Pauline Robinson Bush's Battle with Leukemia in Washington During the Early 1950s

The family life established by the Bushes was interrupted in 1953 when Robin was diagnosed with leukemia. Against the advice of their physician, they took her to New York to get treatment. Barbara forced herself to maintain her composure throughout the ordeal, and she made a point to never cry in front of her daughter. George was unable to do so and required her support. Robin died six months later, and George then had to provide support to Barbara. She fell into a deep depression, in which she struggled to raise her two surviving children. One legend held that her hair began to whiten in her grief, though she later denied this. Her relationship with her husband and her oldest son helped her recover, as Bush felt she had to maintain herself for her family. She began to process her grief after overhearing George W. decline to play with the neighbors because his mother needed him. Bush decided that she would continue having children until giving birth to another daughter. She had three more children over the following years: Neil in 1955, Marvin in 1956, and Dorothy in 1959.