Bush Makes Use of Unique Asset-- His First Lady

In a way his recent predecessors never did, President Bush is making use of a unique political asset--the First Lady.

He mentioned Barbara Bush--to enthusiastic applause--at every stop on his four-state fund-raising trip for Republican candidates this week.

In fact, the GOP faithful in the Midwest seemed more responsive to the mention of Mrs. Bush’s activities than they were to the President’s account of the Soviet-American summit meeting.

Friday was Mrs. Bush’s 65th birthday, giving Bush an added reason to bring up her name.

“I wish that Barbara were here on her birthday--the hero of Wellesley. I’m very, very proud of her,” he said in remarks at a luncheon here. He was referring to her commencement address last week at Wellesley College, where she had been the subject of complaints that she had been invited as speaker only because of her husband’s achievements.

By contrast, former President Ronald Reagan’s advisers sometimes felt that his wife, Nancy, was a liability, especially in the early years of his presidency. Certainly, Reagan did not keep political audiences informed of Mrs. Reagan’s doings.

Rosalynn Carter, Betty Ford and Lady Bird Johnson were all active but more controversial first ladies. Pat Nixon and Mamie Eisenhower almost always stayed in the political background.

In his speeches on behalf of GOP candidates this week, Bush took pains to mention that Mrs. Bush also gave her endorsement to GOP incumbents and challengers alike.

Even some of the GOP candidates Bush endorsed saluted his wife almost as a co-President, and one even quoted from her Wellesley speech.

While opinion polls indicate that the President is enjoying unprecedented popularity, Mrs. Bush seems to have a universal appeal that goes beyond politics.

Her husband affectionately refers to her as “the silver fox” or by a family nickname, “Bar,” in his otherwise straight-forward political talks.

In Des Moines on Friday morning, the President said he had spoken with his wife.

“She seems unexcited about her 65th birthday,” he said. “She’s doing just great. And thank you for giving Barbara and me the opportunity to serve the greatest country on the face of the Earth,” he concluded.

In Chicago on Thursday night, Bush apologized for being tardy, saying he had been on the phone with his “birthday girl.”

He disclosed that British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher preferred to talk about Mrs. Bush’s Wellesley speech rather than about the outcome of his summit talks with Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

While her husband was touring the Midwest, the First Lady devoted part of her birthday to a favorite task, reading to children.

Mrs. Bush appeared on ABC-TV’s “Good Morning America” and read to a dozen children seated around her. The story was “Leo, the Late Bloomer,” about a lion who was slow to learn to read and write.

The children responded with a chorus of “Happy Birthday, Mrs. Bush.”

“Oh, how’d you know?” she asked. “Who told you that secret? Thank you very, very much.”

Later in the day, Mrs. Bush visited a class at Berkshire Elementary School in District Heights, Md., for another reading session.