Zahira moved to the
United States in 1975, when her husband was Afghanistan's envoy to the
United Nations. After the
Communist coup in
Afghanistan in 1978, her brother was murdered. Her father subsequently put under house arrest, and all her family's assets were seized. Zahira described working for
Milton Pitts, President
Ronald Reagan's barber, and accompanying Pitts to the
White House to give the President a manicure while he got his hair cut, and being asked whether Reagan should authorize giving the Afghan resistance
stinger missiles. She described feeling hurt by the number of customers she lost following
al Qaeda's attacks in the
September 11 attacks. She also has commented about being brought to tears by former U.S. president
George H. W. Bush's thoughtfulness, who contacted her following the September 11 attacks, saying: When he learned of the prejudice she was experiencing, George H. W. Bush sent her an autographed photo, and organized autographed photos from several other Presidents who knew her. ==Legacy==