Former US first lady Barbara Bush has died at the age of 92.
She passed away shortly after deciding to forgo further medical treatments for her failing health.
Mrs Bush had been hospitalised numerous times while battling congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
In a statement from the office of her husband, former president George HW Bush described her as a "relentless proponent of family literacy."
They were married for 73 years.
Statement by the Office of @GeorgeHWBush on the passing of Barbara Pierce Bush this evening at the age of 92. pic.twitter.com/c6JU0xy6Vc
— Jim McGrath (@jgm41) April 17, 2018
Barbara Bush has long been considered the rock at the centre of one of America's most prominent political families, as the wife of a president, the mother of another, George W Bush, and the mother also of a former Florida governor and one time presidential hopeful, Jeb Bush.
She first met her husband-to-be at the age of 16 when she was a schoolgirl and he was a student at an elite preparatory school in Massachusetts.
They married in 1945 while he was on leave from wartime service as a naval officer. The couple had six children.
As first lady, from 1989 to 1993, she embraced the cause of universal literacy, and founded a foundation for family literacy.
She gained a reputation for toughness, wry humour and straight-speaking.
Asked in 2010 about former Alaska governor Sarah Palin - who sought the vice presidency in 2008 - she told an interviewer: "I sat next to her once, thought she was beautiful, and I think she's very happy in Alaska, and I hope she'll stay there."
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President Trump tweeted a message to say that he and first lady Melania "join the Nation in celebrating the life of Barbara Bush."
.@FLOTUS Melania and I join the Nation in celebrating the life of Barbara Bush: pic.twitter.com/4OW72iddQx
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2018
Former President Bill Clinton said that Barbara Bush was a remarkable woman who had "grit and grace, brains and beauty."
Barbara Bush was a remarkable woman. She had grit & grace, brains & beauty. She was fierce & feisty in support of her family & friends, her country & her causes. She showed us what an honest, vibrant, full life looks like. Hillary and I mourn her passing and bless her memory.
— Bill Clinton (@BillClinton) April 17, 2018
In a statement, her son and former president George W said: "Mom kept us on our toes and kept us laughing until the end. I’m a lucky man that Barbara Bush was my mother."
Statement by President George W. Bush on the passing of Mrs. Barbara Bush: https://t.co/PwYs9SHwo3 pic.twitter.com/FZMcRwv0Ve
— George W. Bush Presidential Center (@TheBushCenter) April 18, 2018
President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama said Mrs Bush represented "the humility and decency that reflects the American spirit."
Our statement on the passing of Former First Lady Barbara Bush: pic.twitter.com/MhTVYCL9Nj
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 18, 2018
The Barbarba Bush Foundation for Family Literacy paid tribute to its founder.
We mourn the passing of Barbara Bush, who believed that the world would be a better place if more people could read, write and comprehend. That’s why she started the Foundation and her legacy will continue to impact lives for generations to come. Visit: https://t.co/nmyvPP4AOU pic.twitter.com/A2dlNCiKgj
— Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy (@BarbaraBushFdn) April 18, 2018
Barbara Bush cast herself as an enthralled spectator of her husband's rise to the presidency, but once in the White House, it was America's 'First Grandmother' who stole the public's heart.
White haired and matronly, Mrs Bush was decidedly unfashionable, her signature large pearls notwithstanding.
But she honed that staid image shrewdly during George HW Bush's tenure in Washington, and revelled in it again when their son George W won the White House.
After leaving Washington she emerged as the matriarch of a hyper-powerful American clan.
"She's an enforcer," granddaughter Jenna Bush Hager said on Monday.
But even as the United States grew increasingly polarised, Barbara Bush commanded affection across the political spectrum.
Her 73-year marriage to George, the longest of any US presidential couple, was one of the great love affairs in American public life.
When Barbara Bush had open-heart surgery in 2009, her husband said he was a "nervous wreck."
After she regained consciousness, in poignant comments that highlighted their dedication to one another, he choked back tears telling reporters "it was just a reunion of two people who love each other."
"She's in command - she's in control of our whole family," Mr Bush said.
While her motherliness was genuine - her five children warmly attest to that - the first lady had a sharp tongue and a steely side which surfaced in her fierce loyalty to her husband.
Among the better-known "Barbara barbs" was one thrown when she described her husband's 1984 rival for the vice presidency, Geraldine Ferraro, as something that "rhymes with rich."
Mrs Bush graciously apologised later, polishing her credentials as the consummate political wife.
