Bush was the wife of the 41st president, George H.W. Bush, and mother of the 43rd, George W. Bush.

The Bush family had said in a statement on Sunday that she was in failing health, had decided not to seek further medical treatment and instead would focus on “comfort care.”

According to some media reports, Bush had been battling chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and congestive heart problems in recent years.

“Barbara Bush was a fabulous First Lady and a woman unlike any other who brought levity, love and literacy to millions,” George W. Bush said in a statement. “To us, she was so much more. Mom kept us on our toes and kept us laughing until the end.”

Dubbed “The Silver Fox” by her husband and children, Bush was known for her snow-white hair and for being fiercely protective of her family.

She was first lady when her husband was in the White House from 1989 to 1993. Her son, Republican George Walker Bush, triumphed in the disputed 2000 U.S. election and was president from 2001 to 2009. The father-and-son presidents were sometimes referred to as “Bush 41” and “Bush 43.”

The Bushes celebrated their 73rd wedding anniversary in January.

Bush had an independent streak and could be sharp-tongued. As first lady, she promoted literacy and reading but said she was more interested in running a household than helping her husband run the country.

She discouraged speculation that she wielded political influence with the president like her predecessors – Ronald Reagan’s wife, Nancy Reagan, and Jimmy Carter’s wife, Rosalynn Carter.

“I don’t fool around with his office and he doesn’t fool around with my household,” she once said.

“She’ll speak her mind but only to him,” said Jack Steel, a longtime Bush aide.

President Donald Trump and former Democratic Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton were among those praising the late first lady.

“She will be long remembered for her strong devotion to country and family, both of which she served unfailingly well,” Trump and his wife, Melania, said in a statement that noted Bush’s championing of literacy “as a fundamental family value.”

Clinton, who defeated her husband in the 1992 presidential election, called Bush “fierce and feisty in support of her family and friends, her country and her causes. She showed us what an honest, vibrant, full life looks like.”

Obama and his wife, Michelle, said in a statement that Barbara Bush was “an example of the humility and decency that reflects the very best of the American spirit.”

The only other woman to be both wife and mother of U.S. presidents was Abigail Adams, the first lady from 1797 to 1801. She was a major influence on husband John Adams, the nation’s second president, but died before son John Quincy Adams was elected president in 1824.

Another of Bush’s sons, Jeb, who served as governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007, sought the 2016 Republican presidential nomination and she campaigned for him before he dropped out of the race.

The Bushes had six children. A daughter, Robin, died of leukemia in 1953 at age 3. Barbara Bush’s hair began to turn prematurely white after the shock of the girl’s death. In addition to George W. and Jeb, the other Bush children were sons Neil and Marvin and daughter Dorothy.

The Bushes married on Jan. 6, 1945, and Barbara set up households in numerous cities as her husband moved from being a Texas oilman to being a member of Congress, Republican Party leader, U.S. envoy to China and the United Nations and head of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Barbara Bush sometimes made biting remarks, particularly when she felt the need to defend her husband. One notable example came in 1984 when George H.W. Bush was seeking re-election as vice president under Reagan, a post he held from 1981 until becoming president in 1989.

She told reporters that Geraldine Ferraro, her husband’s Democratic rival for the vice presidency, was a “4 million dollar … I can’t say it but it rhymes with ‘rich.’” She apologized to Ferraro, the first woman running for U.S. vice president on a major-party ticket.

Texas Governor Ann Richards mocked her husband at the 1988 Democratic convention – saying: “Poor George … was born with a silver foot in his mouth” – and Barbara henceforth referred to Richards as “that woman.”

In 2012, Bush dismissed the political ambitions of U.S. conservative darling Sarah Palin, saying: “I think she’s very happy in Alaska – and I hope she’ll stay there.”

Bush generally refused to discuss publicly her personal views on controversial topics such as abortion, an issue on which she was believed to differ from her husband’s more conservative stance.

But during her husband’s 1992 re-election race, she told reporters that abortion and homosexuality were “personal things” that should be left out of political conventions and party platforms. “I don’t think that’s healthy for the country when anyone thinks their morals are better than anyone else’s,” she said.

Opinion polls often showed her popularity as first lady exceeding her husband’s as president. “I don’t threaten anyone,” she said. “That’s because I’m everyone’s grandma.”

A year younger than her husband, she was born Barbara Pierce on June 8, 1925, and grew up in Rye, New York. Her father was Marvin Pierce, publisher of McCall’s magazine.

She was home from boarding school in 1941 when she met her future husband at a Christmas party in Connecticut. She dropped out of prestigious Smith College to marry Bush, then a young naval aviator home on leave from World War Two.

George Bush said marrying Barbara, whom he called “Bar,” was “the thing I did right.” But the marriage nearly did not take place. While they were engaged, his bomber was shot down by the Japanese in the Pacific in 1944. He bailed out and was rescued in the ocean by a submarine crew, but his crewmates died.

