Université Sorbonne nouvelle- Paris 3 Institut du Monde

Anglophone

From Hillary Clinton to Michelle Obama : Between Traditional expectations,Press framing and personal interests

GUIROUARD-AIZEE, Juliane

Mémoire présenté pour l’obtention du Master 1 Enseignement «  Langue, Littérature et Civilisation : Etudes Britanniques, Nord-Américaines et Post-Coloniales »

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Directrice de recherche : Année

universitaire :

Professeur Divina FRAU-MEIGS 2011-2012

Juin 2012

CONTENTS

Introduction p.1

I- Defining her role and her public image

I.1- Traditional expectationsp.3

I.2- The mirror of American Womenp.7

I.3- Creating their voice p.9

II- Media coverage trends : First ladies in the limelight

II.1- Media coverage mentions

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p.15

II.2- Social Networks and talk-shows : entering the traditions p.19

in the media coverage of First Ladies

II.3- First Ladies facing controversies p.27

III- The limits to their influence

III.1 Boundaries created by gender normsp.30

III.2 The impact on the public opinion p. 34

Conclusion p.39

References The Appendix

INTRODUCTION

Women, Media and Power. I started all with those three words.

I have always been interested in the sphere of the media and

its influence in the United States. During my high school

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years, I studied the impact of television on youngsters in the

U.S.A.

According to me studying the media is something really

important in our contemporary world, to understand what is

happening around us. The media factor has become and still is

decisive in many different issues, and above all in the

political sphere.

At first, my idea was to observe the relationship between

powerful women and the media.

I wanted to know the strategy behind their image, the strategy

behind their representation and how this influence could be

seen in an American daily life.

However, it would have been much difficult to observe the

answers to my questions without being immersed in the ideal

setting for my researches. So I decided to narrow down the

question, focusing only on American First ladies.

I have always been interested in the role played by first

ladies.

The term “First Lady”, is not an official title. A first lady

doesn’t get a salary but is personally protected by the

government. She has no assigned duties or

responsibilities.But, her role is much observed and criticized

by the media, which can lead us to think that a first lady

would have a kind of influence according to the direction she

choose to give to her presidency years.

So throughout my researches I will study the different

criteria that frame the role of first ladies. To obtain a

result varied enough, my corpus will be composed of the three

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last first ladies : Hillary Rodham Clinton, wife of Bill

Clinton who was president from 1993 to 2001 and belongs to the

Democratic party; Laura Bush, wife of the Republican George W.

Bush , in office from 2001 to 2009 and finally, the current

first Lady Michelle Obama. During my analysis, I will take the

political party into account, in order to observe whether the

political values of the party shape or influence the behavior

and the guideline of the first ladies.

To answer to these different questions in my thesis, I will

compared the actions of the first ladies during the political

campaign, during their first days,but also their media

coverage which is much important as it is the only way we can

have access to them. This includes their appearances on talk

shows, their official speeches, and their personal causes.

To what extent can the voice and the image of a first lady

exercise a kind of influence ?

In a first part, I will go through the construction of the

image of a first lady, framed by traditional trends, then in a

second part I will study the first ladies in the limelight and

as a last part I will conclude on the boundaries of their

activism.

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I/ DEFINING HER ROLE AND HER PUBLIC IMAGE

I.1 Traditional Expectations

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Originally, the skills required for a first lady were to

become a perfect hostess at the White House.The tradition

wanted them to be in charge of social events and dinners at

the White House, but the job was more than greeting guests, as

it could be observed during the years of Eleanor Roosevelt by

Allida Black, Project Director and Editor of the Eleanor

Roosevelt Papers at George Washington University : “ What the

role of the first lady is there ( at a White House dinner

party), is to understand the politics of Washington and make

sure that people at the table get done the work that that

dinner is supposed to accomplish”1.

It seems that the skills required for a perfect first lady

according to the American people, are linked with ancient

gender norms, accepting that men could appear in the public

sphere and that women had to stay in the private sphere,

raising the children, cooking and being in charge of

everything that concerns the household.

Though things have much evolved with the baby boom generation,

these traditions have a major influence on how the first

ladies define the role they will have, and the image they will

display.

However, it appears that the respect of those traditions is

much more important for Republicans president’s spouses than

Democratics’ ones. The explanation could be that Republican

party stands for conservative values and it would be normal

1 Quoted by Susan Logue, “Role of First Lady Shaped by Tradition and Individual Interests”,Washington, 15 January 2009, accessed 23 January 2012

http://www.firstladies.org/documents/art_interests.pdf

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that the role of their first ladies remains close to the

traditional values.

During an American presidential campaign, first ladies

are solicited for different prerequisites. One of the most

popular is the cookie recipe ‘test’. Every spouse of a

candidate in lice for the presidential election as to present

her own cookie recipe. It gives a first idea on the image, and

the personality she will have as a first lady. But it is also

a way to predict the future first ladies.

Organized by the Family Circle Magazine, the cookie

controversy has become part of the political landscape. As

Leonard Boyle says in its article for the Independent2,

“America loves nothing better than a cook in the White House

kitchen”. It would have appeared completely as a disrespect of

American traditions to avoid this exercise.Laura Bush as a

Republican, prepared a kind of traditional cookie recipe

inspired by her mother-in-law Barbara Bush. The first lady

before her made the difference by refusing to participate to

this challenge at first.

Hillary Rodham Clinton, wife of Bill Clinton the democrat

candidate, became famous for criticizing and questioning the

values reflected by this tradition by saying: “ I supposed I

could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but

what I decided to do was fulfill my profession, which I

entered before my husband was in public life”3. This memorable2 Leonard Boyle, “How the cookie crumbles: the great first lady bake-off ”, The Independent,21 June 2008, accessed 23 April 2012

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/how-the-cookie-crumbles-the-great-first-lady-bakeoff-851694.html3 Hillary Clinton quoted by Rebecca Traister, Big Girls don’t cry,: the election that changed everything for American Women, Free Press, 2010.

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sentence announced the kind of personality Hillary Clinton

would lead as a first lady, and the role she would embrace.

She reveals here, an unconventional image and voice, far away

from what people would expect from a first lady.

However, when being attacked by the journalists, she realized

how much it was important to stick to traditional values, that

are still scrutinized by the American nation. This is why she

finally presented her cookie recipe which was of course very

Hillary original : she called it the “chocolate chip

recipe”.And as her recipe baked-off Barbara Bush, the Family

Circle predicted the election of Bill Clinton, and was not

mistaken once again.

