A Look At The Bush Family's Nicknames For Each Other
There have only been two former presidents who have watched a son go on to also be elected president of the United States. The first was John Adams, whose son, John Quincy Adams followed in his footsteps. The second was George H. W. Bush, who also watched his son and namesake, George W. Bush, make it to the White House. The Bush presidents went through their ups and downs in the public eye over the years, but whether you love or hate their politics, you have to give them credit for having some pretty creative nicknames for each other.
Jenna Bush Hager, co-host of "Today with Hoda and Jenna" and daughter of George W. and Laura Bush, revealed that when she was little, she was called "Benny." She explained on "Today" that she got the nickname when she was 2 and someone mistook Jenna and her twin sister Barbara for boys. "And my parents were the type that just played along with everything," she explained. "And they were like, 'They are cute!'"
Did George W. and Laura leave it at that? No, they went ahead and proclaimed their baby boys' names were "Benny" and "Beauregard." Then they went ahead and called the girls that, with little Jenna and Barbara thinking those were their actual names for a bit. Jenna said she spent time calling her twin sister "Beaugie." Too cute!
George W. Bush's grandchildren have a Spanish nickname for him
It wasn't just funny nicknames for Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush. The nicknames extended to the older generation as well. On a "Today" show appearance in 2012 while Jenna Bush Hager was pregnant with her first baby and her parents' first grandchild, she referred to George W. Bush as "Popsicle." As the two talked about what it was that he wanted his grandchildren to call him, George W. jokingly said they wanted them to call him, "sir." He almost got a version of that nickname to catch on, in a way — years later, he revealed that his grandkids call him "el jefe," which means "the boss" in Spanish.
Laura Bush is not called anything so basic as "Grandma" or "Granny." Instead, she's called "Mimi Maxwell." It's a name that Jenna proposed when she was first pregnant, and it seems as though it stuck. It's unclear where the name originated, but it's hard not to love its uniqueness.
Barbara Bush's nickname showed her status in the family
Barbara Bush, wife of George W. Bush, also got her own nickname — "The Enforcer." It might seem at first to be a name that signals some kind of annoyance or anger with Barbara, but it turns out that it very much came from a place of love and respect. Barbara was focused on leading her family and making sure that they did what she felt was the right thing, and she wasn't about to let anyone get any with any funny business.
As for official nicknames — Secret Service code names that is — the Bush family mostly had "T" names during both the father and son's time in office. George W. Bush was "Tumbler" or "Trailblazer" while George H. W. Bush was "Timberwolf." Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush were Twinkle and Turquoise, while their mom Laura Bush was known as "Tempo." Barbara's Secret Service code name seems far-removed from her family nickname of "The Enforcer" — she was "Serenity" or "Tranquility."