Former President George W. Bush on Thursday joked about the last time he saw his late mother Barbara Bush.
During an event in Washington, D.C., Bush said his mother confessed to the doctor she smoked and drank while pregnant with him, and that’s why he “turned out the way he did.”
“I don’t know if you heard what mom said the last time I ever saw her. We were in a hospital in Houston,” George W. Bush said at the Atlantic Council Distinguished Leadership Awards dinner. “Doctor walks in and mother looks straight at the doctor and said, ‘You want to know why George W. turned out the way he did?’ The doctor was somewhat perplexed, and she said ‘Yes, Mrs. Bush.’ She said, ‘Because I drank and smoked when I was pregnant with him.’”
He also shared that his father, former President George H.W. Bush, was doing well, but obviously missed his late wife.
“My whole family thanks you for your prayers and condolences,” George W. Bush said. “All was well with her soul, and all is well with ours.”
Barbara Bush, who was married to George H.W. Bush for 73 years, fought chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and congestive heart failure for a year. She passed away last month. George H.W. Bush was discharged from the hospital last Friday after being treated for an infection following the funeral for Barbara.
George W. Bush was awarded the Atlantic Council’s Distinguished International Leadership Award at the Thursday evening event.
