Includes bibliographical references (p. 259-260) and index.

The first biography of Laura Bush to be written with White House cooperation offers a look at the private world of this famously reserved woman, as well as the beliefs and attitudes that shape it. Based on interviews with her closest friends and confidantes from childhood to the present, as well as family members and administration heavyweights, Kessler paints a portrait of a woman who, even as she ascended to the heights of political fortune and power, never lost touch with the bedrock American values she absorbed in her youth. Kessler reveals how Laura's opinions have brought budget changes to a range of federal agencies and have affected her husband's policies, appointments, and worldview; what Laura's own political opinions are and what her relationship with twin daughters Jenna and Barbara is really like; what Laura says in private about Hillary Clinton, media attacks on her husband, and his victory in the 2004 election.--From publisher description.