Getting to Know the Low-Key Mrs. Bush

No man is an island. But Laura Bush comes close.

Her husband faced world leaders’ scrutiny and mass street demonstrations as he took his first European tour as president. Her daughters were featured on the cover of People magazine for their alcohol citations.

But the quiet librarian from Midland, Texas, was the picture of serenity as she toured a facility for disabled children here. The location, a tiny island on Sweden’s west coast, practically demands to be a metaphor. While President Bush talked with European leaders amid fierce protests in nearby Goteborg, even her closest aides couldn’t be sure what she was thinking about the strains on her family.

“I couldn’t say she’s said a single thing to me about those,” said Andrea Ball, her chief of staff. “I think I have a feel for it, but she hasn’t mentioned it.”

As Laura Bush had her coming-out in European diplomatic circles last week, she remains enigmatic even to those who know her well.

On the one hand, she’s an Everywoman without pretension and with simple tastes for ice cream, popular movies and home decorating magazines. Still, her retreat to the Bush ranch in Crawford, Texas, after the inauguration and her low profile have raised questions about whether she likes the job. She deflects probing on the topic with pleasantries. Her job is “fun.” She’s doing “great.” The White House is “beautiful.”

Constricted Travel

“Well, I’ll have to say I was not thinking of it as an entrance onto the world stage, but I’m excited,” she told CBS News when asked last week about her European trip. “This is very fun for me to have an opportunity to travel and come to these countries.” She continued on about the king and queen of Spain: “I really like both of them a lot and, you know, it’s exciting and very fun to have the opportunity to meet world leaders.”

On this trip, Mrs. Bush made one thing clear: This is not her travel style. Unlike her husband, she is well traveled; out of college in 1968, she roughed it through 17 countries. This time, unable to do much shopping because of her official duties, she asked aides each night what they purchased. Unable to take a sidewalk seat at a cafe, she asked what they ate in their wandering. Unable to stroll the streets, she had them take photographs to show her later.

“She’s living vicariously through us,” Ball said. “In her ideal world she’d be doing exactly what we’re doing, with nobody knowing who you are. She’d like to be walking on the street at night as we do and pick up an ice cream cone.”

After haute-couture Nancy Reagan, voluble Barbara Bush and Ivy League Hillary Rodham Clinton, this first lady’s style is low-key. She carries a purse, with lipstick, Altoids, Kleenex, cash, credit cards and, at the moment, a book of Wendy Wasserstein short stories.

Last week’s activities took her to the Prado, the Spanish National Library and a Belgian church and library. She lunched with NATO representatives’ spouses while the world leaders talked in Brussels.

‘Everywoman’ in Action

Friday morning, at a medical facility in Goteborg, Mrs. Bush greeted the director, who worried that the motorcade was blocking the view of the water. “Should we move the car?” she asked, as if her Toyota were blocking somebody’s car. “Would that help?”

Soon she was led into a dental office at the facility, full of toys and stuffed animals. The center’s director offered to demonstrate the single dental chair. “Unless any member of the press would like to take his place,” Mrs. Bush replied, the sort of quip that is standard for her husband.

Afterward, she greeted six disabled children, four in wheelchairs. She shook hands with each and accepted a picture they made of a house on a seashore.

Her response was pure Laura Bush, Everywoman: “That is beautiful! Thank you very much. It has shells from the beach? Great! Crawfish? Crabs? The house is a special red! I’ll always remember you for that.”