Posted by
April Lorier on Thursday, June 11, 2009 4:39:16 PM
If I say "Laura Bush" what do you think of first? Literacy? OK, but I think of what a Champion of Women Laura is. What? You didn't know that? Thus, this post.
Polled by Gallup as one of the most popular first ladies, she established the Women's Health and Wellness Initiative and became involved with two major campaigns.
She first became involved with The Heart Truth awareness campaign in 2003. It is an organization established by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to raise awareness about heart disease in women, and how to prevent the condition.
She commented on the disease: "Like
many women, I assumed heart disease was a man's disease and cancer was
what we would fear the most. Yet heart disease kills more women in our
country than all forms of cancer combined. When it comes to heart
disease, education, prevention, and even a little red dress can save
lives."
She has undertaken a signature personal element
of traveling around the country and talking to women at hospital and
community events featuring the experiences of women who live, or had
lived, with the condition. This outreach was credited with saving the
life of one woman who went to the hospital after experiencing symptoms
of a heart attack.
With her predecessor, former First Lady Nancy Reagan, Bush dedicated the First Ladies Red Dress Collection
at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in May 2005. It
is an exhibit containing red suits worn by former First Ladies Lady
Bird Johnson, Betty Ford, Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush,
Hillary Clinton, and Laura Bush meant to raise awareness by
highlighting America's first ladies.
She has been the Ambassador for the Heart Truth
since 2003. She has led the federal government in giving women more
information relating to heart disease. Bush has coordinated many events
relating to the Heart Truth, including a White House ceremony in 2004, the Kennedy Center exhibit, the Reagan Library exhibit, and has participated in all Fashion Week events dating to 2003.
Bush's
mother, Jenna Welch, was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 78.
(She endured surgery and currently has no further signs of cancer.)
Laura Bush has become a breast cancer activist on her mother's behalf
through her involvement in the Susan G. Komen for the Cure. She applauded the foundation's efforts in eliminating cancer and said, "A few short years ago, a diagnosis of breast cancer left little hope of recovery. But thanks to the work of the Komen Foundation... more women and men are beating breast cancer and beating the odds."
She used her position to gain international support for the foundation through the Partnership for Breast Cancer Awareness and Research of the Americas, an initiative that unites experts from the United States, Brazil, Costa Rica and Mexico.
In November 2001, she became the first person other than a president
to deliver the Weekly Presidential Radio Address. She used the
opportunity to discuss the plight of women in Afghanistan during the
U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, saying, "The brutal oppression of women
is a central goal of the terrorists." In May 2002, she made a speech to
the people of Afghanistan through Radio Liberty, a radio station in Prague, Czech Republic.
In August 2007, First Lady Laura W. Bush approved the establishment of the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women's Health
within the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and thus began
the effort to establish a multi-campus women's health institute in
Abilene, Amarillo, El Paso, Lubbock and the Permian Basin. This
expansion brought the convergence of expertise, resources and support
from TTUHSC including:
So
I would say that, in addition to her efforts with literacy, her legacy
would have to include championing women's health. I know she's a
Champion of Women in my book!
So what's this champion doing these days?
I do hope you enjoyed this video!