Barbara and Jenna Bush
Barbara and Jenna Bush (born November 25, 1981) are the fraternal twin daughters of U.S. president George W. Bush and Laura Bush.
Jenna, the blonde, is named after her maternal grandmother and attended the University of Texas at Austin, Texas. Barbara, the brunette, is named after her paternal grandmother and attended her father and grandfather's alma mater, Yale University. Jenna has said that she wants to become a teacher in Manhattan and Barbara is reported to have plans to work with AIDS sufferers in Africa.
Drinking incidents
Both daughters had incidents involving underage drinking. On April 27, 2001 Jenna Bush was charged with being a minor in possession of alcohol in the East Sixth Street entertainment district of Austin. On May 29, 2001 Jenna was charged with trying to use a third party's identification (fake ID) to purchase alcohol at a popular Mexican restaurant near the University of Texas campus. At the same incident, Barbara Bush was charged with being a minor in possession of alcohol. They both pleaded no contest to all charges. Underage drinking (under 21 years) amongst American college students is illegal but so widespread that detractors of the Bush family rarely raise the issue; now that the twins are of legal drinking age, the issue is totally irrelevant. However, Jenna's use of a fake ID is another matter; Bush claims to be a supporter of aggressive homeland security policy, and fake IDs are one tool terrorists use to evade surveillance. By using one herself, Jenna Bush seriously undermined her father's stance on homeland security, in the opinion of many Bush critics.
On July 6, 2001, for the false identification charge, Jenna was ordered to pay $100, perform 36 hours of community service, and attend a session where victims of alcohol-related crimes speak. For the underage drinking charge, Jenna was fined $500 and her driver's license was suspended for 30 days.
On July 15, 2004, The Times reported that "White House aides breathed an almost audible sigh of relief when the girls turned 21 [in 2002] and could buy alcohol legally," thereby avoiding any further embarassments to their father, a recovered alcoholic.
Graduation and campaigning
Both daughters graduated from college in May of 2004; the events were given heavy media coverage, as opposed to the "hands-off" approach that journalists had taken in the past. This more open relationship with the media grew during the summer of 2004, prior to the 2004 U.S. Presidential election. The twins, who are taking turns traveling to various swing states with their father, gave a seven-page interview and photo shoot in the July 2004 edition of Vogue magazine. In the interview Jenna describes the twins' decision to accompany their father on parts of the campaign trail as their own decision. "It's not like he [her father] called me up and asked me," she said. "But I love my Dad and I think I'd regret it if I didn't do this." The media also has been extensively covering the campaigning of John Kerry's daughters Vanessa and Alexandra, turning the election into, at least in part, a "battle of the daughters".
See also: George W. Bush presidential campaign, 2004
