A Pillow Away From The President

Mrs. Bush is unlikely to make an outright political statement. Indeed, she hardly seems interested in making a fashion statement (though she lifts the hem of her brown slacks to show a stocking-free leg: Women Against Panty Hose, Unite!). Before 9/11 the First Lady was happiest reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar to kindergartners. She is no co-President but has become a part-time surrogate for her husband, appearing on 60 Minutes, three times with Larry King, addressing the National Press Club and giving the radio address on Nov. 17, while continuing to work hard for education. Kennedy says she's devoted and selfless. "At various panels, I ask if she doesn't want to speak first and leave. Instead, she comes early, listens to everyone else and speaks last. I can't tell you how rare that kind of effort is."

Still, Mrs. Bush seems to prefer the personal to the political. She will have 27 for Christmas at Camp David, where, to the relief of her family, she will not be cooking (she loves to read cookbooks, not follow them). Before wrapping it for Jenna, Mrs. Bush hastily read Still Alive: A Holocaust Girlhood Remembered, by Ruth Kluger, about "an interesting mother-daughter relationship. They're all interesting," she says, adding that the twins like to comment on her appearance ("Mom, your hair moves as a unit!"). She has hinted that she might write a book about Barney the Scottish terrier if she could "get that $8 million advance or whatever it is." Asked what Barbara Bush thinks of her daughter-in-law's surpassing her in the polls, Laura pleaded, "Please don't tell her."

It matters who's a pillow away from the presidency. David Gergen writes in Eyewitness to Power that a chipper President Clinton would arrive in the morning only to get a call from Hillary, after which "his mood would darken." The Bushes keep a lid on criticism. "In politics you always have an opponent. It shouldn't be your spouse," she says. It's impossible to judge a marriage from the outside, yet it's hard to picture Mrs. Bush ever darkening the President's day. The peace she carries with her spills over to him, and so to us.