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Jenna Bush Hager said a controversial Newsweek cover depicting the late George H.W. Bush as a “wimp” confused her as a child because the former president was always a hero in her eyes.
Back in 1987, Newsweek published a story about the then-vice president seeking his own White House bid titled, “George Bush: Fighting the ‘Wimp Factor.’” The story that hit newsstands when Bush Hager was only six years old, but it left a lasting impact on the granddaughter of the 41st president who died at age 94 on Nov. 30.
“When we lived here in D.C., when we were in elementary school, we have this vivid memory of going to the grocery store, I was with my mom, and saw the cover of Newsweek that said ‘Wimp’ and it had a picture of my grandpa next to it. It confused me, it confused us, because he was the antithesis of a wimp,” Bush Hager said Wednesday on NBC’s “Today” show.
“He was somebody that showed us that family matters. He never was looking at work when we were next to him. He was present. He played with us. He made us feel special,” Bush Hager continued. “He spoke softly and he didn’t speak about himself, he was humble. But why did that have to equate to being a wimp? And it didn’t to us. He was our hero.”
It seems that the man responsible for calling Bush a wimp agrees with Bush Hager, even if it took him decades to admit it. Earlier this week, former Newsweek editor Evan Thomas said he regretted using the word “wimp” to describe H.W. Bush.
Thomas – in an op-ed for Yahoo – wrote that he edited the story and added the word “wimp” despite objections by the story’s reporter.
“But the clear implication of the cover story… was that Bush somehow lacked the inner fortitude to lead the free world,” he wrote. “How wrong we were… As the 41st president, Bush was anything but a wimp.”
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