Laura Bush Finds Her Voice in Manhattan

Mrs. Bush has made 11 solo foreign trips while she's lived in the White House—to Asia, Africa, Europe, South America, Latin America—and more than half of those (seven) have been in the two years since the President was re-elected. McBride, who in September was elevated to the top rank of White House aides as an Assistant to the President, said the first topic Mrs. Bush brought up with her when she was interviewing to be her chief of staff was her desire to go to Afghanistan, which she did last year and this year after having been prevented from going earlier, primarily for security reasons.