Actions

Western New Yorkers remember Barbara Bush

Posted at 11:28 PM, Apr 17, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-17 23:28:49-04

Those in western New York who worked closely with Barbara Bush remember the former first lady fondly.

Anthony Gioia was the ambassador of Malta during the George W. Bush administration. He said he had the opportunity to meet the former first lady on many occasions.

"She was the American dream of what a mother and a wife should be and I think a very powerful person in her own right," said Gioia.

Michael Caputo was director of media services for the 1992 Bush Campaign and worked closely with the first lady.

“When something that was going wrong that was my fault, she let me know, too. She was someone who let you know when she wasn't happy. Never rude, always funny,” said Caputo.

Caputo remembers one time during the end of the campaign when it became clear her husband would not win re-election.

“He seemed to know he was going to lose. And she put her arm around him and she said, ‘oh but we're going to get the boys, the kids, the grandkids, we're going to be a family again, George. We're going to be fine,’” recalled Caputo.

Take WKBW Everywhere, on all your devices.  Download below!

Phone or Tablet: Apple, Android
Set-top Device: Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV
Amazon Alexa

Personalize your news, get the latest 7 First Alert Forecast, and watch 7 Eyewitness News video wherever, whenever.

Learn more here about what 7 Eyewitness News provides on all these devices.