The 13 Most Influential First Ladies
I’m fascinated by our First Ladies. It’s such a public position, and yet it’s so undefined. Each woman who has held it has made it her own, finding individual ways to balance the support of her husband and family with her duties as a representative of the United States. Because the job has no formal parameters, she can be as involved (Eleanor Roosevelt), or as remote (Bess Truman), as she wishes to be.
The Research Institute at Sienna College in upstate New York regularly reviews the First Ladies and, with the help of 90 history and poli sci professors from across the United States, ranks them based on their integrity, intelligence, courage, value to country, value to the President, leadership, public image, and “being her own woman.”
Here’s the most recent ranking, which was conducted in 2014:
1. Eleanor Roosevelt
2. Abigail Adams
3. Jacqueline Kennedy
4. Michelle Obama
5. Hillary Clinton
6. Lady Bird Johnson
7. Betty Ford
8. Martha Washington
9. Rosalyn Carter
10. Barbara Bush
11. Laura Bush
12. Edith Roosevelt
13. Edith Wilson
The list is fluid. Here's my TT from 2008 on the exact same subject, if you'd like to see how it's changed.
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