Robin Bush
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Pauline Robinson Bush (December 20, 1949 – in Compton, California-October 11, 1953 in Connecticut) was the second child of George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush. Named after her maternal grandmother and nicknamed Robin, she died of leukemia at the age of three. She was initially buried in Connecticut but was reburied in 2000 at the Texas A&M University site which is intended for her parents.
One writer has argued that her death left a profound impact on her older brother, President George W. Bush.
[edit] Compton Roots
Robin Bush (whose name was listed as Pauline Robinson Bush on her birth certificate) was born in Compton, California, toward the end of the six-month period that her family lived in that Los Angeles suburb. During that time her father worked for Dresser Industries, selling oil-drilling equipment. They lived in an apartment located at 624 South Santa Fe Avenue. It was part of a 144-unit complex comprised of 19 buildings along both sides of the avenue. The complex was later converted into condominiums and had fallen into disrepair. After Compton Mayor Walter R. Tucker III unsuccessfully proposed making the site a historical landmark in 1992 as part of a beautification project the building was torn down.
[edit] Effect of death on George W. Bush according to Justin Frank
In his book Bush on the Couch, Justin Frank argues that Robin's death and the way the family handled it had a strong impact on her brother's personal development. Despite Robin's short life, Frank believes that she had a major impact on the world through her older brother, George W. Bush, who followed in his father's footsteps and became President of the United States.
At the time she became ill, Robin was the future president's only sibling (although Jeb Bush was born before she died) and a favorite playmate. His parents never told him that she was sick, although he was asked to stop playing with her. Only after her death did they disclose to him her illness, which had lasted longer than doctors expected it to and had led the Bushes on a frantic quest back East to find a specialist who could treat her. These efforts kept them away from their son for long stretches of time, and he was not present when Robin died nor at her burial.
[edit] Reference
- Adams, Emily, August 3, 1992, "Bush's Compton Roots Raise Thorny Issue," Los Angeles Times.