Michelle Obama, is different from the others. She did not

choose a traditional recipe like Laura Bush, she presented an

original recipe, adapted to be light, and to prevent obesity.

This asserts my hypothesis of the republican first ladies as

being very conservative and not taking much liberty in the

role they will embrace.

The cookie recipe is the first insight that the American

nation gets of the personality of the future mother of the

nation. They are obsessed by this cookie issue, and the reason

why, brings us back to the issue of women being defined mainly

as homemakers. This is a very important notion that you cannot

avoid if your husband is ruling for presidency in the U.S.A.

Hillary Clinton is the perfect example of it, as she had to

pay attention to it, whereas she did not appear first as the

perfect housewife, cooking for her husband. However, for the

interest of her husband she had to submit to these rules: as

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she “ frequently felt the need to emphasize her domestic side

during her time in the White House”.4.

For Laura Bush, this role was normal. Conservative, she

remained a very discreet president’s spouse, trying not to

question the traditions, the formalities. She was much guided

by her mother-in-law to fulfill this role as she confessed in

her autobiography.5

The outcome is that through the traditional field where they

are observed, they send their personal message and set up

their profile as a mother of the nation.

One of the other important missions of the first lady,

and which is highly scrutinized is the decoration of the White

House. They preside over the Committee for the Preservation of

the White House and also over their personal

decorator,historians, furniture and decorative art experts and

other advisers on historic preservation. It is not really

surprising as this issue still belongs to the domestic sphere,

but the importance it is given is the most striking. Tabloids

and magazines were avid for details about what the new

presidential family brings in his moving truck. In an

article, dedicated to the new décor that would be set up by

the Obamas, the National First Ladies Library highlights the

fact that “the redecoration of the president’s house has been

a public relations minefield.”6 We could learn in the

4 A quote from the Courtesy of the William J.Clinton Presidential Library in First Ladies, Betty Boyd Caroll5 Laura Bush, Spoken from the heart,Simon & Schuster, May 2012.6 “ What Will Change Look Like in White House Décor ?”, National First ladies Libary http://www.firstladies.org/documents/art_change.pdf accessed 26 March2012

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magazines that Hillary Clinton had redecorated the White House

adding Scalamandré’s features in every room of the House.7

Laura Bush who enjoyed a budget of $ 100,000 has brought solar

heating in the White House and a painting called A Charge to

keep, that “depicts methodist circuit riders”8 according to the

Bush family, which asserts that we can recognize conservators

and traditional values in every decision they take.

As for the Obama family, they assert our hypothesis that

Democratic presidents and their spouses are much more modern.

They had a basketball court built in the White House, which is

much more original and modern, at the image of the new

Democratic Family.9

Throughout the researches, we understand that domestic

patterns remain very important in the U.S, because it helps

the American population to analyze the values of the couple

that would be leading the country. Because of their attachment

to traditional values, even the democratic candidates and

first ladies would not dare to override this major element.

It’s a kind of self-sacrifice, as they know that it could have

an important influence on the popularity of their husband.

As the role of the first lady is not pre-defined in a

constitution, she gets “ no pay, and no official power but

7 See pictures of Hillary supervising the redecoration of the rooms with Saclamandré’s

. http://www.pinkpillbox.com/scalamandre.htm accessed 15 May 20128 Juliet Lapidos,“ The Off White House”, Slate Online Magazine, accessed 15 May 2012 9 Andrew Malcolm, “ Barack Obama already has White House remodeling plans: the bowling alley is gone”, Los Angeles Time, 26 April 2008, accessed 16 May 2012. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/04/barack-obama- al.html

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plenty of pressure”10. She can exert this kind of indirect

pressure, thanks to the fact that she enjoys a privileged

role, being the first support of the President.

She is the one who stands next to him, who supports him first

during the campaign, and then when he takes up his post.

According to their personality, to their values, to the

political side which they belong to, they define the role that

they will play.

Laura Bush, as a Republican, was more discreet during the

campaign. Of course, she could not avoid the exercise. It

would have appeared like an handicap for her husband, as the

Americans need to know about their future first lady. When

they married, she told him that “it was on condition

that she would never have to become a public person—the kind

who makes statements to the national press and gives speeches

to a national audience.”11 But she finally got trained, and

gained experience as a rhetorician. Even if she did not feel

comfortable, her personality, through her speeches was

appreciated by the American nation, and she got very popular.

Indeed, if the wife of a candidate for presidency is

popular, and appreciated, it can sometimes influence the vote,

and convince those who do not completely trust the candidate,

but trust his wife. This is why the support of the First Lady

is important. She is the eyes and the ears of her husband when

10 Maria Puente, “ What’s a first lady to do? Role not specified, highly scrutinized”, USA TODAY, 23 October 2008, accessed 29 March 2012. http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2008-10-21-first-ladies- main_N.htm11 Molly Meijer Wertheimer,Inventing a voice: The Rhetoric of AmericanFirst ladies of the Twentieth Century,United States of America, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers,2004.

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she talks to the employees, or to the population. She is also

his first advocate, defending his image, his decisions.

For Hillary Clinton, the case was a little different, she was

seen even as more than a support. With her, we could notice

that what people expect from the first lady is to be the moral

support, but as Allida Black says in an article 12 :“ at the

same time, you expect them to be smart, tough, put the country

first, not have their own ego get in the way, and be able to

roll up their sleeves and work”. This is why, dealing with the

case of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Molly Ivins a columnist joked

when Bill Clinton was traversing the campaign trail in May

1992 : “What this country needs is a candidate half as good as

his wife.”13

Hillary Clinton was very present during the campaign of her

husband and made powerful speeches which introduced her as a

very smart first lady-to-be. She would not only defend her

husband, support him but also show that she could also master

the very practical issues that concerned the nation.

This is something that we can qualify as a common skill to the

three last first ladies.

They can discuss political issues, argue, and at the end they

become the best advocate for their husbands. As we listen to

their campaign speeches, we can compare their political

commitment.

Hillary Clinton as a lawyer was very tactical and argued a lot

while speaking during the campaign, and Michelle Obama who is

12 Susan Logue, “Role of First Lady Shaped by Tradition and Individual Interests”,Washington, 15 January 2009, accessed 23 January 2012

http://www.firstladies.org/documents/art_interests.pdf13 quoted by Rebecca Traister, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Free Press, 2010.

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also a lawyer, made very intelligent speeches, justifying why

her husband would be better than George W. Bush, and better

tackle the issues.14

This image of the first ladies, as very committed wife, always

present to support their husband and represented as perfect

housewives, spouses and mothers, and international ambassadors

of the country creates an effect of admiration, as a

consequence to the role of model implicitly linked with the

status of the mother of the nation.

