Pauline Robinson Bush

Pauline Robinson Bush, called Robin Bush by her family, was the daughter of former President of the United StatesGeorge H. W. Bush and his wife Barbara Bush. Pauline died of leukemia at the age of 3.

First years

Robin was born December 20, 1949 in Compton, California. Her given name "Pauline" was chosen in memory of Barbara's mother Pauline, who had been killed in a car accident two months before her birth. Robin was the second child of George and Barbara, with George W. Bush as her older brother. Soon after she was born, the Bush family moved to Midland, Texas when George was relocated in his job at Dresser Industries.

Illness and death

Shortly after the birth of her brother Jeb Bush in 1953, Robin was diagnosed with leukemia. Her parents were told that there was no available treatment, and that they should take her home.

Barbara recalled the doctor saying, "My advice is take her home, love her. In about two weeks she’ll be gone." However, the Bushes sought treatment for the disease, which was not widely available at the time. The day after her diagnosis, the Bushes flew with Robin to New York City, where George's uncle was a doctor at Sloan Kettering hospital. Barbara Bush attributed the premature graying of her hair to Robin's extended illness. With blood transfusions and bone marrow tests, Pauline survived seven months after her cancer diagnosis, passing away two months before her fourth birthday. 

George and Barbara allowed doctors to conduct medical research on her body before burying her in their family plot in Greenwich, Connecticut. In 2000, after the George Bush Presidential Library was completed in College Station, Texas, Robin's body was disinterred and relocated to the burial plot on the Library grounds.

Impact

Following Robin's death, the Bush family created a charity to raise awareness and money for leukemia research called the Bright Star Foundation. The impact of the Bright Star Foundation was acknowledged by the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in 2004, when it opened the Robin Bush Child and Adolescent Clinic. Barbara later became an honorary chairwoman of the Leukemia Society of America.