“When you’re 18, you think everybody is invincible. … I mean, that was stupid – but I knew he was going to come home. He was Superman,” she told CNN in 2003.

After leaving the White House, she found time to write her memoirs. In 1990, she authored “Millie’s Book,” a humorous look at the adventures of the family’s English springer spaniel in the White House.

In one of their last public appearances, the Bushes attended the 2017 Super Bowl in Houston, with George performing the ceremonial pregame coin flip. Only a few days before, the couple had been released from a hospital where George had been treated for pneumonia and Barbara for bronchitis.

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In the letter, the two sisters of the former president recalled how they received the two sisters of the outgoing president and showed them around at the White House preparatory to their fathers’ handing and taking over.

“Malia and Sasha, eight years ago on a cold November day, we greeted you on the steps of the White House. We saw both the light and wariness in your eyes as you gazed at your new home.

“We left our jobs in Baltimore and New York early and travelled to Washington to show you around.

“To show you the Lincoln Bedroom, and the bedrooms that were once ours, to introduce you to all the people – the florists, the grounds-keepers and the butlers – who dedicate themselves to making this historic house a home.

“The four of us wandered the majestic halls of the house you had no choice but to move in to.

“When you slid down the banister of the solarium, just as we had done as eight-year-olds and again as 20-year-olds chasing our youth, your joy and laughter were contagious,” the Bush sisters wrote in the letter published by TIME magazine.

The Bushes also gave their views of the Obamas in their eight years as the First Children.

“In eight years, you have done so much. Seen so much. You stood at the gates of the Robben Island cell where South Africa’s Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for decades, your arms around your father.

“You travelled to Liberia and Morocco with your mom to talk with girls about the importance of education – girls who saw themselves in you, saw themselves in your parents, saw who they could become if they continued to study and learn.

“You attended state dinners, hiked in national parks, met international leaders and managed to laugh at your dad’s jokes during the annual Thanksgiving Turkey Pardon, all while being kids, attending school and making friends.

“We have watched you grow from girls to impressive young women with grace and ease.

“And through it all you had each other. Just like we did,” the daughters of the 43rd U.S. president wrote to the daughters of the 44th president.

Barbara and Jenna, then, prepared Malia and Sasha on what to expect after life at the White House.

“Now you are about to join another ratified club, one of former First Children – a position you didn’t seek and one with no guidelines.

“But you have so much to look forward to. You will be writing the story of your lives, beyond the shadow of your famous parents, yet, you will always carry with you the experiences of the past eight years.

“Never forget the wonderful people who work at the White House. Our greeter as seven-year-olds at our grandfather’s Inauguration was Nancy, the White House florist, who ushered us in from the cold.

“She helped us make colourful bouquets of winter flowers for our grandparents’ bedside. Twenty years later, Nancy did the flowers for Jenna’s wedding. Cherish your own Nancy. We stay in touch with our Secret Service.

“They were part of growing up for us: there for first dates, first days and even know it wasn’t always easy – the two of you and the two of us were teenagers trailed by men in backpacks – but they put their lives on hold for us.”

The former president’s daughters then advised the outgoing president’s daughters to take the experience of the last eight years with them as they become citizens.

“Enjoy college. As most of the world knows, we did and you won’t have the weight of the world on your young shoulders anymore. Learn who you are.

“Make mistakes you are allowed to. Continue to surround yourself with loyal friends who know you and will fiercely protect you.

“Those who judge you don’t love you, and their voices shouldn’t hold weight. Rather, it’s your own hearts that matter.

“Take all that you have seen, the people you have met, the lessons you have learned, and let that help guide you in making positive change. We have no doubt you will.

“Travelling with our parents taught us more than any class could. It opened our eyes to new people as well as new cultures and ideas.

“We met factory workers in Michigan, teachers in California, doctors healing people on the Burmese border, kids who lined the dusty streets of Kampala to see the American President, and kids with HIV waiting to get the antiretroviral drugs that would save their lives.

“One tiny girl wearing her finest lavender dress looked young, which she was not. Her mom admitted that she might not live to see these drugs work, but her brothers and sisters would.

“After meeting this girl, Barbara went back to school and changed her major, and her life’s path,” Barbara and Jenna advised.

The Bush sisters, however, told the Obama sisters of the relief and freedom of leaving the four walls of the presidency’s official quarters.

“You have lived through the unbelievable pressure of the White House. You have listened to harsh criticism of your parents by people who had never even met them.

“You stood by as your precious parents were reduced to headlines. Your parents, who put you first and who not only showed you but gave you the world.

“As always, they will be rooting for you as you begin your next chapter. And so will we,” the Bush daughters letter to the Obama daughters concluded.

Barbara Bush is a co-founder and the CEO of Global Health Corps while Jenna Bush Hager is a correspondent for the Today show.

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