An educated child is better equipped to handle all the challenges of life, from finding work to avoiding diseases like HIV/AIDS.
There are a lot of women that I think are very powerful and would be great presidents.
I turned to books for comfort. (Former First Lady, Laura Bush)
Well, I think we ought to definitely look at it and debate it. I think there are a lot of people who have trouble coming to terms with that because they see marriage as traditionally between a man and a woman. But I also know that, you know, when couples are committed to each other and love each other, that they ought to have I think the same sort of rights that everyone has.
I have always admired organizations that help children grow and learn, and organizations that protect and shelter children when no one else does. And I wanted to draw attention to these organizations and recognize the contributions they were making to the country and to our children in particular.
It's really important, obviously, for people to realize that it is a very small percentage, only 1 percent of our total economy, of our total budget, and I think that's important for people to know. But I also know that Americans are very generous and that many, many Americans are proud that their taxpayer dollar has saved lives in Africa through the president's malaria initiative or through PEPFAR, the emergency relief plan for AIDS.
I was the same way after graduating with a degree in education. I started to teach and I was wondering: do I really know how to teach?
What I want for children in our country and around the world is safe, stable and loving homes.
I think disease and all the things that we treat are tied to national security in a lot of ways that we maybe don't realize or that the American people don't realize. If other countries have a chance to be stable, then that helps us. If there are ways we can prevent if there are ways we can help other countries defeat diseases, we're about to totally eradicate polio. And can you imagine? That would be so terrific.
I've always liked walking; that's one of my favorite things to do, and I try to walk every day. [In Washington, D.C.] I can't walk outside, but we have the treadmill. And I walked eight miles at the ranch last weekend. Now I also lift weights, which is also great for bone strength. [Mrs. Bush mimes a biceps curl and laughs.] I'm very, very strong, actually.
My husband and I have always incorporated things into our life that reduce stress. We're very careful with our health. We go to bed early. In this job, fatigue would be very detrimental! We've always eaten very healthily; now it's really particularly easy because we have a chef.
We know how unhealthy it is. I know what happens, though - young women start smoking because they don't think they're really going to keep smoking.
Well, we've faced very difficult decisions and challenges in our country, every one of us have, as we - since September 11th, as we fought the war on terror, all of those decisions that the President had to make to put young men and women in harm's way.
If you take the burden of health care, of diseases off the backs of some other countries, it gives them a chance to use their own very limited resources in ways that help their people. And also there's a hopelessness associated with deadly diseases, that if that can be alleviated, people can build their own economies in their own countries and they'll be less reliant on the developed world for help.
Bluffton is growing. But we must hold on to that small-town character.
We all, parents, educators, community leaders, and every... citizen, need to come together to find new ways to engage children with the natural environment.
I think doctors have really come up to speed and understand that more women than men die of heart disease. [But] all the research on heart disease has really been based on men, and needs to be updated with research on women - even very early-stage research is done using male rats!
When I taught school, we just had the school cafeteria; we didn't have machines or things for children to buy food from. But parents can try to educate their children about choices. A lot of everything we're talking about that has to do with heart disease has to do with the choices that we make.
Don't start smoking. It's much harder to stop than it is not to start at all.
The fight against terrorism is also a fight for the rights and dignity of women.
certainly the women's health part is something that I've become very interested in. It's not something I thought about when George [Bush] was elected...what I'd always been interested in was education.
I see that one part of the education of women is health education. We know that women who are educated have much healthier families.
In almost every single way, George and I share the same values. And if we differ on some issues, it's very, very minor.
It's really important for boys to have a father around, or a grandfather, or an uncle - a man they can really relate to who loves them, and who they know loves them.
Jenna's traveled with me; they've both traveled with their dad. This is the only time they've been old enough in all of their dad's campaigns to really be involved in.
