Former First Lady Barbara Bush, the wife of America’s 41st president and mother of its 43rd, passed away on Tuesday evening in Houston, Texas, with her husband of 73 years holding her hand.

The Bush family matriarch’s iconic life spanned nearly a century and afforded her a front row seat to the seminal moments of American political history over multiple administrations, from Nixon to Trump.

From her then-fiancé George H.W. Bush’s service as a Navy pilot in World War II, to her husband’s presidency during the fall of the Soviet Union, and her son George W. Bush’s presidency during the 9/11 terror attacks and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Barbara Bush’s life encompassed America’s greatest tragedies and triumphs in a century-long ascent as a super power.

This is her life in photos.