About our 13 most recent First Ladies.The role of First Lady fascinates me because it's so undefined. Each woman who has held it has fulfilled it in her own way, and in doing so I think she reveals a great deal about herself and her times.
This list is not meant to be exhaustive. It's just a quick snapshot of how each woman handled her very public role.
1.
Jill Biden is the first First Lady to continue at her chosen profession -- teaching at North Virginia Community College -- while living at the White House. She uses her platform as First Lady to advocate for military families.
2. Melania Trump was only the second foreign born First Lady (John Quincy Adams' wife, Louisa, was born in England). Her "Be Best" campaign advocated against cyber bullying.
3. Michelle Obama was our first African American First Lady. She concentrated on family health by planting The White House Kitchen Garden (which continues to this day) and introducing Let's Move!, designed to encourage exercise and reduce childhood obesity.
4. Laura Bush is a former grade school teacher and librarian, and, as First Lady, organized the United States' first literary fair. Every year since 2001, The National Book Festival has hosted authors representing a variety of genres and offers programs to encourage young readers. It's free to the public and was held on August 12 this year.
5. Hillary Rodham Clinton concentrated on women's issues. In 1995 she told an audience in Beijing that there is no reason to exclude women from any discussion of human rights because "women's rights are human rights." She also wrote the best-seller, It Takes a Village, about the positive impact influences outside the immediate, biological family can have on children.
6. Barbara Bush embraced her image as America's Grandmother. She promoted childhood literacy by hosting a syndicated radio program called Mrs. Bush's Storytime during which she read children's books. She also wrote a popular children's book about the White House dog, Millie's Book. It reached #1 on the New York Times best-seller list and proceeds were donated to a literacy non-profit.
7. Nancy Reagan is best known for "Just Say No." She maintained the first step to solving a problem is understanding it, so she focused on educating young people about drugs and the dangers of drug abuse.
8. Rosalyn Carter consciously eschewed glamor. The dress she wore to the Inaugural Ball was the same one she wore to the Atlanta balls when her husband Jimmy was elected governor. While she was First Lady, the White House Christmas Tree was decorated by school children with pine cones and home made egg shell ornaments. She also worked to remove the stigma attached to mental illness, saying it should be regarded as a health care issue, without moral judgement.
9. Betty Ford was the first divorcee to be First Lady. Known for her candor, she openly discussed her mastectomy in the hopes it would reassure other women. Like Hillary Clinton, she is perhaps better remembered for her work after leaving the White House, when she founded The Betty Ford Center for the treatment of alcohol and drug addiction.
10. Pat Nixon excelled at what she called "personal diplomacy." In 1969, she became the first First Lady to visit a combat zone when she went to Vietnam. She traveled alone and in non-campaign-related visits to 39 of the 50 states. She also went overseas without her husband to Guam, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Pakistan, Romania, and England. She insisted on a small entourage to save taxpayers money.
11. Lady Bird Johnson was a millionaire in her own right. Thanks to savvy investments in radio stations, she was our most financially independent and successful First Lady. As First Lady, she was involved in ecology and beautification. She was responsible for the planting of literally millions of flowers around Washington DC and even more with the 1965 Highway Beautification Act.
12. Jacqueline Kennedy is the one who started all this. Shortly after entering the White House she announced that she was concentrating on restoring it. Ever since, First Ladies have been expected to declare what their signature initiative would be. Though her legacy cast a long shadow across her successors, Jackie wasn't crazy about the title "First Lady." She preferred to be called, "Mrs. Kennedy." She wanted the public to remember that she was the mother to two very young children (Caroline was 3 and John was an infant when she moved into the White House) and they were her priority.
13. Mamie Eisenhower made the White House festive again. Because of the Depression and World War II, the traditional White House Easter Egg Roll had been suspended. She brought it back in 1953. Similarly she welcomed the press to see how the White House was once again being decorated for Christmas and Halloween. State dinners were colorful again, too, with lots of pink flowers on the tables. (Mamie liked pink.)
Please join us for THURSDAY THIRTEEN. Click here to play along, and to see other interesting compilations of 13 things.
