Top 5: First Ladies

Eleanor Roosevelt, 1942

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
--Eleanor Roosevelt

We are the President.

---Hillary Clinton, 1993

Did she really say that? Apparently there's some documentation for it.  I know it’s a famous quote and all, but the media does sometime misquote people. Though it sounds exactly like something she would have said back then, so one way or another it kinda captures the spirit of the thing.

From the very beginning, Presidents had First Ladies just like Herb had Peaches. Though the term didn’t surface until the 1840s, Martha Washington became a leading matron of nascent American society. Dolly Madison, when she wasn’t inventing tasty snack foods and saving stuff from burning in the White House (yeah, that’s right, the Brits torched the White House. You’d know that if you hadn’t slept through most of freshman year American History) became a national heroine. America has elected only one unmarried President, and even he had to get his adopted niece to become a de facto First Lady by making her the official White House hostess. Though I wonder if he had to endure any “Kentucky” jokes when other countries’ leaders visited.

The First Lady “arc” pretty much tracks how women’s (and wives’) social roles developed over time. Until Eleanor Roosevelt and her megababe looks hit town, the First Lady was a silent yet elegant official White House hostess. Someone who made sure the servants laid out the silverware correctly and talk to the German ambassador without starting a war. Eleanor Roosevelt changed that, participating in political and policy issues.  Nearly every First Lady thereafter has in some regard adopted one or more signature issues to champion. Some more recent First Ladies have assumed a government policy role, or at least influenced how the President runs his office.

First Ladies have long played a symbolic role, influencing national attitudes. They have particularly done so for women. The First Lady even today represents one of the country’s and even the world’s leading women, a role model to whom others can aspire. Traditionally, if the First Lady approved of a particular style or attitude or behavior, that either signified its mainstream social acceptance, or made great inroads towards its popular approval. When Rosalynn Carter, for example, openly discussed mental depression, people really began to think of mental illness differently. Even in the “live and let live” 1970s, NOBODY discussed mental illness issues. People considered merely acknowledging or even mentioning the subject as shameful. The Democrats forced Thomas Eagleton off the 1972 Presidential ticket when his depression and electric shock therapy treatment became known, for example.  But when Mrs. Carter openly discussed the matter, it helped change attitudes towards recognizing mental illness and depression as a valid medical condition and not some best-ignored unspeakable taboo.  A First Lady’s “endorsement” carries significant weight.

The “First Lady” now functions as a de facto public official, albeit an unelected one beyond Senate confirmation review. The First Lady has a budget, a staff (including a Press Secretary and Chief of Staff), an official daily itinerary released to the media, security access, government vehicles, and best of all, Secret Service protection until the day she dies (or remarries). Oh, and free postage too. So, I guess if she decided to move across country she could just mail all her stuff instead of paying movers. As long as she didn’t mind the Postal Service losing half of it and breaking the other half.

Should a First Lady have any formal government or policy role? After all, no one votes for the First Lady. That’s one of those “should we have welfare” issues that you can debate all you want but nothing will change as a result; First Ladies aren’t going back to just picking out flowers and asking Prince Charles if he cares for tea. And understood in context shouldn’t cause any concern at all. No one votes for and the Senate doesn’t “advise and consent” on the National Security Advisor or White House Chief of Staff, but at least you know who would become the First Lady when you vote. You have no idea what kind of slappy a President might appoint as Chief of Staff, however. And no married man will act in a silo…on anything. Particularly someone who has made it in politics to the point of attaining the Presidency. Maybe a salesman’s wife (for that matter, any spouse at all) won’t advise him which prospects to invite on a golfing weekend, for example, but will very well offer advice on his overall career. Or opinions on things to improve.  After all, they’re both in the same boat, and if one guy’s not rowing properly, the other crew members need to straighten that out. And a salesman’s wife will ask him and expect to know what he does at work, act as a sounding board when he encounters problems. So why would anyone expect the President’s wife (or anticipating President Clinton II, “husband”) would act differently? Not to mention, we want Presidents to seek out and weigh other viewpoints as they decide policy and political matters. So why would it be weird or inappropriate for a President to consult with his friends and family too? Unless you’re married to some horrible or incredibly stupid person I guess.

So what makes for a “top” First Lady? To some it might mean someone who plays the part of best traditional wife. To others it might mean someone who holds national prominence and drives opinion. Still others might want a First Lady who affects policy. In 2013, First Ladies play all these roles, so a “top” First Lady would excel in all these categories. Though that’s somewhat unfair to First Ladies who served many decades ago, before they could influence governmental matters. 

