Part V 'Reluctant Political Wives'

GEORGE W. BUSH: It is my honor to introduce my wife, my partner and the first lady of the United States, Laura Bush.

ANN GERHART: Laura Bush is one of the most serene women I have ever met. She has a degree of self-composure and control which is remarkable; and she can glide through the messiest, most turbulent times without ever appearing to be upset, or nervous, or frazzled. She has an inner core of steadiness that keeps her going.

NARRATOR: One serene and steady. The other feisty and passionate.

ANN GERHART: Teresa Heinz Kerry is a woman for whom mothering is everything, both of her own children and, by extension, the world. She believes that she has a responsibility to change things, and she's very passionate about doing so. Born in Africa, she's the most exotic of creatures, a white African, who speaks five languages.

GAIL SHEEHY: She is also very feisty. She has very strong opinions, and she's not afraid to express them.

NARRATOR: Two different women from literally two different worlds want to become the next first lady. Both are smart, informed and formidable in their own ways. Their backgrounds have shaped their view of the world.

LAURA BUSH: Well, George and I both grew up in West Texas, where people are very, very optimistic. It was a very -- pretty desolate part of the state. It was pretty much desert and -- but because of that, there's a huge sky. Midland's motto was "The sky's the limit," and I think Midland attracted people who were risk-takers, who were optimistic, who saw a better day.

ANN GERHART: It was certainly the kind of town where nobody locked their doors, very nurturing place, but also in many ways geographically quite isolated and culturally isolated. She grew up as an only child, in some ways, isolated by that, as well. Was a great reader. Played with her dolls. Was a quiet little girl in many ways, who learned how to amuse herself and how to be happy in her own space.

NARRATOR: At the age of 17, tragedy intruded on Laura Welch's life.

ANN GERHART: She flew through a stop sign and collided with another car, killing the driver, who turned out to be a good friend of hers from high school. So, an already reserved girl, she became even quieter and more cautious. And in some ways, I think she appreciates and very much wanted to protect for her girls the chance to live a carefree, happy life, making the kinds of mistakes that aren't so tragic, that teenagers make.

GAIL SHEEHY: Teresa was a high-spirited girl, who grew up in Mozambique, in East Africa. She helped her father, who was a doctor, giving medical care to people in the bush. And, yet, she never thought about being - coming a doctor herself, because she was from a traditional background.

NARRATOR: Teresa Heinz Kerry evokes the nostalgia of her African home even in the cold of an Iowa winter.

TERESA HEINZ KERRY: In Iowa, in winter, when you look out, you can get the feel of open space, of a savannah, with just a little cluster of something which - in their case, a farm, silo, and open. And that openness was - made me both long for home and feel at home - and feel at home in a sense that the - the sparseness of the population and, yet, the closeness to the ground, to the earth.

NARRATOR: She went to college in neighboring South Africa and joined protests against the spread of Apartheid in that country. It was in Switzerland where she was studying languages that she met her future husband.

Laura Bush, Teresa Heinz Kerry on meeting their spouses

NARRATOR: She followed him to America, briefly working at the United Nations before moving on to Pittsburgh. In February 1966, John Heinz, heir to the ketchup fortune, and Teresa Simoes-Ferreira were married.

GAIL SHEEHY: Teresa saw her future as a wife and mother then. She had no career or political ambitions whatsoever.

NARRATOR: They had three sons. In 1971, John Heinz ran for Congress and became a senator six years later. Teresa Heinz learned to become a political wife.

Although Laura Bush is several years younger than Teresa Kerry and grew up lands apart, the expectations for a young woman at that time weren't all that different.

ANN GERHART: Girls in her era thought they could be nurses, or teachers, or secretaries. And they might have all gone off to college, where the goal was that you would meet and marry a husband. That would be - you got your "M-r-s" degree - at college. So, she's certainly of that generation, and that shaped her.

When she graduated from college, she actually decided she wanted to teach in a poor, black school in a bad section of Houston, and really loved it. Was quite passionate about it and really, I think, there developed this idea that reading was a civil right. And her husband's interest in education, which propelled the No Child Left Behind Act, certainly comes from his wife - not in a kind of "George, we really have to do something about reforming education" way, but in the sense that she made him come to understand that those values were the right values.

NARRATOR: Laura Welch got a graduate degree in library science at the University of Texas. Her mother sometimes worried that she wouldn't find a husband. But when she met George Bush, it didn't take long.

Margaret Warner of the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer talked to both women about their lives and the role of first lady.

MARGARET WARNER: Now, when you met George Bush, from meeting to marriage, it was three months. Was that out of character for you?

LAURA BUSH: I don't think so, not really. I mean it wa- in many ways, it was like we'd known each other all our lives. We'd grown up in the same town and lived in Houston at the same time, we had many of the same friends and we had the same values ... so I don't think it was as impulsive as it sounds like.

ANN GERHART: She was quieter, and he was a big talker. She was a good listener. She liked his feistiness and his sense of adventure and his sense of fun. In some ways, I think he was kind of the bad boy you weren't supposed to really climb into the car beside and go tearing through the Texas night with, but he was exciting. And he liked her because she settled him down. She was calm, and she was solid. She was certainly not high-maintenance in any way at all, and they were a good fit. And they remain a good fit.

