In a 1990 People magazine interview, the late Barbara Bush said The Simpsons (still a fledgling series at the time) was “the dumbest thing” she’d ever seen. She never anticipated getting a written response from the Simpson matriarch herself. Nor did she expect it to be so heartfelt.
Marge Simpson writes to Barbara Bush
On September 28, the former First Lady received a note from Marge, which read:
“I recently read your criticism of my family. I was deeply hurt. Heaven knows we’re far from perfect and, if truth be known, maybe just a wee bit short of normal, but as Dr. Seuss says, ‘a person is a person’.”
Marge went on to say how she believed they both “had a great deal in common,” as both she and Bush “lived their lives to serve an exceptional man.”
She concluded that “I hope there is some way out of this controversy. I thought, perhaps, it would be a good start to just speak my mind.”
Barbara writes back
Just a few weeks later, Bush wrote an apology.
“How kind of you to write. I am glad you spoke your mind; I foolishly didn’t know you had one. I am looking at a picture of you, depicted on a plastic cup, with your blue hair filled with pink birds peeking out all over. Evidently, you and your charming family—Lisa, Homer, Bart and Maggie—are camping out. It is a nice family scene. Clearly, you are setting a good example for the rest of the country. Please forgive a loose tongue,” she penned.
To really sweeten the deal, Bush even added, “Homer looks like a handsome fella!”
Tensions between the Bush and Simpson families would continue throughout the years
Unfortunately, while Barbara learned her lesson, her husband, then-U.S. President George H. W. Bush, would hurl another insult at the Simpsons two years later, saying, “We’re going to keep trying to strengthen the American family. To make them more like the Waltons and less like the Simpsons.”
This, of course, did not go unnoticed. For in the next Simpsons episode, the opening sequence included the family watching Bush’s speech on their television, to which Bart responded, “Hey, we’re just like the Waltons. We’re praying for an end to the Depression too.”
Perhaps that’s why, in a 1996 episode, when George gets into a fistfight with Homer, Barbara and Marge are nothing but friendly with each other.
The sweet pen pal bond between Barbara Bush and Marge Simpson was largely unknown until The Simpsons showrunner Al Jean shared Barbara’s letter to commemorate her death in 2018.
A very wholesome lesson
We may come from different places, live very different lives, and see the world in vastly different ways, but we can all find what connects us. Often, it takes a little kindness to see it. But hey, if a fictional cartoon mom and a first lady can find it, we all can.
Special thanks to Letters of Note, which posted both letters.
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