Its gonna be REALLY fun for all of us in this regard when we elect Hillary in a couple of years. Including Hillary.  Oh, and trust me. Coronation pending. I hate to deal with politics here, but the election’s just a formality. (1) “Tail Gunner” Joe Biden, plagiarist and noted intellectual, is her only halfway serious competition for the nomination. (2) You think the Times/Post/CNN/View/DailyShow crowd loves Obama? They’re gonna squeal like 12 year old girls at a Beatles concert when Hillary runs. (3) Which Angry White Man, that the Republicans will inevitably run against her, frothing at the mouth about “legitimate rape” and “binders of women” and rape babies are something “God intended to happen,” can beat her? Exactly. So you thought “we” were President back then? You ain’t seen nothing yet.  Can you imagine the conversation where Hillary tells Bill it might be a good thing if he were to, I don’t know, say, dial it back a little? Just a little. “Hey, Bill, you’re at an ‘8’ right now and I need you to be more like a ‘3.’ Mmmkay?” (this line stolen from South Park) Right? Bill’s helpful and statesmanlike  South Carolina primary performance will seem subdued once he’s back in the White House. I’d feel sorry for her, but she made her bed a long time ago. Still, every President has their Billy Carter….Usually though its not the “First Man.”

Here’s the Top 5 First Ladies:

5. Nancy Reagan. OK, she’s a Lady Macbeth, no doubt. The astrology thing was totally weird too. But hey, Dutch would never have made it to the big chair without Nancy running interference. For better or worse, she exerted significant control over Presidential access after the assassination attempt, and counseled him on which advisers should stay or go. For example, she fought legendary battles with the oh so vivacious Donald Regan, the President’s Chief of Staff, over the President’s schedule and access, and ultimately persuaded the President to fire him. Beyond that, she had significant influence over the 1980s national discourse and trends. “Just say no” may have been simple and stupid and rich white woman thinking, but there weren’t many other people trying to fight the Great 80s Cocaine Wave. As White House hostess, she reintroduced glamour back to the Capitol, missing since the Camelot era. The White House hosted the likes of Ellington, Sinatra, Prince Charles and Princess Di, and other prominent “stars.” After leaving Washington, she championed stem cell research, and was one of the first Republicans to advocate for AIDS prevention and research. And for 10 years, this woman, who so relished the limelight and the trappings of fame, cared for President Reagan as he succumbed slowly to Alzheimer’s, once again setting a national example.

4. Jacqueline Kennedy. Camelot needed a Guinevere. Albeit one who didn’t sell out to Lancelot and ruin the place. If ever America had a Queen, it was Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. The most glamorous, most beautiful, most refined, coolest, most elegant First Lady ever. Mrs. Kennedy made Grace Kelly seem like white trash. Women idolized her. People all over the world were fascinated with her and was a smash on all her foreign trips. She was quite the Cold War weapon; the Soviets had nothing like her. Yet she was no porcelain doll. She attended Vassar, the Sorbonne, and George Washington University. She spoke four languages, and famously gave a speech entirely in Spanish while accompanying President Kennedy to Mexico. People now forget, but she led a major effort to renovate the White House, which after 150 years was pretty much crumbling to the ground. She made a very famous television special that for the first time allowed millions of Americans to see the White House. She refused to leave the White House during the Cuban Missile Crisis, a model of American resolve. And that same resolve during her husband’s assassination, funeral, and mourning period really helped the country through that horrible weekend. If Jackie could keep it together, everyone else could too. Despite her grief, she meticulously planned that funeral, to the point of researching Abraham Lincoln’s funeral arrangements, just to ensure proper protocol and help the nation confront the tragedy. Sidebar, I've seen the movie Parkland, to be released in October near the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the assassination. It depicts the day's events, and those of the next three, in excruciating and highly accurate detail, focusing on the events of several who played crucial roles during that time. Its unquestionably one of the most powerful movies I've ever seen. One of many, many scenes that leave a punch in the gut is the depiction of Jackie, still clad in her famous pink, blood stained Chanel suit, and obviously overcome with shock, nervously and silently handing the attending surgeon a piece of the President's skull and brain tissue she scrambled over the back of the limo's trunk to retrieve as it sped from Dealey Plaza. Its not a gory scene; but like many other scenes, its rawness and truth leaves you gasping for breath. As I will surely write when its released, every American should see this movie.

