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Does Hillary Have Too Much Clout?: She's Just More Honest
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11257 |
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CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
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9 / 1993 |
2,052 Words |
| Author
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Carl Sferrazza Anthony
Carl Sferrazza Anthony authored the two-volume First Ladies:
The Saga of the Presidents. |
Memories are short, but not long ago, the first lady was criticized for giving a feminist a coveted federal post out west.
Not too long ago, that is, in the sweep of history. The year was 1921. The first lady, a conservative Republican, was Florence Kling Harding (the name she went by). The feminist had been a suffragette. And the nation did not collapse.
Let's face reality. Hillary Clinton is traditional in that there has always been a tradition of power for first ladies. The significant difference about her is that she is not afraid to admit it, an honesty that can only be healthy for the nation's consciousness.
Consider Eleanor Roosevelt, who served as director of the Office of Civilian Defense in 1941; Lady Bird Johnson, chair of Head Start in 1965; and Rosalynn Carter, chair of the President's Commission on Mental Health in 1977.
In many cases their power resulted in legislation (Ellen Wilson's 1914 Alley Dwelling Bill, Mrs. Johnson's 1965 Highway Beautification Act, Mrs. Carter's 1980 Mental Health Systems Act); executive orders (Mrs. Roosevelt's Arthurdale Subsistence Homestead and National Youth administration, Mrs. Harding's help in founding the first women's federal prison); or funding (Bess Truman's push for increased cancer research, Jackie Kennedy's lobbying to protect Egyptian antiquities threatened by the building of the Aswan Dam). Some arm-twisted Congress: Abigail Fillmore for a library appropriation, Carrie Harrison for a mansion expansion bill, which did not pass.
Those acting as advisers are too numerous to detail, but range from Sarah Polk's work as the president's executive assistant, to Edith Wilson's decoding of classified messages, to Abigail Adams performing as a legislative adviser, to Nellie Taft assuming a role of political appointee director. All served because their husbands relied on their abilities and asked them to, even if they did so secretly because they would be judged "unwomanly."
Much of the criticism aimed at Hillary is motivated by partisan politics, and by radical right groups trying to raise money by raising up a cartoon first lady. This, too, has precedents.
In 1981, liberals portrayed Nancy Reagan as antiwoman (magnificently balanced, she got rid of "sexist" Don Regan). In 1940, conservatives used Eleanor
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