NARRATOR: Laura Welch and George Bush were married Nov. 5, 1977, three months after they met. He was running for Congress and they traveled the district side-by-side.

LAURA BUSH: You know, it felt very natural -- really -- to be with him on that campaign trail, and it was also a wonderful way for us to really get to know each other after our short courtship.

Adjusting to their political positions

LAURA BUSH: Well, I mean, I think I am a contemporary woman, ya know, and I just feel like I am. I had traditional jobs, traditional women's jobs but, you know, I don't think you have to be a lawyer or a journalist to, to not be considered nontraditional. And I hope that all of us in the United States respect the jobs that woman have traditionally done.

GAIL SHEEHY: Teresa Heinz Kerry had her life smashed when she was 52. She'd been a -- perfectly happy being a wife and mother and having very little political involvement, when she got a phone call saying that her husband's plane had crashed and he was gone.

TERESA HEINZ KERRY: When Jack died, I had an overwhelming sense of responsibilities -- including three sons and no more relatives, because my late husband was an only child.

NARRATOR: She was urged to run for her husband's Senate seat, but she decided she needed to take over the huge Heinz philanthropies.

MARGARET WARNER: Talk to us a little bit about how you've really forged, it seemed to me, a new identity for yourself through your work, after your first husband died.

TERESA HEINZ KERRY: The work that he left and the opportunities that he left for me to do, were opportunities I am so grateful for, because it allowed me to live part of his work and kind of tie his work and his standards and keep that alive for my boys, so that they could understand better, grow into it and do with it what they wanted - but at least be the transition person. And so that's what I decided to do, and -- and I enjoy it. I mean I -- I learn so much, and I'm so grateful to have that.

GAIL SHEEHY: The Heinz family was known as a soft touch, but Teresa changed all that. She learned business methods late in life and became what she called a "venture philanthropist." When people would come to her for money, she would say, "Where's your business plan?" "$30 million? Well, what about 10 million? And what are you gonna do to raise the other 20?"

NARRATOR: Under her direction, the Heinz endowment has revitalized the city of Pittsburgh, turning it from a polluted city to one that promotes "green" development, like its new convention center, the largest green building in the world.

Teresa Heinz met John Kerry through a shared interest in the environment. They married in 1995.

GAIL SHEEHY: A man and woman who find remarriage in their life often have a more passionate relationship than their first marriage or than people who married young, and I think this is true in the case of Teresa and John Kerry, as well. She didn't expect to find another soul mate. What they share is conversation. They love to talk. They love to talk about ideas, about how to fix things, about everything.

NARRATOR: Teresa Kerry is five years older than John Kerry, a fact she doesn't hide.

TERESA HEINZ KERRY: But I think what happens when you're a certain age is you know what's really important. And you don't fuss so much with some little things that you might. But, you know, there's a grander total in the end, and that's what you work towards. And - and that's how you grow. And you do. So, it's a different type of relationship

ANN GERHART: After September 11th, what I saw about Laura Bush is she took herself more seriously. She looked around after she had comforted the nation, effectively so, her steadiness and her realness seemed to really come through. And she realized that, "Boy, people really pay attention to me, and I have a chance to make a difference. And I need to do it now, because time could run out."

LAURA BUSH: And I think there's a great urgency when you live here to get as many good things done as you possibly can get done.

MARGARET WARNER: Your husband once described you as "the perfect wife" of a governor. And another time, he said, "I have the best wife for the line of work I'm in, because she doesn't try to steal the limelight."

LAURA BUSH: (Chuckle)

MARGARET WARNER: Do you see yourself that way?

LAURA BUSH: Sure, absolutely. I mean I would never run for president. I would've - that's just not something that's in my temperament. And I'm very glad to support him.

ANN GERHART: She doesn't really compete with anybody. She doesn't compete with her mother-in-law. She doesn't compete with her own children. She goes and does what she wants to do. You know, her in-laws adore her. They know full well that, if not for her, that man wouldn't be president of the United States; because, one, she did help him quit drinking; and, two, when his campaign was foundering in the summer of 2000, she saw her husband on television and said, "You know, I need to get back and maintain a schedule with him. I need to get back on that plane with him and help him settle down and focus." And that's what she did. Laura Bush has zero need to take credit for anything, which, of course, makes her completely different from anyone else in Washington, who wants to take credit for things they don't do.

MARGARET WARNER: People - many people who know you well say he wouldn't be in this White House if he hadn't married you. Do you think that's true?

LAURA BUSH: Oh, I have no idea, you know, whether or not that's true. Who can say?

MARGARET WARNER: Do you think he would've found the focus in his life, as he did?

LAURA BUSH: Sure. I'm sure he would've.

MARGARET WARNER: Do you think he would've stopped drinking?

LAURA BUSH: Probably, probably. I'm sure that he would've done a lotta the same things, even if we hadn't been together. But I'm glad I got to be with him.

NARRATOR: And he is glad he has her. The president can count on one surefire applause line.

