What has been the role of the last first ladies of the United States?
From Jacqueline Kennedy to Melania Trump, through Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton, there are forty-five first ladies who have been tenants in the White House, women of different origins and origins who have played an important role in social policy.
Nobody asks for the role of first lady, it is assumed, and depending on her personality, values and attitude she develops with greater or less charisma, "a task that serves to bring closer the political leader," the director of the Degree in Fashion Design from the University School of Design, Innovation and Technology in Madrid, Rafael García.
READ MORE:From Jackie Kennedy to Melania Trump, America's First Ladies Who Made History
First ladies face the tremendous challenge of getting the job done (...) and facing almost constant public criticism
"First ladies face the tremendous challenge of doing a job without a job description and facing almost constant public criticism," Kate Andersen Brower, author of First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies, told AFP. : The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies).
She knows, regarding the upcoming presidential elections, what has been the role and the main causes of the last five first ladies in the United States.
Melania Trump (2017 - present)
Melania Trump's main strength as first lady has been her ability to project calm and compassion, unlike her husband, on hot topics like COVID-19 and racial tensions.
Although she has been largely absent from the election campaign this year, partly due to the coronavirus that affected her personally, her speech at the Republican nominating convention in August was praised.
Every time he (Donald Trump) needs her for a big show of support, she shows up
Katherine Jellison, a history professor at Ohio University, said "every time he (Donald Trump) needs her for a big show of support, she shows up." For her part, Andersen pointed out that Melania is "extraordinarily popular" among the political base of her husband.
On the other hand, Melania has more power than she actually appears in the West Wing of the White House, where the offices of the Executive branch are located. CNN journalist Kate Bennett, in her book Free, Melania: The Unauthorized Biography, notes that the first lady was directly responsible for the firing of Mira Ricardel, Trump's deputy national security adviser. , after the two women had differences on a trip by the president's wife to Africa in 2018.
Melania was also responsible, according to the book, for the White House deciding in 2017 to dismiss the Chief of Service Angella Reid, who was in charge of overseeing the administrative activities of the presidential mansion.
The first lady is "much more powerful and influential with her husband" than the public knows, Bennett said.
Michelle Obama (2009 - 2017)
One of the topics on Michelle Obama's agenda was the fight for girls and adolescents. In June 2016 she visited Madrid, Liberia and Morocco as part of the Let Girls Learn program.
In those countries, she spoke with minors who face dangers every day to study, from long walks to get to school to sexual harassment, or who, when they reach a certain age, are forced to leave school to get married, and still, Michelle stressed, they try to continue studying because "they want a better future."
In that same year she offered her support to presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. "I'm going to work really hard to get Hillary Clinton elected. I need her help, but you have to roll up your sleeves. Are you ready?" She said by then.
The former first lady also addressed young people, telling them that "elections are not only about who votes, but also about who does not vote," since that population tends to have low participation rates.
Laura Bush (2001 - 2009)
According to an article in El País de España, published in 2016 and written by Nicolás Alonso, Laura Bush worked for the literacy of children in the United States.
“With her Ready to Read, Ready to Learn program, Bush worked to improve teacher training and support innovation in classrooms, with particular attention to the lower grades. After the beginning of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Laura extended her support for education to the international scene ”, describes the Spanish medium.
In fact, El País also reported in 2003 that the former first lady visited Kabul, where she made positive comments about indigenous women, highlighting her work, and she announced aid that would be destined to the creation of educational centers.
Hillary Clinton (1993-2001)
The British channel BBC, in an article about Hilary Clinton, talks about her role as first lady in which she managed to "reform the state public school system" and promote "public policies for the benefit of families and children." Her active role of hers, however, was widely criticized.
As Regina Lawrence, co-author of the book Hillary Clinton's Race to the White House: Gender Politics and the Media in the Election Campaign, told the BBC, she was important in advancing health care reform in the country. .
But "despite the fact that the health care reform proposal promoted by Rodham was not even put to a vote in Congress, the first lady showed that she was not only the romantic partner of the then president," wrote the British media.
Barbara Bush (1989 - 1993)
Barbara Bush became very popular in her country as an advocate for literacy, both among young people and adults, a cause that she felt very close to due to the dyslexia suffered by her son Neil and in which she actively participated together with various organizations.
This former first lady continued her crusade for literacy and created her own foundation, The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, which supported organizations across the country that spread reading habits. between children and adults.
To financially support this cause, he wrote the book Millie's Book: As Dictated to Barbara Bush, which recounted the daily details of life in the White House through Millie's eyes. the Bush married couple's dog, which raised more than a million dollars that went to reading programs.
