long remembered for her strong devotion to country and family, both of which she served unfailingly well."
Her son Jeb wrote: "I'm exceptionally privileged to be the son of George Bush and the exceptionally gracious, gregarious, fun, funny, loving, tough, smart, graceful woman who was the force of nature known as Barbara Bush."
Trump's Democratic predecessor Barack Obama and his wife Michelle said "We'll always be grateful to Mrs Bush for the generosity she showed to us throughout our time in the White House."