美國第一夫人勞拉·布什對白宮政治所產(chǎn)生的影響力遠(yuǎn)比人們以往想象的更大。下周即將在美國上市的新書《勞拉·布什：第一夫人的隱私肖像》描寫了“賢妻良母”面紗之下真實(shí)的勞拉。
第一夫人常吹“枕邊風(fēng)”
據(jù)《每日電訊報(bào)》3月26日報(bào)道，在過去5年里，現(xiàn)年59歲的勞拉基本上都身居幕后。白宮顧問們將她的形象描述成“非希拉里”。美國前第一夫人希拉里·克林頓在她8年的白宮時(shí)光中總是向外界毫不掩飾地表明自己對政治的興趣，但現(xiàn)任第一夫人勞拉·布什則被視為更傾向于相夫教子的家庭主婦角色。
但由羅納德·凱斯勒撰寫的新書《勞拉·布什：第一夫人的隱私肖像》則使得布什夫人——這位寡言少語的前得克薩斯州圖書管理員——對總統(tǒng)施加的影響顯出真相。
凱斯勒說：“在可能的人事任命和她所投身或關(guān)注的公共事務(wù)領(lǐng)域，布什班子的成員們總是會征求勞拉的建議?！边@些問題包括教育、藝術(shù)、女權(quán)和艾滋病等。凱斯勒指出，正是由于勞拉的影響，一些公共事業(yè)機(jī)構(gòu)獲得了更多的政府撥款，或者幸免于削減開支。凱斯勒宣稱，布什夫人曾經(jīng)否決了布什對一名高級官員的任命，但凱斯勒沒有就此透露更多的細(xì)節(jié)。當(dāng)布什去年提名哈麗特·邁爾斯為美國法院大法官時(shí)，布什夫人在一次公開聲明中鼓勵丈夫任用女性作為法院大法官。據(jù)悉，邁爾斯是布什總統(tǒng)夫婦的好朋友。
在《勞拉·布什：第一夫人的隱私肖像》一書里，凱斯勒還透露說，布什夫婦在得州的朋友南?！ね苟读险f，勞拉在懷上雙胞胎女兒之前曾服用了強(qiáng)效的助孕藥物。凱斯勒在書里還稱，盡管勞拉在10多年前已經(jīng)公開宣布戒煙，但她還會經(jīng)常向朋友“乞討”香煙；她在17歲時(shí)因駕車時(shí)不小心闖紅燈，而將一友撞死。
白宮欲靠夫人救總統(tǒng)
日前，勞拉在美國有線電視新聞網(wǎng)（CNN）接受訪談節(jié)目主持人拉里·金采訪時(shí)也承認(rèn)，她對丈夫決定人員任用的過程確實(shí)能發(fā)揮影響。她說：“這是我們之間談?wù)撟疃嗟氖虑橹弧τ诿恳粋€(gè)工作在白宮的人，我和他一樣了解，因?yàn)槲彝瑯右彩呛退麄児ぷ髟谝黄鸬娜?。所以，我理所?dāng)然會給他一些建議。”
報(bào)道說，布什夫人參加CNN的訪談節(jié)目可能與近來布什支持率持續(xù)走低有關(guān)。一直以來，公眾對布什夫人的支持率一直保持在80％至90％，而白宮希望利用她良好的公眾形象幫助布什擺脫政治困境。
在討論完一項(xiàng)有關(guān)幫助心臟病女患者的活動之后，勞拉便開始為丈夫在阿富汗和伊拉克問題的政策立場進(jìn)行辯護(hù)。她說：“在電視上看到我們的士兵在伊拉克失去性命真是一件很痛苦的事情。人們會覺得，伊拉克人不在乎我們的幫助，他們不希望我們在那里，我們付出的犧牲不被他們尊重或重視?！?BR> First Lady 'is White House Power Broker'
Laura Bush plays a much greater role in shaping White House policy, appointments and even budgets than previously acknowledged.
Mrs Bush, 59, has stayed largely in the background for the past five years. White House advisers have portrayed her as the “non-Hillary” - a reference to her predecessor, Mrs Clinton, who made no secret of her interest in public policy during her eight years as First Lady.
