First Lady Laura Bush, 57, has earned strong approval ratings across the United States heading into the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York, where she is set to speak on her husband's behalf. A former librarian and schoolteacher from Midland, Texas, she projects a calm, traditional image that political analysts say gives the Bush-Cheney campaign a significant advantage.
Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman credited her with broad appeal, saying she connects with the base, swing voters, and even Democrats. Chief strategist Matthew Dowd called her the most popular first lady in 25 years.
Laura Bush has described her role as supportive rather than advisory, telling interviewers she discusses issues with the president but does not guide policy. She focuses her public efforts on education and on humanizing George W. Bush for voters.
Raised as an only child in Midland, she and the president grew up in the same region and briefly attended the same school, yet they met only in 1977 at a casual backyard gathering and married within months. She is widely credited with encouraging him to give up alcohol and return to his Christian faith.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in August 2004, in its own words.