I.2 The mirror of American Women

Being a model, implies that First ladies really have an

influence on the American women, and mothers they’re

addressing to. Married with the most powerful man of the

nation, they inspire courage and power. This is why they are

observed a lot, and scrutinized first by those American Women

who look up to First ladies.

As far as the image is concerned, Media have highlight the

role of first ladies as fashion guides.

We must not forget that for a long time they have been

considered like beauty and fashion icons. Politics were not

part of their sphere, they were just expect to be dressed

correctly and being distinguishable for their sense of style.

In this exercise, Laura Bush was a very elegant but classic

fashionista, remaining in a traditional style of a first lady.

14 See in the multimedia Appendix Michelle Obama Speech “ Be not afraid” pronounced in Iowa 2007.

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Hillary Clinton, who was the first lady to cover Vogue

Magazine,15 was “ uninterested in fashion before she came to

the White House;Mrs Clinton has learned to dress with style,

often in smart suits by Oscar De la Renta,large hats and

practical but chic heels.”16 As an unconventional first

ladies, she made some efforts to fit to the role, and as she

knew that women were looking at her, and that the media were

scrutinizing every mistake she also adapted her fashion style.

But what made fashion style a so important issue as far as

first ladies are concerned ?

Many books dedicated to first ladies fashion style have been

published. The last one to be published, Commander in chic:

Every Woman’s Guide to Managing Her style like a First Lady17,

analyses the style of Michelle Obama and give advises to

American women who would like to look like her.18It is the

result of a real interest in the appearance and the image of

the American Model. Michelle Obama is the perfect illustration

in this role. American Women tend to identify with her as she

definitely looks normal. She goes shopping in popular market

15 A fashion and lifestyle magazine. On the issue of December 1998, a photography of Hillary Clinton wearing an elegant black dress illustrates the cover. 16 From the issue of December 1998 , the article The extraordinary Hillary Clinton adapted for the website version of Vogue magazine, accessed 2 April 2012. http://www.vogue.com/magazine/article/from-the-archives-the- extraordinary-hillary-clinton/17 Mikki Taylor,Commander in chic; Every Woman’s Guide to Managing Her style like a First Lady, Atria Books 2011.18 See the video of Michelle Obama fashion show, an extract from the Talk Show The Wendy Williams Show, broadcasted on the BET cable networks. accessed 20 May 2012.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcMXjoAepiA ( See on the DVD )

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like H&M, Macy’s, Target etc.19 And this shows the kind of

first lady she is, which makes her close to “normal” American

women.

Indeed, this is how she differs herself from Laura Bush and

Hillary Clinton: Samantha Critchell, journalist for a fashion

review said“Mrs Obama picks things that women can imagine

themselves wearing. She varies her look from day to day-

drawing a contrast between herself and both Laura Bush and

Hillary Clinton,who favored pantsuit uniforms-but she’ll wear

the same garments repeatedly, tweaking the outfit with new

accessories, something else that women not married to the

president do.”20

Unlike her predecessors, she is qualified as a smart, and

above all modern first ladies as far as her image is

concerned. Clinton who did not know much about fashion and

insisted upon the

image of her as a career woman, like Laura Bush “had permitted

media stylists to choose their clothes and supervise makeup

for the photo shoots unlike Michelle Obama who insisted on

controlling her image with clothes out of her own. ”21 And this

19 See the extract of the video from NBC Channel First lady Michelle Obama Shops at Target,September 2011.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WfrmWwE8UY ( See on the DVD) 20 Samantha Critchell,Women see themselves in Michelle Obama’s mirror, AP Fashion Writer, 11 March 2009,accessed 23 January 2012. http://www.firstladies.org/documents/art_women_style.pdf 21 Betty Boyd Caroli, First Ladies: From Martha Washington to MichelleObama, New York, Oxford University Press, 4th Edition, 2010.

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is thanks to this modern style that she firstly entered the

categories of icons.

However, as each first lady has style and interests of her

own, each category of American Women could recognize

themselves in one of them .Hillary Clinton, as a mother

graduated in law, she represented the beginning of a new

generation, where girls were more likely to go to college than

boys.22 So people were feeling more comfortable with women in

place of power and influence. Hillary gave the image of a

strong independent woman, who also manages the money of the

household. When she pronounced the phrase: “I’m not some

little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette”23. This

was the kind of statement that made millions of women, who may

never before have identified with a political wife look up at

the

television and take notice.24 Indeed, Hillary Clinton was

admired as she reflected the many working American women who

made their careers and raised their families.

But the first ladies are not only considered like mirrors

of American women for they fashion styles. When they come to

the White House, they also come with their personal values,

their interests, and their aim during those years is to share

them. They are no more the simple hostess people used to see

22 Betty Boyd Caroli, “A New Generation in the White House ( 1993-2008), in First ladies: From Martha Washington to Michelle Obama, New York, Oxford University Press, 4th Edition, 2010. pp 294-297.23 Tammy Wynette known was known as a famous country singer who was always singing with her husband by her side, they created the “Country music couple”.24 Rebecca Traister,Big girls don’t cry: the election that changed everything for American Women,Free Press,2010.

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in them. The nation expect them to speak, speak their mind,

express their care for issues that concern them.

I.3 Creating their voice

During the campaign of their husbands, first ladies show more

or less the way they will define themselves, and the

involvement they will have in the White House. And as they’re

considered to be the first advisors of the President, people

pay attention to them and to the kind of influence they could

exercise.

Throughout my researches, I observed, watched and listened to

speeches pronounced by Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush and

Michelle Obama. The aim was to analyze whether we could

perceive and predict a profile of the first lady according to

the political side of her husband.

Firstly, if we have a look at the Republican first lady, Laura

Bush in our corpus, we realized that she was much discreet

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during the campaign of her husband. She was not at ease at

all in front of an audience, and mostly passive, standing by

the side of her husband and introducing him during the

campaign. She did not defend any particular subject or show

any personal interests.

This behavior is completely different from the campaign lead

by Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama with their husbands.

Hillary Clinton was much more like an advocate. Any time she

was given the opportunity to speak about her husband and his

program, she played the role of a perfect secretary, and even

of the perfect “ right-hand man”. She assumed this status

during the campaign and expressed her desire of being

considered as a modern first lady, or at least a different

one. She did not say that she would revolutionize the job, but

clearly announced that“people who wanted her to fit in a

certain box, traditionalist or feminist were going to be

disappointed. She could handle a big job and domestic

functions too.”25

As we studied the traditional role of a first lady, we

understood that for any conservative president spouse it would

be normal to stay out of the news, and deal with domestic

matters.

