I ran across an interesting article on USA Today.com. This article spoke about the role of the First Lady and how many don't quite understand what that role is...even the First Lady sometimes. There is the ceremonial role as First Lady, hosting White House dinners, hiring the staff, and keeping up with the decorations during the holidays. Or the First Lady could be like Eleanor Roosevelt, a strong woman who wrote a daily newspaper and magazine column, hosted a radio show, and held news conferences. I found out in this article former First Lady Bess Truman said that her role was to "sit quietly on the podium next to her husband and make sure her hat was on straight." She never held a news conference and just wasn't that productive.
Perhaps that media has something to do with what we, as the public, expects out of the First Lady. I know that I personally have no idea of what the "true" role of the First Lady really is. There are no real offical duties of her. I think that there should have been a First Lady debate so we can see what the woman are about as well. After all they are probably the closest people to the potential Presidents. However, the path of a strong First Lady has kind of already been drawn. What with Jackie Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, and Laura Bush. Even though Laura Bush was considered a low-key First Lady she still made literacy one of her projects.
I for one think that the role of the First Lady is a strong role and I do expect a lot out of any First Lady, especially now. I certainly hope that her only concern is not fixing her hat when it falls.
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I think the role of the first lady is completely up to her. Does she want to hold new conferences and try to make a difference? Or is she going to lay low and let her husband take care of everything? I also hope that the future first lady doesn't just sit back and do nothing, but tries her best to make a difference.
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