Source: Advertising Specialty InstituteFormer first lady Laura W. Bush addressed a standing-room-only crowd at the Advertising Specialty Institute's trade show at the Dallas Convention Center Friday morning and candidly described life in and out of the White House.
Mrs. Bush spoke of finding her identity as first lady through advocacy on issues near to her heart, such as improving education, literacy initiatives and enhancing the lives of women around the world through education and health awareness.
"To sit here and hear her say that we're women and we can do anything and this is a women's world was moving," said Norma Westphal of Proforma JETT Eagle Advertising. "She made me cry."
Candid and compelling, Mrs. Bush spoke of the turbulent times through which her husband, President George W. Bush, guided the country, beginning with the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
"These years changed us as individuals and as a nation," she said.
As tears welled in some audience members' eyes, Mrs. Bush said a secret service agent first informed her of the attacks. She said she sat stricken with Senator Ted Kennedy in his office as the scope of the tragedy became clear, and that night she and her husband stayed in a subterranean bunker, fearing a direct attack on the White House.
"We awoke on September 12 to a different life," she said. In addition, she mentioned the personal pain her husband felt when he talked with families of military personnel killed in Iraq.