However, when Bill Clinton was elected president of the United

States, his wife created the surprise by being in the

limelight and defining new priorities.

25 Carl Bernstein, Woman in Charge, edition Knopf, 2007.p.273

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Observers of the inauguration of President Clinton in 1993,

made more comments concerning the new first lady than

concerning her spouse.

Remembering Kennedy inaugural, a snowy day when America

mesmerized by another young President’s wife. This time the

priority won’t be redecorating the White House or bringing

Pablo Casals to play in the East Room. Hillary Rodham

Clinton wants to tend to affairs of the state with her

husband, change the country,not just hairstyles, bring the

values of women—liberated women to the national weal.26

Indeed, when the reporter referred to Pablo Casals, the

Spanish Catalan cellist who was invited to the White House and

was attributed the Medal of Freedom by President John Kennedy

for his fight against the dictatorial regime of Franco, he

precisely mocked the difference that Hillary Clinton would

bring as she would no more be the perfect hostess. He

introduces another issue, the value of liberated women.

This reputation of Hillary Clinton as being a liberated women,

came with the image that she created herself by speaking her

mind, claiming her independence as a woman and her financial

participation in the household.

These first impressions were soon confirmed when she publicly

announced her agenda.

Traditionally, each first lady defines the direction they will

give to their presidential years and the issues that they

will be in charge of. Generally, they choose issues linked

with their domestic roles, like children care, cooking,

literacy etc.. 26 Carl Bernstein,Woman in Charge, edition Knopf, 2010 p.230

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This is exactly what Laura Bush did. As a teacher, she devoted

her presidential years to the improvement of Education. She

had three goals on her agenda: The first one was to recruit

new teachers to offset classroom shortages which were expected

to worsen in the decade ahead, the second was to encourage

more early-childhood development programs and the last one to

convince parents to read to their preschoolers so as nurture

reading skills.27She launched a national initiative called “

Ready to read, Ready to learn” in which she explained why

people should pay attention to the subject of reading, why it

is important to the nation, and how it should be set up. 28

As she said, as a first lady she“ has a forum and won’t have

it always”29. She used her voice as a first lady to promote

something that meant a lot to her. With her conservative

opinions however she would have never imagined to go further

and she followed the predefine path of traditional first

ladies.

This argument brings us back to Hillary Clinton.

Whenever a new president is elected, his first hundred days

are carefully scrutinized by the media, the platform of the

population. For the election of Bill Clinton the Magazine

Vanity Fair marked the occasion with their headline: “ A

hundred days of Hillary”30. This title is quite significant.27 Laura Bush, Spoken From the heart , Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group,2010. 28 Laura Bush, Ready to read, Ready to learn: First lady Laura Bush’s Education initiatives,September 2002.Accessed 31 May 2012.

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/ERIC-ED469448/pdf/ERIC-ED469448.pdf29 Paula Zahn, “Read Her lips : Literacy efforts on first lady’s agenda”, CNN. com, 8 April 2001, accessed 30 May 2012. http://edition.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/people/shows/bush/profile.html 30 Carlson Margaret, “A Hundred Days of Hillary”, Vanity Fair, Vol.56 Issue 6, p.108, June 1993.

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They were not much interested in the actions of the president

but were much concerned by the agenda of his wife.

Indeed, this reaction was due to the uniqueness of a kind of

involvement in the policy of the country. She did not remain

in the shade of her husband as every many first ladies did.

Hillary Clinton was the first president’ spouse to hold an

office in the West Wing. It is very symbolical: she was among

all the president’s senior staff, which means that she also

assumed explicitly a kind of political influence. In fact,

Hillary Clinton was named by her husband to head the

President’s Task Force on the Health Care reform.31 She was

leading numerous committees composed of medical and insurance

professionals, investigatory trips and financial reports.

She took a major risk by being involved in the policy of the

nation. But the Health Care reform failed, as the

Administration refused to vote for the project.

However, Hillary raised important issues through this attempt

of a reform. She raised a national consciousness about the

medical insurance problems of the population.

But she also questioned the traditional role of the first

lady. No one would have imagined a first lady with an office

in the West Wing before Hillary Clinton. It has always

appeared more convenient to be the secret advisor, giving her

opinion and sharing her points of view with her husband only

in private. Republicans, as conservatives, mentioned several

times Hillary Clinton as being exactly what they were running

31 National First Ladies Library,First Lady biography : Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton, 2010. Accessed 31 May 2012. http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=43

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against. Even if she tried to assume a less open political

role then , she was still categorized as a full partner with

an agenda of her own. This shocked American conservators, but

raised the admiration of many women who considered Hillary

Clinton as the voice of the New generation of American women,

mother and wife.

With Hillary, the idea that the voice of first ladies, or the

fact that the rhetoric they used could have an impact on

decision-making, was born.

Michelle Obama has been much inspired by Hillary Clinton since

the election of her husband.

During the campaign, trying to define her role; the image that

she will give as a future first lady, she has been qualified

as a too spontaneous woman speaking her mind and paying no

attention to the fact that it could hurt conventional or

conservative people. She spent much time during the campaign

defending her husband, being an advocate and assumed publicly

her own political point of view without thinking of the

consequences it could have.

However, she did not show any political ambition like Hillary.

Even if they share a lot of similarities , as they both have

an Ivy law degree, and they both enter the White House as

career women, Michelle Obama did not take a West Wing office

and like Laura Bush, decided to stay at the East Wing.

This could appear like a contradictory argument. It would

suggest that as a Democrat, Michelle Obama is acting quite

like a Republican by sticking to traditions.

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Indeed, she claimed several times that she would remain a mom-

in-chief, and that Malia and Sacha her two daughters would be

her top priority in Washington32. Still, she does exercise

a kind of influence according to the people close to her. In

her agenda, she scheduled a visit of the entire staff of her

husband. What did she say? What did they talk about? No one

knows. But when she mentioned this visit, she talked about the

administration using the pronoun “we”, which means that she

includes herself as part of the team33. Some newspapers define

her as being the most powerful, and the most influent American

first lady. She was held responsible for the firing of the

closest advisors of her husband that she considered as being

too disorganized,according to Jodi Kantor, a correspondent for

the New York Times34. We could guess that backstage she would

be more than the mother of the nation like Laura Bush.

