Former First Lady Barbara Bush, who died on Tuesday at the age of 92, wasn’t an early fan of The Simpsons. Along with her husband George H.W. Bush, Barbara thought the animated family sitcom was terrible, even calling it once “the dumbest thing I've ever seen.” Not exactly a shocking opinion from a pearl-wearing conservative figure—but her opinion apparently changed after the show’s team sent Bush a letter “from” Marge Simpson, the matriarch of the Simpson household, expressing her disappointment in Bush’s statement.
“I always believed in my heart that we had a great deal in common,” Simpson “wrote,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. “I hope there is some way out of this controversy.”
After Bush’s death, Simpsons writer and executive producer Al Jean revealed that Bush actually wrote a letter back to Marge in 1990, sharing a photo of the missive on Twitter.
X content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
“How kind of you to write,” Bush began, before continuing—in typical good humor—“I’m glad you spoke your mind; I foolishly didn’t know you had one.”
Bush also complimented Marge and her “charming family” for “setting a good example for the rest of the country.”
“Please forgive a loose tongue,” she concluded, adding this brief P.S.: “Homer looks like a handsome fella!”
Though Barbara’s feelings toward the animated family softened, George H.W. Bush didn’t exactly come around to the show—and his opinion was likely clinched a few years after Barbara’s letter, when The Simpsons did an episode in which the Bushes moved to Springfield, right into the house across the street from the Simpson family. In the episode, the two families immediately clash, with Bart and Homer waging war on George until the Bushes move out. Who moves into the house in their stead? Former president Gerald Ford, who turns out to be a pretty chill guy.