3. Lady Bird Johnson. Every spring, one can drive along miles and miles of Texas highways and witness the most incredible explosion of color. All manner of wildflowers line the roads, transforming an already beautiful country into something truly spectacular. If you’ve ever seen it, you know what I mean, and you can thank Lady Bird Johnson. A businesswoman in the 1930s and 40s was rare enough, but Mrs. Johnson owned a radio station and later TV station in Austin, and gave her husband a great deal of badly needed class. She graduated from the University of Texas, a rare thing in the 1930s. In Washington, she ran his Congressional office during the war when he served in the Navy. Later, she helped other newly arrived families adjust to Washington life while Mr. Johnson was in the Senate, and had already carved out a role as a Grand Dame of Washington by the time he was elected Vice President. When he assumed the top job, she helped campaign for passage of his civil rights legislation in the South, a pretty thankless task. More famously, she helped champion environmental causes when mainstream America still regarded that movement as antithetical to American values, hippie, or even tied to the Communists (no, really, a lot of people thought that). She worked directly with Congress, and was responsible for the Highway Beautification Act and led the first campaign to beautify the Capitol. She was the first to hire a chief of staff, and a Press Secretary (the incredible Liz Carpenter). She campaigned for her husband on her own, flying on the “Lady Bird Special.” Out of office, she pushed the Austin city council to create the Town Lake Trail, a 10 mile gravel trail running alongside Town Lake, now renamed Lady Bird Lake in her honor. And she founded the beautiful National Wildflower Research Center, in south Austin, which carries on her legacy of promoting and preserving wildflowers and native plants.

2. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Ok to be honest I kind of detested her when she was First Lady. My general feelings were along the lines of “who does this uppity Wellesley broad think she is?” But with time and personal growth (mine and hers), I’ve reevaluated my opinion. The 1992 Clinton campaign really was a remarkable enterprise and Bill’s election an equally remarkable achievement. Only one Democrat had been elected President since 1968, and George H.W. Bush was riding high popularity ratings after the first Iraq War. During the campaign, she really was a co-equal with Bill, famously devising the strategy for dealing with the Gennifer Flowers revelation and going on 60 Minutes to respond. She assumed an office in the West Wing along with the other main line Administration advisors. I may have disdained the health care initiative and history shows that she managed the legislative details fairly poorly, but the fact that the First Lady totally owned and managed an Administration’s major policy initiative was itself groundbreaking. No First Lady ever came close to that level of involvement in Presidential policy making. Though it failed to achieve legislation, arguably it began the national policy debate that culminated in President Obama finally securing major health care legislation. Though she backed away from the policy spotlight thereafter, she remained engaged in the Administration in other ways throughout both terms. Some may still question her decisions during the Monica unpleasantness, but really, can anyone say what the right action was? Divorce the President? Leave the White House? Ok, really easy to say, less easy to do. I would fault her for the whole “right wing conspiracy” attack. Remember, this was her response to allegations that the President had engaged in an extra-marital affair and lied about it under oath. Of course, it turned out to be totally true. She might have, I don’t know, apologized for that. More significantly, Hillary Clinton should have had some inkling that when it comes to such matters, there may be some fire going along with the smoke. Bad judgment there. But what First Lady has gone on to become a United States Senator (from New York, assuming no less than Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s seat in the Senate), Secretary of State, and for a time and probably now too the leading candidate for the Presidency? From whatever side of the aisle one finds one’s self, Hillary Rodham Clinton clearly was one of the most outstanding First Ladies.

1. Eleanor Roosevelt. When it comes to First Ladies, there’s Eleanor Roosevelt, and then there’s everyone else. From where our country has advanced today, one can no doubt never imagine how profoundly Mrs. Roosevelt influenced the nation. Like her husband’s Presidency, she was our nation’s longest serving First Lady. In the 1930s, mind you, she gave press conferences and spoke at national conventions. She had a newspaper column and frequently spoke and lectured.  She advocated for minorities and union workers. She traveled throughout the country as the New Deal Warrior. And not meeting with fellow aristocrats in fun, easy to reach places like Chicago or Boston. She went down back roads (pretty much every road in the 1930s was a back road), into coal mines and homeless camps, and met with crackers and blacks, simply astonishing for the times.  She advocated for racial equality and invited minorities to the White House, something unthinkable for the 1940s. She even occasionally opposed President Roosevelt’s policies, notably criticizing his tepid support of civil rights and his internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. After she wrote an editorial criticizing his spending priorities, the President actually wrote a response in the following issue arguing against her editorial. During the war she championed greater immigration for European refugee children and Jews, and extensively toured the combat theatres. She also fought for and encouraged women and minorities to take factory jobs during the war, previously denied them.  Eleanor Roosevelt truly championed the downtrodden and the poor during the Depression, and inspired millions during those bleak times. After President Roosevelt died, she held a number of significant positions, including Chairman of the UN Commission on Human Rights, Delegate to the UN General Assembly, and Chairman of the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women. At the UN, she helped draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. All this just scratches the surface of her illustrious life and career, at a time where nearly everything she did was pioneering and precedent setting. Truly, Eleanor Roosevelt was America’s greatest First Lady, and beyond that, one of its greatest citizens.

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