First Ladies Project raising awareness of ‘Mrs. President’

By Mary Garrigan, Journal staff | Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Previous Page

Share

• del.icio.us
• Digg
• NewsVine
• Fark

Print

Email

Whether America’s next first lady is Michelle Obama or Cindy McCain, one thing is certain: Neither of them is likely to go down in history as anonymously as Jane Pierce, Helen Taft, Ellen Arthur or Florence Harding did.

For much of American history, first ladies did not attract much public attention or get much historical credit, said Dorothy Brewick of Democracy in Action’s First Ladies Project.

“It’s too bad, but they were just a non-entity,” Brewick said. “They just didn’t figure into things, especially the national elections.”

Highlighting the women behind the men who became president was the reason that each of the City of Presidents statues in downtown Rapid City on Tuesday wore a paper necklace containing a photograph of the president’s wife and a brief history of her life. DIA, a local political action group, was celebrating Women’s Equality Day in Rapid City for the fourth year Tuesday. This is the second year for the First Ladies Project.

“We’re looking to raise the awareness of women in the political process – women as voters, as volunteers, as candidates – and as first ladies, too,” Brewick said. “We decided to make the public aware of the fact that it wasn’t just the presidents who were important during each of their administrations but that each of their wives had a very serious responsibility – in a role that has become known as first lady – and that each one of them had made a contribution,” Brewick said.

Brewick said Eleanor Roosevelt and Abigail Adams were her two favorite first ladies. Adams, who featured prominently in the recent HBO series, “John Adams,” was so personally influential in her husband’s life that she had a big impact on his presidency, and Roosevelt changed the definition of first lady.

Steve Allen did not know it was Women’s Equality Day on Aug. 26. He knew next to nothing about women such as Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, wife of John Quincy Adams, or Elizabeth Kortright Monroe, wife of James Monroe.

Allen, formerly of San Diego, lives in his RV as he travels around the country with his dog, and he found himself touring downtown Rapid City on Tuesday. He said he enjoyed learning something new while waiting to meet a friend for lunch. He’s hoping that Cindy McCain inhabits the office of first lady come January 2009.

With Michelle Obama taking the podium at the Democratic National Convention on Monday to rave reviews, it’s clear that the role of candidate spouse, and by extension first lady, has changed dramatically over time, Brewick said.

Since Eleanor Roosevelt redefined that role, voters have come to appreciate more what a first lady can do with that office, she said.

“Whoever we elect as president, whoever joins them in the White House… is a very important part of what happens in the administration. When we elect a president today, we elect a team,” Brewick said.

Whether Cindy McCain or Michelle Obama will prove to have the kind of impact on their husband’s presidency that Abigail Adams or Eleanor Roosevelt enjoyed in their day is something that only history can say, Brewick said.

Contact Mary Garrigan at 394-8424 or mary.garrigan@rapidcityjournal.com