Summary and Analysis of First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies

Based on the Book by Kate Andersen Brower

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• Publisher: Worth Books
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781504018890
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Social Science Biographies
• Index: Social Sciences

So much to read, so little time? This brief overview of First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Kate Andersen Brower's book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of First Women includes:

• Historical context
• Chapter-by-chapter overviews
• Profiles of the main characters
• Detailed timeline of key events
• Important quotes
• Fascinating trivia
• Glossary of terms
• Supporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work

About First Women by Kate Andersen Brower: The wife of the president of the United States is inevitably in the spotlight, her every move scrutinized—especially in the modern age of mass media. All eyes are on the First Lady. But how well do we really know these women—their passions, their priorities, their personalities, and the power they wield in public and in private? Political journalist Kate Andersen Brower presents nuanced and enlightening portraits of ten modern First Ladies, from Jacqueline Kennedy to Melania Trump. Learn about their tenure in the White House, motherhood and diplomacy in Washington, and their complex relationships—with their husbands, with one another, and with their staffers. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.

Summary

Introduction

A 1993 yachting jaunt off Martha’s Vineyard hosted by Jackie Kennedy Onassis for President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton captures the dynamics between past and present presidential spouses. When Hillary balked at jumping from a high diving board, and Bill and the Kennedy menfolk present goaded her on as she stood frozen, JFK’s widow cried out: “Don’t do it! Just because they’re daring you, you don’t have to!” Hillary heeded her predecessor’s urging.

Despite the countless campaign stops, official appearances, photographs, and news stories that thrust America’s First Ladies into the spotlight, little effort has been devoted by journalists, historians, or the public to truly understanding the inner workings of these women. They’re not the picture-perfect images they’re shoehorned into representing—but, Andersen Brower contends, that’s why it’s fascinating to get to know them.

Need to Know: The ten First Ladies to hold the title between 1961 and 2017 may have little to nothing in common—except strong and complex personalities—but they have forged deep bonds due to their unique shared experience. Though bearing the mantle of First Lady makes each of them an iconic figure, the expectations of these women are ill-defined at best—and wildly unrealistic at worst—and each has had to blaze her own trail as a spouse, parent, and public figure.

I. The Political Wife

Each First Lady has entered and experienced the White House under very different circumstances. Jackie, a youthful and glamorous figure, put her own stamp on the mansion’s décor and proudly showed it off in a groundbreaking TV tour. By the time Lady Bird Johnson assumed the role, Jackie was a star—her shoes would have been hard to fill even if John F. Kennedy’s assassination had not overshadowed Lyndon B. Johnson’s ascension to the presidency.

Pat Nixon had steeled herself to the ups and downs of her husband’s long political career, but her “plastic” facade finally cracked during their ignominious exit from the storied residence. Successor Betty Ford was intimidated by the role but gradually found her voice. Rosalynn Carter served as her husband’s liaison to voters and heads of state alike.

Nancy Reagan quickly became a larger-than-life figure, thanks to the meticulous maintenance of her personal image in addition to that of the White House.

Her successor, Barbara Bush, was no stranger to the White House, having been married to George H. W. Bush, the two-term vice president under Ronald Reagan.

Hillary Clinton broke the First Lady mold with her outspoken involvement in her husband’s administration—arousing some ire from the press, the public, and the Republican Party by doing so. Laura Bush returned the image of the First Lady to a pure, doting presidential spouse—and Michelle Obama, too, hewed to a traditionally apolitical role as “mom-in-chief,” despite the fact that her status as the first African American First Lady was inherently groundbreaking.

Need to Know: Becoming the archetype of an American wife and mother is a weighty responsibility for First Ladies—not least because they find themselves in that position without choosing it. Following along with their husbands’ ambitions out of love, loyalty, and devotion, they find themselves living a confined—and surreal—existence in the ivory tower that is the White House. Perhaps the only common circumstances of the ten modern women profiled in First Women was the sense of claustrophobia and confinement, and the shock of adjusting to rigid protocol and lack of privacy, that came with inhabiting a house that did not feel like home.

The silver lining: While the powers of the First Lady are not officially defined, each woman who fills the role has a palpable influence on her husband, and, therefore, on the nation.

II. Sisterhood of 1600

It would be an understatement to say that the bonds between First Ladies cross political lines and that each outgoing First Lady is solicitous of her successor, with an intimate White House tour serving in lieu of the letter an outgoing president traditionally leaves for his replacement.

One touching moment occurred in 1971, when Pat Nixon secretly arranged for Jackie Kennedy and her children to visit the White House for a private unveiling of JFK’s and Jackie’s official portraits. Despite her bond with Lady Bird Johnson, a traumatized Jackie had adamantly—though graciously—passed up previous offers to return to the house that held so many memories of her husband. But she and her children came away moved by and grateful for the chance to revisit their White House life.

Hillary Clinton, in turn, forged a bond with Jackie, taking her cues on how to raise an unspoiled child despite the rarefied privilege of growing up in the White House. Upon Jackie’s 1994 death from cancer, Hillary was publicly choked up—and one imagines she had a similar private reaction upon receiving a letter from JFK Jr. expressing how her relationship with his mother had enabled Jackie to “reconnect” with the world of the White House.

Need to Know: Though most modern First Ladies found positive aspects of life in the White House, Michelle Obama, in particular, chafed at its protocol and at the disruption of her life and career. Disinclined toward politics, she fumed ov...

Table of contents

• Title
• Disclaimer
• Contents
• Context
• Overview
• Summary
• Timeline
• Cast of Characters
• Direct Quotes
• Trivia
• What’s That Word?
• Critical Response
• About Kate Andersen Brower
• For Your Information
• Bibliography
• Copyright