Civic Literacy

Barbara Bush: The Maker Of Two Presidents

Ronald 2 Comments

The death of First Lady Barbara Bush, the wife of George H. W. Bush, and the mother of George W. Bush, is a major loss to the nation in so many ways.

Without Barbara Bush, neither President Bush would have become President, as she was the driving force behind her family.

Barbara Bush committed her life to public service, promoting the fight against cancer, which took her three year old daughter Robin, who died of leukemia at age 3 in 1953; and also making the advancement of literacy her major commitment in the White House.

Bush never cared about her public appearance, and used to joke that she was old and fat, and had white hair, which had turned gray at a young age, in response to her daughter’s tragic death.

She was unpretentious, and made people she met feel comfortable.

She had ability to say controversial things at times, but she was able to win people over for her directness, and her honest assessments of people and situations.

Her marriage of 73 plus years was a model no longer followed by most Americans, as she was totally devoted to her husband, marriage and family, and in the world of 2018, that seems, sadly, old fashioned.

May she rest in peace, and likely, very soon, her husband will join her, and they will be together, at the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Texas, on the campus of Texas A & M University.

Barbara Bush will stand out as one of the more prominent and public First Ladies for all time.

The Intercollegiate Studies Institute And Civic Literacy Testing

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The Intercollegiate Studies Institute is an organization which promotes civic literacy among the American people.

In a survey done in 2008, it was discovered that the average American taking a 33 question test scored 49 percent, and more shockingly, college educators only scored 55 percent! But those in public office scored lower than the average citizen, only 44 percent!

The test deals with American history, government, and economics, and it demonstrates how poorly our citizenry is knowledgeable about its own institutions and traditions.

79 percent of those in public office did not know that an official establishment of religion is banned in the Bill of Rights! 43 percent do not know the purpose of the Electoral College! 54 percent do not know that the power to declare war resides in the Congress! 27 percent cannot name one right or freedom guaranteed in the First Amendment! And 49 percent cannot name the three branches of government!

The author of this blog is proud to announce that he got a 90.91 percent result, 30 out of 33, matching his son David, on the exam, with both of us somewhat stumped by economics questions, but fortunately, only three of them!

By the way, IF such an exam was given to Rick Santorum, who this week condemned liberals for the poor knowledge of American history in America, it seems certain he might not even score the average of 49 percent of the typical American citizen who participated in the exam in 2008 or the average of 44 percent of officeholders. And it is clear that Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin would also fail miserably. Instead of them all blaming liberals, who have promoted an expansion of the American history curriculum to cover the history of minorities, women, and labor, from just the usual white male leaders of government and great business capitalists constantly idealized by conservatives, they might finally learn the truth and complete story of American history!