But a different picture of the influence the quietly spoken former Texas librarian exerts on her husband, President George W Bush, emerges in Laura Bush： An Intimate Portrait of the First Lady, to be published in America next week by Random House.
“The Bush administration asks for her opinion, and for any suggestions that she might have, on possible appointments and on issues affecting a range of agencies dealing with subjects which she has committed herself to promoting, or in which she has a strong interest,” says its author, Ronald Kessler, who has been granted unprecedented access to family insiders and senior administration figures.
These issues include education, the arts, women's rights, and Aids. Because of her, Kessler says, budgets for some agencies have been increased or spared from cuts.
Kessler also claims that Mrs Bush vetoed an appointment to a senior political post, but has refused to give further details before the book is published.
Last year, in a rare public pronouncement, Mrs Bush openly encouraged her husband to appoint a woman to the Supreme Court, setting the scene for the botched nomination of Harriet Miers, the White House counsel, who is a family friend.
The First Lady acknowledged her influence on her husband's personnel decisions in a rare television interview with Larry King on CNN on Friday night.
“That's one of the things we do talk about the most,” she said. “I know everyone as well as he does who works here. I've worked with them also. So certainly I would give him that kind of advice.”
In the book, Kessler reveals that the First Lady became pregnant with her twins, Jenna and Barbara, only after taking powerful fertility drugs. The Bushes had been trying for children for three years before seeking medical help, according to Nancy Weiss, a close friend of the couple, from Texas.
Kessler describes how Mrs Bush continues to “bum” cigarettes from friends, even though she officially quit smoking more than 10 years ago, and retells how, as a 17-year-old, she accidentally drove through a red traffic light, killing a schoolmate.
Her CNN interview may be connected with the fact that Mr Bush's approval ratings remain extremely low. Mrs Bush consistently scores approval ratings of between 80 and 90 per cent and the White House likes to deploy her at times of political trouble for her husband.
After discussing a campaign to warn women of the dangers of heart disease, she also used the platform to defend the president's policies in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“It's very difficult to watch on television and see the loss of our soldiers in Iraq, and to get the idea that the Iraqis don't care - that they don't want us there, that it's a sacrifice they don't respect or regard,” she admitted, adding firmly： “I think they do.”
第一夫人常吹“枕邊風(fēng)”
據(jù)《每日電訊報(bào)》3月26日報(bào)道，在過去5年里，現(xiàn)年59歲的勞拉基本上都身居幕后。白宮顧問們將她的形象描述成“非希拉里”。美國前第一夫人希拉里·克林頓在她8年的白宮時(shí)光中總是向外界毫不掩飾地表明自己對政治的興趣，但現(xiàn)任第一夫人勞拉·布什則被視為更傾向于相夫教子的家庭主婦角色。
但由羅納德·凱斯勒撰寫的新書《勞拉·布什：第一夫人的隱私肖像》則使得布什夫人——這位寡言少語的前得克薩斯州圖書管理員——對總統(tǒng)施加的影響顯出真相。
凱斯勒說：“在可能的人事任命和她所投身或關(guān)注的公共事務(wù)領(lǐng)域，布什班子的成員們總是會征求勞拉的建議?！边@些問題包括教育、藝術(shù)、女權(quán)和艾滋病等。凱斯勒指出，正是由于勞拉的影響，一些公共事業(yè)機(jī)構(gòu)獲得了更多的政府撥款，或者幸免于削減開支。凱斯勒宣稱，布什夫人曾經(jīng)否決了布什對一名高級官員的任命，但凱斯勒沒有就此透露更多的細(xì)節(jié)。當(dāng)布什去年提名哈麗特·邁爾斯為美國法院大法官時(shí)，布什夫人在一次公開聲明中鼓勵丈夫任用女性作為法院大法官。據(jù)悉，邁爾斯是布什總統(tǒng)夫婦的好朋友。
在《勞拉·布什：第一夫人的隱私肖像》一書里，凱斯勒還透露說，布什夫婦在得州的朋友南?！ね苟读险f，勞拉在懷上雙胞胎女兒之前曾服用了強(qiáng)效的助孕藥物。凱斯勒在書里還稱，盡管勞拉在10多年前已經(jīng)公開宣布戒煙，但她還會經(jīng)常向朋友“乞討”香煙；她在17歲時(shí)因駕車時(shí)不小心闖紅燈，而將一友撞死。
白宮欲靠夫人救總統(tǒng)
