The Bushes’ life after the White House

last updated 8 January 2015

Laura Bush is still adjusting to life at a slower pace, said Edward Lewine in The New York Times Magazine. The former first lady and her husband, former President George W. Bush, say life on their ranch in Crawford, Texas, couldn’t be more different from their days in the White House. “I didn’t really know how stressed I was until I moved home and wasn’t,” she says.

Having private chefs in both Washington and the Texas governor’s mansion has left her “incompetent” in everyday matters such as cooking. “For 14 years, I never cooked,” she says. “This last Christmas, I cooked lunch for my mother and my daughter. I just roasted the turkey breast. The whole turkey seemed too difficult.”

She’s also had to adjust to the amount of time she spends with her husband. “George and I do everything together, really,” she says. “We read at the same time. We go to bed early every single night. We have all of our breakfasts and dinners together.” This arrangement generally suits her, if not for one annoying trait of his: “smacking on chewing gum.” For his part, the former president seems perfectly content with their new life. “He’s always worried about our small lake that is stocked with bass, because he loves to fish. There’s always some concern: It’s too hot. It’s too cold. Are the fish not getting enough feed? That’s what he worries about.”