If we study her agenda, she decided to be involved in the

theme of education, but also

military families, and the “work-family balance issue”. Her

major activity is the “ Let’s Move” project, which deals with

the issue of Obesity in the country. In February 2010, she

began a national tour, visiting schools to increase the

awareness of children on this issue, teach them how to eat

32 Betty Boyd Caroli, First Ladies: From Martha Washington to MichelleObama, New York, Oxford University Press, 4th Edition, 2010.p.354 33 Judson Berger and Daniela Sicuranza, “ In Obama White House, First Lady Shows she’s part of the team”, Fox News, 4 February 2009, accessed 31 May 2012.34 “ Michelle Obama la First lady la plus influente de l’histoire ?”, Atlantico un vent nouveau sur l’info, 12 January 2012,.Accessed 31 May 2012. http://www.atlantico.fr/decryptage/obamas-jodi-kantor-michelle-obama- first-lady-influente-263008.html

24

healthier, and tell them about the importance of physical

exercises.

Even if this sounds like a much Republican project, or I

should say a project typical of traditional first ladies,

Michelle Obama gave a very modern image of the first lady

through the promotion of her project.

Whenever she appears in a school or in the garden of the White

House when she received children, she seems very energetic,

making physical exercises with them,dancing. Something very

new for a first lady: she is very casual, sporty-type, and she

seduced the nation thanks to those qualities. Moreover, she

also benefited of the popularity of one of the favorite

singers of American teenagers, Beyonce. She asked her to write

a song and a choreography in order to motivate children to

follow the project35.

This campaign sparked off positive reviews on the image of

Michelle Obama.

She is associated with this image of a very dynamic, cool and

friendly first lady, which is much modern.

As we have analyzed the agenda of each of the first ladies of

our corpus, we can draw a few conclusions.

As a Republican first lady, the agenda of Laura Bush was much

focused on traditional preoccupations of first ladies.

Michelle Obama is making a mix of both, traditional and modern

agenda. She is redefining the role of the first ladies. It’s

as if she was making new with ancient items. She takes the

35 Video of Michelle Obama visiting a local school in Washington D.C and dancing with the children, “Michelle Obama does the doogie and the Beyoncé Dance” 2 May 2011. Accessed 31 May 2012.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3qr3HM6NAc

25

liberty of doing things like any individuals without paying

attention to the scrutiny of the entire nation.

As far as Hillary Clinton is concerned, her agenda was

completely guided by her interests in politics. She was the

first president spouse to assume an open participation in the

policy making.

Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton, both Democrat have refused

to be dictated on what to do, and how to manage their

presidential years.

Even if there is no explicit rules established by the

political parties, there is a kind of implicit pressure

imposed by the deep values they stand for.

We have seen that the political opinions are not the only

elements taken into account by the First ladies to define

their image.

The media, the main link between them and the population seem

to be a significant element too.

II/ Media Coverage trends: First Ladies in the limelight

II.1 Media Coverage mentions

Once their husbands were elected presidents of the

United States, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush and Michelle Obama

became aware of all the sacrifices they would have to do

26

during the two following years. Indeed, they were no more

wives or mothers, but became public figures. This suggests

that they become, as much as their husbands, targets of the

media. The nation needs to know about the first lady, to learn

more about her, the way she manages the household, her cookie

recipes etc. Anything that would inspire American women.

The relationship between the First lady and the media is

special. They need each other. It is important for the media

to cover stories about the first ladies, because the subject

fascinates people. But the first ladies also need the media.

Through the media they can make themselves heard, send

messages to the nation. Generally, they use it to make the

promotion of their projects, but also to make sure they are

appreciated by the people.

So as we can understand it the media coverage is important

because it assures the connection between people and the first

ladies. Their aim is to make the people feel close to those

figures one could hardly approach.

However, because media are never unbiased, they all tend to

classify First Ladies according to the way they defined their

image.

If we follow the different issues of a newspaper like the New

York Times for example which is one of the most popular, with

the most visited online version, we could distinguish

different profiles inspired by the personalities of the

president spouses.

27

To bring out those elements we looked carefully at the context

in which they are mentioned, and which terms are used to

describe them.

Several categories of first ladies can be recognized according

to the value they embodied.

Hillary Clinton was defined as a “Superwoman”. In the New York

Times, she was often referred to as the symbol of the “strong,

independent woman of the late 20th Century”36

Indeed, Hillary Clinton was often qualified in the Press as

the un-conservative president wife. She was depicted like a

threat to all the conservative values because of her

professionalism, her role in her husband’s career and her

feminist views37.

If we follow the framing of Laura Bush in the media, the point

of view is completely different.

Laura Bush was framed by the journalists as a “loyal wife” and

a “fiercely devoted mother38”. She had the luxury of staying

home in order to raise her twins. So she represents the

category of traditional first ladies, for whom the domestic

sphere is much more important than the public sphere.

36 Catherine Allgor, Parlor Politics, University of Virginia Press, November 2000. 37 Carl Sferraza Anthony,First ladies, Harper Perennial, May 1993. 38 Catherine Allgor,Parlor Politics, University of Virginia Press, November 2000.

28

As George Bush said about his spouse:“I have the best wife for

the line of work I’m in. She doesn’t try to steal the

limelight”39

Indeed, Laura Bush took a much slower route to the limelight40.

She was mentioned in the media only when it dealt with her

interests in education and literacy but was not that

attractive for the media.

However, as far as the current first lady is concerned, she

had not been classified in one of this category. She did not

appear clearly as a first partner or as a first housewife.

The media still have a mixed opinion on her.

Michelle Obama is very present in the media sphere. She is

mentioned for her visits of public schools on the occasion of

the promotion of her project Let’s move. Nevertheless, she has

been much more mentioned for her fashion style, being

classified as a fashion icon. As we

followed newspapers articles relating Michelle Obama as a

fashion icons, we have found out that there were 10,200,000

results of articles which referred to her in these terms41.

39 Suzan Zaeske, “The promiscuous audience controversy and the emergence of the early woman’s right movement”, in Quaterly Journal of Speech, volume 81 issue 2, 1995. 40 Stephen Clark, “ First 100 Days: Michelle Obama has Big shoes to Fill, But so far is Walking in Stride”, Fox News, 28 April 2009. Accessed 23 January 2012. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/28/days-michelle-obama-big- shoes-far-walking-stride/41 See the results on the website : https://www.google.com/search? source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=michelle+obama+fashion+style&btnG=Google+Search#q=michelle+obama+fashion+icon+newspapers&hl=en&prmd=imvnso&ei=D8vLT6rRF4qp0AXUy427AQ&start=120&sa=N&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=490e9d76e2580991&biw=1280&bih=619

29

Regarding those elements, we could think that is in

contradiction to our hypothesis, because it would suggest that

Michelle Obama stayed much traditional regarding the way she

handles the job as a first lady but in fact we understand that

she has decided to be very prudent.

