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Advocacy
While she was First Lady, Bush continued her work in promoting literacy that she had begun as Second Lady. In March 1989, she established the Barbara Bush Foundationfor Family Literacy to promote further literacy programs. In 1990, she hosted Mrs. Bush's Storytime radio program for ABC, in which she read to children. Bush was known for the affection she had for her pet English Springer Spaniel, Millie, and she wrote the children's book Millie's Book about Millie's new litter of puppies in 1990. The book was a best-seller, producing earnings of nearly $800,000 (equivalent to $1,791,951 in 2022). This was more money than any First Lady had ever made while serving in the role. She donated the profits to her literacy foundation. Bush emphasized the issue of adult illiteracy in particular, including work to increase literacy among the homeless and the incarcerated. During her time as First Lady, she raised millions of dollars to fund literacy programs, including from large companies such as GM and Motorola. Her interest in the subject broadly affected the administration's education policy: her advocacy contributed to the 1989 education summit, and she convinced her husband to end his opposition to the National Literacy Act of 1991, allowing it to be passed into law.
Bush was an advocate for AIDS patients while First Lady. The issue was controversial at the time due to its association with the gay community. For this reason, her work on this issue was not as widely publicized. To prevent discrimination against AIDS patients and to challenge misconceptions about its contagiousness, a photograph was published of her hugging a child with AIDS. In private, she urged her husband to take a stronger stand on the rights of those with AIDS. She compared the discrimination faced by AIDS patients to the discomfort that people expressed when her daughter Robin had leukemia.
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Political involvement
Bush was a frequent advisor to her husband, and her suggestions played a role in several of the administration's decisions, including multiple cabinet appointments. A White House aide later described her as "the only voice that he 100 percent trusted". She was occasionally tasked with a more formal responsibility, such as a diplomatic mission in 1990 when she represented the United States at the inauguration of Costa Rican President Rafael Calderón.
