Book about Bush is really about family

Dorothy (Doro) Bush Koch is not a household name like her brothers, George W. and Jeb. But the youngest of six children and only living daughter of former President George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush is stepping out from the background role she has played in the family's political saga with the biography "My Father, My President."

The story of the 41st president's life begins with his outrage over the bombing of Pearl Harbor and his desire to enlist. Only 17 at the time, he had to wait until after his graduation from Andover and his 18th birthday on June 12, 1942. Despite his father's plea that he go to Yale for at least a year before enlisting, George was passionate about serving his country. He was also passionate about a certain girl he met at about that time, Barbara Pierce, a 17-year-old from Rye, N.Y.

After enlisting in the Navy, George went into pilot training and was the youngest flyer in the Navy when he earned his wings as a pilot. He and Barbara married young, just 20 and 19, respectively, in January 1945, and as a couple attended Yale, where their first child, George W., was born in 1946.

"My Father, My President" ($29.99, Warner Books) is more a book about an American family than a U.S. president. After mining President Bush's reams of private papers and notes, Koch found her father's early enthusiasm about the book was beginning to wane. "He was afraid it was going to be too much about him," Koch says. "Dad is humble, a trait he inherited from his mother."

Q What is the most important thing about your father that you hope to convey with the book?

A That he is master of the small gesture, lifting someone up when they're down. The small kindnesses he learned from his mother make an enormous difference. He was an extraordinary president, but he's also an extraordinary man. He's been able to keep his moral compass throughout his amazing career.

Q Do you ever feel overshadowed by your four brothers, George W., Jeb, Neil and Marvin?

A I'm really, really proud of my brothers, and I never felt overshadowed, but in the 2000 [presidential] election when I was campaigning in my home state of Maryland, I stopped to thank a woman for having a Bush bumper sticker, and when I introduced myself she said, "The governor doesn't have a sister." I said, "Yes, he does." Luckily, I had a copy of my mother's memoirs in the car and I showed her my picture.

Q As a kid studying American history, did you ever have any inkling that your father George H.W., and brother George W. would follow in the footsteps of John and John Quincy Adams?

A Oh, no! I still think, "Wow!" after six years of this president and four years of my dad. It's amazing to think of two presidents in one family when we've only had 43 in all.

Q What drives you crazy about politics?

A The flat-out untruths that come out in the media. The [grocery] scanner story is a perfect example. My father is just very inquisitive and unfailingly polite. He asked a few questions and the pool reporter wrote, "President Bush is out of touch. He doesn't know how a scanner works." Well, of course he knew how a scanner worked, but that kind of thing becomes fake history. That's what I call it.

Q Are you a daddy's girl?

A Yes. I'm the only daughter. [The Bushes' second child, Robin, died of leukemia in 1954 at age 3.] I think losing a daughter in a way made me very welcomed, my life that much more precious. The greatest joy of writing the book was working with him. I got to spend a lot of time with him. He read the book, chapter by chapter.

Q We all heard a lot about President Reagan's love of jelly beans. What's your dad's favorite snack?

A My dad loves licorice, the black strings. They always said he loved pork rinds. I've never once seen him eat a pork rind.

Q The book makes it pretty clear that George H.W. Bush considers himself just a regular guy, but he grew up a child of privilege. What were his first experiences with the middle class?

A He talks about how one of his duties during World War II was to censor the letters that went out from soldiers to make sure they didn't contain sensitive information. He's often talked about how eye-opening that was, understanding where they were coming from, what their worries were. One of the things his parents taught him was to give back. And that's something he's done his entire adult life.

Q Your father and his onetime political nemesis, former President Bill Clinton, have worked together on tsunami and Katrina relief. What is their relationship today?

A They really like each other. It's a genuine, tender relationship. When they were traveling, President Clinton treated my father with such respect as an elder statesman. And I admire my dad for making it OK for them to be friends. His attitude was, "The past is the past. Now let's do something great together."

Delma Francis • 612-673-1717 • dfrancis@startribune.com