日前，勞拉在美國有線電視新聞網(wǎng)（CNN）接受訪談節(jié)目主持人拉里·金采訪時(shí)也承認(rèn)，她對丈夫決定人員任用的過程確實(shí)能發(fā)揮影響。她說：“這是我們之間談?wù)撟疃嗟氖虑橹弧τ诿恳粋€(gè)工作在白宮的人，我和他一樣了解，因?yàn)槲彝瑯右彩呛退麄児ぷ髟谝黄鸬娜?。所以，我理所?dāng)然會給他一些建議。”
報(bào)道說，布什夫人參加CNN的訪談節(jié)目可能與近來布什支持率持續(xù)走低有關(guān)。一直以來，公眾對布什夫人的支持率一直保持在80％至90％，而白宮希望利用她良好的公眾形象幫助布什擺脫政治困境。
在討論完一項(xiàng)有關(guān)幫助心臟病女患者的活動之后，勞拉便開始為丈夫在阿富汗和伊拉克問題的政策立場進(jìn)行辯護(hù)。她說：“在電視上看到我們的士兵在伊拉克失去性命真是一件很痛苦的事情。人們會覺得，伊拉克人不在乎我們的幫助，他們不希望我們在那里，我們付出的犧牲不被他們尊重或重視?！?BR> First Lady 'is White House Power Broker'
Laura Bush plays a much greater role in shaping White House policy, appointments and even budgets than previously acknowledged.
Mrs Bush, 59, has stayed largely in the background for the past five years. White House advisers have portrayed her as the “non-Hillary” - a reference to her predecessor, Mrs Clinton, who made no secret of her interest in public policy during her eight years as First Lady.
But a different picture of the influence the quietly spoken former Texas librarian exerts on her husband, President George W Bush, emerges in Laura Bush： An Intimate Portrait of the First Lady, to be published in America next week by Random House.
“The Bush administration asks for her opinion, and for any suggestions that she might have, on possible appointments and on issues affecting a range of agencies dealing with subjects which she has committed herself to promoting, or in which she has a strong interest,” says its author, Ronald Kessler, who has been granted unprecedented access to family insiders and senior administration figures.
These issues include education, the arts, women's rights, and Aids. Because of her, Kessler says, budgets for some agencies have been increased or spared from cuts.
Kessler also claims that Mrs Bush vetoed an appointment to a senior political post, but has refused to give further details before the book is published.
Last year, in a rare public pronouncement, Mrs Bush openly encouraged her husband to appoint a woman to the Supreme Court, setting the scene for the botched nomination of Harriet Miers, the White House counsel, who is a family friend.
The First Lady acknowledged her influence on her husband's personnel decisions in a rare television interview with Larry King on CNN on Friday night.
“That's one of the things we do talk about the most,” she said. “I know everyone as well as he does who works here. I've worked with them also. So certainly I would give him that kind of advice.”
In the book, Kessler reveals that the First Lady became pregnant with her twins, Jenna and Barbara, only after taking powerful fertility drugs. The Bushes had been trying for children for three years before seeking medical help, according to Nancy Weiss, a close friend of the couple, from Texas.
Kessler describes how Mrs Bush continues to “bum” cigarettes from friends, even though she officially quit smoking more than 10 years ago, and retells how, as a 17-year-old, she accidentally drove through a red traffic light, killing a schoolmate.
Her CNN interview may be connected with the fact that Mr Bush's approval ratings remain extremely low. Mrs Bush consistently scores approval ratings of between 80 and 90 per cent and the White House likes to deploy her at times of political trouble for her husband.
After discussing a campaign to warn women of the dangers of heart disease, she also used the platform to defend the president's policies in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“It's very difficult to watch on television and see the loss of our soldiers in Iraq, and to get the idea that the Iraqis don't care - that they don't want us there, that it's a sacrifice they don't respect or regard,” she admitted, adding firmly： “I think they do.”