Secrets & Scandals Of America’s First Ladies

Going Gray

By the time Robin passed away, Barbara’s hair was completely gray. After some time, the former first lady developed a great sense of humor about her appearance. She was a master of self-deprecating humor, she once said of Nancy Reagan that they had a lot in common: “She adores her husband; I adore mine. She fights drugs; I fight illiteracy. She wears a size three —so’s my leg.” In an April 2017 episode of the Today Show, on which Jenna Bush Hager served as a co-host, the younger Bush granddaughter accidentally revealed that her granny Barbara only has four toes on each foot! After apologizing to her granny for the slip on live TV, she explained it was due to old age.