Barbara Bush’s White House Revenge On Nancy Reagan

Barbara Bush was one of America's favorite First Ladies, but family insiders said the matriarch had "a ruthless side she kept hidden from the public" — as learned by her rival Nancy Reagan!

The world mourned Barbara's death on April 18, 2018, with many sources citing how she was the most popular member of the Bush family dynasty. The wife of President George H.W. Bush also successfully campaigned for her son's race for the White House, and Jeb Bush's stint as the governor of Florida. Barbara also reveled in becoming more popular than her predecessor Nancy Reagan!

"Nancy and Barbara like each other about as much as a dog likes fleas!" declared an insider, noting that Barbara's bitterness toward the former First Lady grew all through her years in the Ronald Reagan administration as Mrs. Vice-President: "As far as Nancy was concerned, Barbara was a frumpy, obese, Stone Age woman who lowered the tone of the whole Reagan Presidency."

"Nancy reminded Barbara of her mother," added another source, "who was a socialite and a real spendthrift!" The new First Lady didn't waste any time establishing herself as the opposite of Nancy after the 1988 election. Barbara quickly declared that her trademark pearl necklaces were fake, and wore a pair of $29 shoes to her husband's inauguration.

That was after years of being neglected by Nancy — who, said an insider, "always made her feel unwelcome, like an intruder. There were private parties that included mutual friends of the Reagans and Bushes, but Barbara and George weren't invited...she felt Barbara just wouldn't fit in."

"When Barbara did come to the White House with George for a formal occasion or dinner with a visiting head of state," added another source, "Barbara told me that Nancy looked her up and down to see if she passed muster for the occasion. She said Nancy gave her a cool hello, then ignored her the rest of the time."

But after Barbara stepped into the role of First Lady, she went out of her way to avoid her old rival. In March 2018, the Bushes made their first official trip to NYC as President and First Lady, and notably avoided meeting with Nancy — who had flown in the same week from California to work with editors on her upcoming autobiography.

Shortly afterward, Barbara declined to join the President on a trip to California. "She changed her mind," said a close source, "when she found out that as a matter of protocol she would have to spend time with Mrs. Reagan. She told her friends, 'I want nothing to do with that snob!'"

Things only got more tense after both couples were out of the White House — and the first President Bush made his diaries public. One entry read: "Nancy does not like Barbara. She feels that...she'll never be in Barbara's class." In her own final years, Nancy would decline to comment on Barbara, simply telling Vanity Fair: “I never got to know her very well.”