She was aware that because of her outspokenness, during the

campaign she had already been in the eye of the media who

reacted consequently by an obvious comparison with Hillary

Clinton.

To avoid the same negative coverage, she decided to be more

careful when she has to give her own opinion on important

issues.

In privacy, she is described as a First-advisor as she checks

his speeches, or visits the staff of her husband.

This fear of the way they are going to be categorized by the

media is due to the decisive role they play on the opinion of

the American citizens.

This is an important source of pressure that they have to

handle. For Hillary Clinton who was continuously under the eye

of the press, the task was not easy.

Hillary Clinton was obviously having a hard time coping

with being so much in the public eye. She hated her psyche

being analyzed by an endless parade of journalists and

biographers—an understandable reaction but also an

unrealistic one, especially as the fortunes of the Clinton

administration increasingly came to revolve around the

30

psychodrama of Bill and Hillary’s tension-filled

marriage.42

This is the price to pay when you become a public figure. A

lot of ink has been spilled writing about Hillary Clinton,

because of her involvement in the policy of the government

while she was a first lady.43

She is the most mentioned first lady in the media, which is

not surprising.

A recent study led by HighBeam Research has analyzed the

number of mentions of each president’s spouse from the

Election Day of their husband. The results are clear, Michelle

Obama bests her predecessor Laura Bush. Mrs Obama “was named a

whopping 29,634 times in the three years span, while Laura

Bush accrued a mere 8,707 mentions44.”

These results are revealing. Mrs Bush, as a Republican, stays

very discreet concerning her appearances in the media. She is

not really a subject of discussion as it was the case for

Hillary Clinton who created a real debate around the limits of

the role embraced by First Ladies. 42 Joyce Milton,The First Partner: Hillary Rodham Clinton, New York, Harper Paperbacks,1999.43 David Brock, The Seduction of Hillary Rodham Clinton,New York, The Free Press, 1996. 44 Judy Kurtz, “Michelle Obama bests Laura Bush for most media mentions”,The Hill, 26 October 2011.

Accessed 02 June 2012.http://thehill.com/capital-living/in-the-know/190045-michelle-obama-bests-laura-bush-for-most-media-mentions-

31

Michelle Obama gives a different facet. She is often mentioned

in the media because she gave the priority to the privileged

relationship she could get with the population through them.

It seems that she takes advantage of new trends of media

coverage, as Betty Boyd Caroli noticed in her book dedicated

to the study of first ladies:

Michelle Obama faced a curious public far more ubiquitous

and better equipped than that encountered by her

predecessors. Large dailies like the New York Times, and

the Washington Post assigned reporters full time to the

First Lady, and dozens of blogs, some independent, some

affiliated with mainstream publications, reported on her

every move. The internet made possible the nearly instant

global sharing of images and words so that anyone from

Maine to Honolulu could compare thoughts on the price of

Michelle’s sneakers and how she ate hamburgers.”45

Indeed, this preoccupation for the First ladies appearances in

the media comes together with another phenomenon, the

explosion of the social networks.

The population is informed in real-time of the last

appearances of their first ladies, the last headlines in the

newspapers. First ladies,who in fact are not elected by the

citizens, have sometimes a higher name of recognition than the

chief executive and found themselves in the limelight.

45 Betty Boyd Caroli,First Ladies: From Martha Washington to Michelle Obama, New York, Oxford University Press, 4th Edition, 2010, p.358

32

II.2 Social Networks and Talk Shows: entering the traditions

in the media coverage of First ladies

This new phenomenon of addiction to social networks has

redistributed the media coverage trends concerning the first

ladies.

Indeed, in her staff, a first lady has someone in charge of

her image, someone who follows the new tendencies in media

coverage strategies, so that her staff will make sure that she

remains a modern first lady.

As a consequence, it is no more surprising to find an official

page dedicated to the First lady on Facebook for example.

On these pages that we have followed during our study, they

often post publications about their activities, their visits

all around the world, the people they received but also videos

or status about issues that concern them. They do not control

personally these pages.

Laura Bush uses the first person on her page to appear

directly implicated, but indeed she has got advisors in charge

of her virtual image.

33

For Michelle Obama the third person is used. It’s as if

someone was following them continuously and was in charge of

transmitting in real-time to the population.

The most surprising is the case of Hillary Clinton. Indeed,

she has no Facebook page of her own , but a page called “ Team

Hillary Clinton”, which is updated by her supporters. There’s

no personal message delivered, just videos, pictures of her

current affairs.

A comparison of the pages could be very interesting to see

which aspects of herself each first lady wants to put forward.

34

46

If we observe these pages, the events put forward the

involvement of the first lady in the Education issue, and also

her visit to Bridgeton Trails Library. In fact, there are not

many pictures on her official pages,just fifty dealing with

those kind of visits.

However we can say that she quite popular: 554 966 persons

liked her page. 15 767 have quoted her in their status. We

should compare this with the popularity of Michelle Obama.

This is the kind of publications we can see on her official

Facebook page.

46 Screenshot from the Facebook Page. Accessed 02 June 2012. http://www.facebook.com/laurawbush

35

47

As we can compare, the official Page of Mrs Obama, the result

is much more dynamic, modern and visual. We can see pictures

of the first lady making physical exercises during Let’s Move

Initiative. We can also see her challenging a famous presenter

47 Screenshot from the Facebook page of Mrs Obama. Accessed 03 June 2012.

http://www.facebook.com/michelleobama

36

to tug-of-war, or sitting in front of her computer creating

her Twitter Page with her staff.

The image that is put forward on Michelle Obama’s official

page is the very image of a modern first lady, reinventing her

role.

There’s a big contrast between hers and the one of her

predecessor Laura Bush.

It seems that the Republican first lady shows more restraint,

which is the common restraint of the conservative spouses who

are not supposed to be in the limelight.

Today, when we talk about social networks, we think of

two major phenomenons. Facebook of course is the first one,

but another major one is Twitter.

On this website, people can follow the activities of public

figures still in real-time and can react. It is the same

principle as Facebook but on a different platform.

These social networks also reflect the popularity of our

public figures.

On her Twitter Page, Laura Bush is introduced at first as a

“Former teacher, librarian” and finally“ First lady of the

United States”.48 She has 55 119 subscribers to her page on

Twitter.

