Bush's Public Speaking Engagements in the Mid-1980s to Promote Various Initiatives

By the mid-1980s, Bush was comfortable speaking in front of groups, and she routinely spoke to promote issues in which she believed. She became famous for a self-deprecating sense of humor. During the campaign, she made headlines when she declined to give her thoughts on vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, but that 'it rhymes with rich'. Bush panicked when it leaked that she may have referred to Ferraro as a bitch. She later apologized and clarified that she meant 'witch'. Barbara otherwise avoided drawing attention to herself, and this was the only significant criticism of her during her tenure as Second Lady. Throughout her tenure, she always kept George's political career in mind; after noticing that he had not appeared in any recent issues of the Republican National Committee's First Monday magazine, she orchestrated a meeting between herself and the Republican National Committee chair, and George appeared on the front cover of the following issue.