GEORGE W. BUSH: Perhaps the most important reason to put me back in office is so that Laura is first lady for four more years. [Cheers]

NARRATOR: Teresa Heinz Kerry also has many admirers -- for her empathy and her authenticity. She is a woman who refuses to be scripted, and as a result her candor can get her in trouble. Her retort to a reporter from a conservative publication that has attacked the Heinz family over the years has become legend.

TERESA HEINZ KERRY, on videotape: You said something I didn't say. Now - shove it!

TERESA HEINZ KERRY: My life isn't about shying away. My life is about tackling life and trying to enable other people to do the same. And so if people don't like what I do, that's okay. I respect their opinions, and I just hope they respect mine.

TERESA HEINZ KERRY, at the Democratic National Convention: And my only hope is that one day soon women, who have all earned their right to their opinions, instead of being called opinionated will be called smart and well informed just like men! [Cheers]

MARGARET WARNER: Why was it important for you to say that?

TERESA HEINZ KERRY: Because I've lived in many cultures, and - and I've seen the definition of what is acceptable for a woman in different lights, of course. They'll reign as - in the kitchen. They'll reign as mothers. They'll care about everybody. But if you're going to speak about this, "You don't know how to read and write." "You didn't go to college." "You didn't go to school." And I think we need to listen to women. I think women earned their right to - to speak and to have opinions.

MARGARET WARNER: Are there candid comments you've made, say, in this campaign that you regret making?

TERESA HEINZ KERRY: Nope. Not at all.

MARGARET WARNER: Even if they distracted from your husband's message?

TERESA HEINZ KERRY: That, what they do to him I regret, but not what I said.

TERESA HEINZ KERRY, on the campaign trail: "y buenas noches cubanos, y todos los hispanos"

GAIL SHEEHY: She connects with immigrants from many parts of the globe as an American from this century and as someone who cherishes the fundamental freedoms that come with an open, democratic society.

NARRATOR: Heinz Kerry also cherishes her newfound work for the Heinz endowment.

GAIL SHEEHY: Once she gained this new identity that she didn't ask for, she's very fiercely protective of it, and she doesn't wanna give it up.

MARGARET WARNER: And so you would want to continue to do this, running the Heinz Endowment as first lady.

TERESA HEINZ KERRY: Yeah. I mean as chairman. I'm not the president. I'm not there day today. I'm not the president.

MARGARET WARNER: So, do you think the American public would accept that?

TERESA HEINZ KERRY: I've never heard any of them say no. But the work that I do, other than running a meeting or two, or seeing sites, can be done here or there. And, um, so I don't feel that's handicapped at all. But would I ever jeopardize my husband's well being because of that? No.

Partners with their husbands

MARGARET WARNER: How much advice to you give your husband? How much does he seek your advice?

TERESA HEINZ KERRY: I think he likes my perspective on things. I don't do public policy for him. He has his professionals that do that. But I talk - I try to put a lotta these things in the perspective of life, where I have a perspective.

MARGARET WARNER: If you knew he was nearing a decision on something that you knew a lot about, would you hope to influence him?

TERESA HEINZ KERRY: I would hope he would ask me questions, and I know that he would, because he always does. But, I never, ever told my late husband how to vote, one way or another. And I never have told John.

MARGARET WARNER: And why not?

TERESA HEINZ KERRY: I'm not the president. I'm not the senator. I'm not a congressperson. I'm just a good, thinking person.

LAURA BUSH: You know, I give him some advice, but I don't give him a lot of advice. He has plenty of advisors that are experts in a lot of fields. And I really think that it's not just a great thing for spouses to give each other a lot of advice. Nobody really wants a lot of advice.

MARGARET WARNER: Do you discuss your policy views with him?

LAURA BUSH: Sure.

MARGARET WARNER: So, that's changed.

LAURA BUSH: No, I've always discussed my policy views with him. I just haven't discussed them with you. [Chuckling]

NARRATOR: Both women agree to disagree with their husbands in private, not in public, especially in the middle of a hard-fought and often negative campaign.

There is one other subject that unites them across the partisan divide, and that is criticism.

LAURA BUSH: It always bothers you, but you, you just learn to shake it off and, and have it not really matter to you, because -- and certainly for us -- for both of us and, and for my husband, he has a very strong sense of who he is. And I think I have a very strong sense of who I am, too. So, it's easier to, maybe I should say to put up with the, what I call unfair criticism of political races.

TERESA HEINZ KERRY: People in leadership positions, unfortunately, have to be ready to be disliked, even more than that sometimes, for no reason of their own - you know? And it goes with the territory, as they say. It's sad, but that's the way it is. If you can't understand or accept that, don't go into this.

NARRATOR: Unfair or not, the criticism keeps coming in a campaign that will be known for its hardball politics. The wives of the candidates don't like it, but they agree it comes with the turf. So these two political wives aren't heading for the exit anytime soon. The prize, after all, is the White House. And, even with its limitations, the role of a lifetime.

BARBARA BUSH: The world opens up for you.

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: I think every woman should see it as a tremendous opportunity to serve our country and to be part of the excitement and the challenge, sometimes joyful, sometimes tragic, of being in the front row of history unfolding.