If we compare with Michelle Obama, on her official page as an

introduction it is only written: “This account is run by

#Obama2012 campaign’s staff. Tweets from the First Lady

48 Laura Bush on Twitter. Accessed 03 June 2012. http://twitter.com/#!/laurawbush

37

herself are signed-mo49”. If we compare her popularity with

Laura Bush's, she has 977 924 subscribers to her page. She

bests largely her predecessor.

This new element asserts that Michelle Obama represents a mix

of the expectations of the population. She is much popular

because she belongs to the e-generation.

Throughout our researches, the most striking is that we would

have expected Hillary Clinton to be part of this e-generation

because of her need to show that she is an independent and

modern first Lady. Even if those social networks did not exist

during her years as a first lady she could have adapted her

communication strategy to fit with those new trends.

She does have a Twitter official page but she did not post any

tweets, and is completely inactive on the website.

However, her popularity relies on the fact that she is a so

important public figure that her supporters themselves created

pages dedicated to her.

Another important trend in the media coverage of the first

ladies is the decisive appearances on TV and precisely on Talk

Shows.

Analyzing the passages of the first ladies on these could help

us to understand their relationship with the media. The part

they play in their strategy of communication.

49 Michelle Obama on Twitter. Accessed 03 June 2012. http://twitter.com/#!/search/Michelle%20Obama

38

The participation of a first Lady in a talk show emerged with

the arrival of Hillary Clinton as a First lady.

During our study we observed the different appearances of our

three first ladies in talk shows: why they were invited for,

what they talked about, their behavior on the set, and the

image that they reflected through those popular TV shows.

As we have already shown, Hillary Clinton often found herself

in the limelight because of her outspokenness and her position

as a “First Partner”. We have analyzed a video where she

appeared by the side of her husband on “Arsenio Hall Show” in

1992 broadcasted on NBC50. In this talk Show, the couple had

been invited in to discuss the different controversies they

had been victims of. 51

As you can observe on this screenshot, Hillary Clinton is

sitting in the middle but is also at the heart of the debate.

50 “American talk Show-Hillary Clinton on Arsenio Hall Show” NBC, 1992.Accessed 06 March 2012.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuyxU1PkglI

51 Screenshot from the Arsenio Hall Show.

39

The presenter is asking her about the critics that said she

was a too outspoken person and that she should calm down.

But when it comes to the political agenda of her husband, she

let him talk, reacting from time to time. What is surprising

in this video is that the TV host seems more fascinated by the

First lady to be than by the candidate for Presidency.

He asks Hillary Clinton to close the show“ I’m gonna let the

lady close, tell young Americans, and anybody in America

watching this show why they should vote for for this man”.

She is given an important place in talk shows because the

media understood that her personality was a source of

interests and debates in the households.

During all these years, whenever Hillary appeared on talk

shows, it dealt with controversies or political issues. This

fits with the image of a co-presidency she had given since the

beginning of the campaign.

If we compare with her successor Laura Bush, their appearances

and their behavior on talk show are much different.

As we observed, whenever Laura Bush appeared on a talk show it

was just to talk about her project of literacy and issues that

concerned women.

40

52

As we can observe, Laura Bush appears like a very elegant

first lady but also like a classical one. Being on a talk show

is the occasion for her to promote the book she has written

with her daughter. There is also an opportunity to reassure

her traditional values of family. Even if she shows less

restraint, she would not let out a guffaw. She cannot be as

relaxed as the presenter Ellen Degeneres is famous for,

because she still has to show a kind of solemnity expected

from a first lady, there will always be a kind of distance

between the population and her.

52 Screenshot from the video of Laura Bush and her daughter Jenna On the Ellen Degeneres Show on 28 May 2008.Accessed 04 June 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxlH5uvcRTg

41

If we analyze a passage of the First Lady Michelle Obama on

the same popular Talk Show, we could clearly stand out the

major differences between them that support our hypothesis.

We are going to make the same exercise using screenshots.

( See the complete video in the appendix) 53

These images seem very incredible. Who could have imagined

decades ago a first lady doing push-ups on a TV show and

dancing with a presenter?

What is very unique with Michelle Obama is this easiness she

has in the media. She is very much relaxed and less

conventional than her two predecessors. We could hardly

imagine Hillary Clinton doing the same.

Regarding this argument, I would go further, saying that the

definition of a role as a first lady is not only framed by the

political opinions like Republican or Democratic, but it’s

also a question of evolving with one’s time.

53 Screenshots from the video of Michelle Obama on the Ellen Degeneres Show,“Can Ellen do More Push-ups than Michelle Obama ?”, 2 February 2012.Accessed 05 June 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTAIedFfUBU

42

However, we must not forget that it’s peculiar to talk show to

be informal54. The show's host receives celebrities in informal

discussions . The TV host has an important place as he created

the popularity of his show. But they are very successful and

appeal the population for they reveal simple facets of

important public figures.

In fact, the more you get invited on these shows, the more

popular you are.

As we could observe, Michelle Obama is famous for being the

first lady of TV reality55.

She understood the importance it represented for her image as

a first lady close to the population. She has appeared in

several popular TV reality shows: The Extreme Makeover: Home

Edition, The Biggest Looser. They are TV shows that make her

feel close to the population and the issues that concern them.

As we can understand it, the Talk Shows have become

prerequisites in the definition of the image of a first

ladies. They cannot avoid it, Republican or Democrat they are

all concerned by this phenomenon.

This is due mainly to the fact that the American citizens are

much influenced by the episodes of their lives. They feel very

54 Thomas Tennant, “Talk isn’t Cheap: A brief History of the TV Talk show”, Talkshows about. com. Accessed 05 June 2012.

http://talkshows.about.com/od/morningshows/p/TalkIsntCheap.htm55 Michelle Cottle, “ MObama First Lady of Reality TV”,The Daily Beast,2 April 2012. Accessed 05 June 2012.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/04/01/mobama-first-lady-of-reality-tv.html

43

close to the TV host who accompanies them every day of the

week. Famous TV hosts like Oprah Winfrey,Ellen Degeneres,

David Letterman and Jay Leno have a real impact on the opinion

of the viewers. As they are very close to their audience,

whenever they display a sympathy for a candidate , or his

spouse as it is the case with the first ladies, it will also

have an impact on the sympathy that these viewers have for

these persons.

So as the first ladies have noticed, to gain the heart of the

population they have to be part of their daily lives, and talk

shows are the best way to provide a kind of intimate relation.

II.3 First ladies facing controversies.

Being all the time in the eye of the media, the presidents are

continuously under their scrutiny so that at the least mistake

they are harshly criticized and asked to justify their

behavior.

