First Ladies For Dummies. Marcus A. Stadelmann, PhD
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Madison organized weekly Wednesday evening get-togethers where she invited Congressmen from both parties and often took the place of her husband, who can’t take sides on issues, discussing politics with her guests. Soon she became one of the most powerful political brokers in the capital.
Getting into the limelight
Some First Ladies have made an imprint quietly, while others have gone public. Abigail Adams was able to discuss politics and convince her husband on issues in more than a thousand letters written to her husband. Others have used media, such as the radio or television, to make or even change policy. Both Betty Ford and Rosalynn Carter went public on issues such as the equal rights amendment, abortion, and mental health.
With the New Deal and WWII, more government power became centralized in the office of the president in the 1930s and 1940s. Not surprisingly, the media began to focus more on Washington, D.C., and the office of the president. Increased focus on the president also led to more attention being paid to the First Lady. The advance of television further increased this coverage. Suddenly, people could see the First Ladies in action and listen to them speak. By 1960, half of all Americans owned a television set, and this increased coverage of the First Ladies immensely.
Becoming institutionalized
With Edith Roosevelt, at the turn of the 20th century, the office of the First Lady became more institutionalized (see Chapter 12). She hired highly paid and educated professional staffers, and suddenly staff weren’t just helpers in the kitchen but full-time professional advisors. These advisors attended morning briefings with the First Lady and on occasion worked closely with the president’s staff. Lady Bird Johnson then took it a step further and turned the East Wing of the White House into a business organization and ran it as such (check out Chapter 16). Rosalynn Carter completed the process of institutionalization by moving her office to the East Wing and creating a formal Office of the First Lady.
The Evolution of the Position of First Lady
The office of First Lady, and likewise the women who fill that role, has gone through an evolution since its conception to present day. I discuss those changes in four phases in this section.
Phase I (1789–1829)
Part 2 of the book covers the First Ladies of this phase. Martha Washington set the foundation for First Lady obligations. On occasion, she played the part of head of state, and she set the precedent of being a great hostess who wasn’t involved in policy making.
Martha Washington’s role as First Lady was undefined. She herself didn’t know what to expect of the position. She was surprised when she received a 13-gun salute and shouts of “Long live Lady Washington!” when she arrived in the then-capital New York City. She decided to become the perfect hostess, because the democratic spirit of the time called for the president to open the doors of the executive mansion in New York City anytime. Soon this led to problems. Too many people took advantage of the open doors and just showed up. No work could get done, and no privacy existed. So it was decided to limit open houses and receptions.
Another hostess function was to deal with callers, usually the wives of Senators, House members, and foreign diplomats, who came to the door of the White House and left their cards. It was customary that a First Lady returned their visits. Often, First Ladies would have to make up to 60 visits a week. To make matters worse, the White House was open to everybody who wanted to show up on New Year’s Day, with the exception of wartime or periods of mourning. Thousands would stop annually, and the practice wasn’t stopped until the Hoover administration in 1933.
While Abigail Adams was an opinionated woman who influenced her husband in private, publicly she mostly fulfilled her hostess function. Dolley Madison was the first to help a widower, Thomas Jefferson, and then served eight years as First Lady. She dominated the White House for a long time. She was such a superior hostess that future First Ladies would ask her advice on becoming a hostess as late as 1845, but she also managed to mix the social part of being a hostess with the political part. Not only did she start the tradition of having an inaugural ball, but she also was truly nonpartisan at her receptions and everybody loved her for it. In addition, she called upon every wife of a Congressman and invited them to the White House, creating goodwill among the spouses of all Congressmen at the time.
The country’s early First Ladies were sweet, quiet, and gracious hostesses in public and played a supportive role to their husband, which reflected the times they lived in. In private, they displayed courage, had exceptional training, spoke foreign languages, read French philosophers, and traveled abroad creating goodwill for the U.S. in Europe.
Phase II (1829–1869)
Phase II is dominated by young substitutes — either daughters, daughters-in-law, or nieces — for First Ladies. There were few mature or strong First Ladies during this period; most were youthful surrogates who didn’t impact policy making much. (Turn to Part 3 for a closer look at these ladies.)
Six out of nine first ladies during this time period pleaded ill health or grief as reasons for not being able to perform First Lady functions. They were Anna Harrison, Letitia Tyler, Margaret Taylor, Abigail Fillmore, Jane Pierce, and Eliza Johnson. Rachel Jackson had made arrangements for her niece to serve as First Lady in case she died, which she did. In some cases, there was no other way. Andrew Jackson’s wife passed right after he got elected president in 1828 and was unable to serve as First Lady. The same situation occurred in Martin Van Buren’s case. In both instances, younger nieces had to take over as First Lady.
Only two First Ladies were exceptions. Both Sarah Polk and Harriet Lane, the niece of President Buchanan who was a bachelor, were excited to become First Lady and were quite active. Not surprisingly, both are among my top ten most influential First Ladies (see Chapter 21).
Phase III (1869–1933)
The role of First Lady changed again after 1869. Suddenly, there were no more youthful surrogates being used as First Ladies. The new First Ladies came from different backgrounds compared to the First Ladies in Phase I. The ladies discussed in Part 4 weren’t married to founding fathers nor were they the wives of rich plantation owners. However, they were well educated, and many came from small-town America.
The press started talking about the First Ladies reflecting the ideal of the new woman. The new woman was educated, as universities had opened up enrollment to women. The new woman was also involved in political organizations. The Civil War had gotten many women involved in public organizations, and all female political and social clubs were founded.
Many political and social barriers were broken down during this period. Some political gains happened, too. Women got the right to vote at the local and state level, and the country saw its first female politicians elected at the local level. Some women were even appointed to state and local government positions. By 1900, women could vote in four states: Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado, and Utah. Even though women still had to attach themselves to their husband’s career, many spoke out in public and created and joined national organizations. Not surprisingly, the suffrage movement gained steam, too, and by 1917, the first female member of Congress, Jeannette Rankin from Montana, was elected.
With the outbreak of WWI, the role of women and First Ladies changed yet again. After becoming a part of the war effort, women suddenly stayed a part of the workforce and in 1920 received the right to vote at the presidential level. Florence Harding was