Life as the First Lady wasn’t as easy as Barbara Bush made it look to onlookers! In fact, before her tragic death, she suffered depression — and even contemplated suicide at one point.
In the mid-70s, George H.W. Bush’s late wife suffered a slew of unfortunate life events that spiraled her into a state of depression — a place so dark she almost took her own life.
Susan Page, author of The Matriarch: Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty, revealed in her explosive new book that Babara’s sorrows could have had to do with potential homewrecker Jennifer Fitzgerald who was by her husband’s side for 12 years as his aid, although some claimed her to be his mistress!
Click through the gallery above for the heartbreaking details!
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It was in 1975 that she especially found herself in a dark place. “Barbara Bush found herself falling into the worst personal crisis she had faced since daughter Robin had died more than two decades earlier,” Page wrote. “Overwhelmed by pain and loneliness, she contemplated suicide.”
She continued, “She would pull over to the side of the road until the impulse to plow into a tree or drive into the path of an oncoming car had passed.”
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“I felt terrible. I would pull over and park so I wouldn't go hit a tree,” Barbara confessed to Page before her death in April 2018.
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“Their surreptitious romance would last for more than a dozen years, inexplicable to those around him and impossible for anyone to manage,” Page added.
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“I really wasn't brave enough to do that, but that's why I pulled over, so I wouldn't do that, or I wouldn't run into another car,” she continued.
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Many stood by the idea that Jennifer Fitzgerald was the reason why Barbara entered into a hole of such grief and sadness.
“Just seven years younger than Barbara and not a striking beauty, she was flirty and solicitous and focused completely on him,” the book reads of Jennifer.
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She tried to explain her feelings to her politician husband (the only one who knew she was in a bad place) — despite the rumors he was toying around behind her back!
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“I almost wonder why he didn't leave me,” Barbara admitted of her sad attitude. Despite his rumored shenanigans, the two stayed together for a shell-shocking 73 years.
If you or anyone you know is battling suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255.
It was in 1975 that she especially found herself in a dark place. “Barbara Bush found herself falling into the worst personal crisis she had faced since daughter Robin had died more than two decades earlier,” Page wrote. “Overwhelmed by pain and loneliness, she contemplated suicide.”
She continued, “She would pull over to the side of the road until the impulse to plow into a tree or drive into the path of an oncoming car had passed.”
Photo credit: Getty Images
“I felt terrible. I would pull over and park so I wouldn't go hit a tree,” Barbara confessed to Page before her death in April 2018.
Photo credit: Getty Images
“Their surreptitious romance would last for more than a dozen years, inexplicable to those around him and impossible for anyone to manage,” Page added.
Photo credit: Getty Images
“I really wasn't brave enough to do that, but that's why I pulled over, so I wouldn't do that, or I wouldn't run into another car,” she continued.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Many stood by the idea that Jennifer Fitzgerald was the reason why Barbara entered into a hole of such grief and sadness.
“Just seven years younger than Barbara and not a striking beauty, she was flirty and solicitous and focused completely on him,” the book reads of Jennifer.
Photo credit: Getty Images
She tried to explain her feelings to her politician husband (the only one who knew she was in a bad place) — despite the rumors he was toying around behind her back!
Photo credit: Getty Images
“I almost wonder why he didn't leave me,” Barbara admitted of her sad attitude. Despite his rumored shenanigans, the two stayed together for a shell-shocking 73 years.
If you or anyone you know is battling suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255.
Photo credit: Getty Images