44

Caught in the media storm, they are subject to attacks in the

headlines, and see their popularity ratings decline. This is

where the role of the first lady comes into the picture.

She is often called to defend her husband, argue in his favor,

and stand by him when the world is turning against him, in

fact as any common wife would have done. However as a first

lady, the task is more delicate.

To understand the dimension of the role played by the

president’s spouse in a period of controversies, we should

focus on different issues they had to handle during the years

they spent as the mother of the nation.

Let’s start with the case of Hillary Clinton.

Even before the election of her husband, she had to testify in

a scandal of infidelity that her husband was accused of with a

certain Gennifer Flowers. Indeed, this model and actress who

at first denied having an affair with him changed her mind and

finally held a press conference where she played recordings

she had of phone calls with Bill Clinton.56

Hillary Clinton could have been really hurt by this scandal

and could have reacted like any offended wife.

But her reaction was quite surprising. She decided to handle

this situation herself, answering the media, defending her

husband first, but above all saving her image and her dignity.

Indeed she knew that her image as a strong independent woman

could have been ridiculed by this controversy.

56 Laura Handman, Davis Wright Tremaine, “Gennifer flowers may proceed with defamation suit”,Reporters Committee For Freedom of the Press,Washington DC, 19 November 2002. Accessed 05 June 2012.

http://www.rcfp.org/browse-media-law-resources/news/gennifer-flowers-may-proceed-defamation-suit

45

On the set of the 60 minutes show, an American Television news

magazine, they were invited to justify themselves from all

these accusations. Well, Bill was invited to justify himself ,

but Hillary Clinton was the one who spoke much, replying as if

she were his lawyer. It is during this interview, that you can

find in the appendix, that she pronounces her famous sentence:

I’m not sitting here because I’m some little woman

standing by my man like Tammy Wynette.I’m sitting here

because I love him and I respect him, and I honor what he’s

been through and what we’ve been through together. If

that’s not enough for people then heck, don’t vote for him.57

Unfortunately, it is not the only scandal of infidelity she

had to face. When Hillary Clinton first heard about her

husband’s affair with Monica Lewinsky, people quoted that her

first reaction was “he couldn’t be that insane”58. She kept her

head held high, faced the media storm and defended her husband

fiercely. She stayed by the side of her man supporting him in

his lies to the nation.

Hillary Rodham Clinton’s most significant public

accomplishment by far had been saving Bill Clinton from

political ruin and making him a viable candidate. She had57 Hillary Clinton in 60 minutes interview, 1992. Accessed 05 June 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF9LJw20bSc 58 Sahil Nagpal, “Hillary Clinton reaction to Bill Clinton -Monical Lewinsky affair in the Oval Office :“he couldn’t be that insane ””, Top News, 27 October 2007. Accessed 29 May 2012. http://www.topnews.in/hillary-clinton-reaction-bill-clinton-monica- lewinsky-affair-oval-office-he-couldnt-be-insane-24602

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stood by him when he was under attack, supported him in his

lies and told a few lies of her own, not to mention taking

fight to a new level of paranoia by denouncing her

husband’s enemies as right-wing conspirators who must be

not only defeated but punished.59

This reaction was much surprising to every feminist group that

supported her. In fact, she was protecting her family but

above all her political ambitions. This is why she stayed in

the marriage. She was already planning her future in politics,

as many specialists observed.

It appeared like a compromise between the couple.

First Lady Laura Bush did not have to handle the

same kinds of scandals. The only difficulties she had helped

her husband to go through were the 9/11 events. In her

autobiography, she confesses that she has been mainly hurt by

the comments of the media and the criticisms that accused her

husband of leading the country on the road to ruin with the

war in Iraq.

However, she reacted as a real mother of the nation, being

mostly appreciated for the way she consoled the population

after the tragic events. She was much present among the

families, delivering speeches of peace and comfort, and

sending letters to children in the school to explain the

situation in the words of children.

59 Joyce Milton ,The First partner Hillary Rodham Clinton, New York, Harper Paperbacks, 1999.

47

First lady themselves have suffered a lot from

controversies affecting them directly. For Laura Bush as we

observed, it could not happen. She remained in her private

sphere so that she could avoid any kind of criticisms and

controversies that could have consequences on her husband's

popularity.

If we confront this point with the two other first ladies of

our corpus, unlike Laura Bush we would have much to say.

Beginning with the case of Hillary Clinton, it is easy to

study the questions as she has sparked off so many

controversies.

She has been much criticized for her outspokenness, her

feminist tendencies but above all her involvement in the

policy of the government. Critics increased with the failure

of the Health Care reform she has tried to introduce. But she

has also been involved in several other controversies like the

“ Travelgate” ( the firing of seven employees of the White

House Travel office that were soon replaced by friends of

Hillary Clinton), the “Whitewater60”and other accusation of

participation in irregularities within the administration.

As a reaction to these criticisms, Hillary moved back, and

decided to avoid the attention on her, going back toward a

more “ traditional” role, moving out from the policy-making

60 Dan Froomkin, “Untangling Whitewater”, Washington Post, 2000. Accessed 05 June 2012.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/whitewater/whitewater.htm

48

spotlight and fighting for major domestic reforms, focusing on

children and women issues.61

Comparing with Michelle Obama, who has also suffered

from controversies the reactions are the same.

Indeed, Mrs Obama has also been criticized for her

outspokenness. Critics began when she pronounced the sentence:

“For the first time in my life I am proud of my country”. 62As

a consequence, she has been qualified as an angry black

woman63.

She had to stop the crisis, and quickly answered the media

critics in an interview where she asserts her patriotism, and

her pride for her country.

Ever since, she adopted the same attitude as Hillary Clinton.

She decided to pay more attention to the words she was using,

even if she explicitly asserts that she would not be a mere

icon by the side of her husband. However, she dedicated her

agenda to traditional issues,

and insisted on the fact that her priority should be her

daughters in order to calm the rumors that would have seen her

like a Hillary Clinton -to-be .

The conclusion drawn from these elements is that the media

exercise a perfect role of scrutiny, calling the first ladies

to order whenever they take too much liberty in their role. 61 University of Viriginia, American President: A reference resource : Hillary Clinton. Accessed 05 June 2012. http://millercenter.org/president/clinton/essays/firstlady/hillary 62 Liza Mundy, Michelle Obama,Simon & Schuster, 2008. 63 Betty Boyd Caroli, First Ladies: From Martha Washington to MichelleObama, New York, Oxford University Press, 4th Edition, 2010.p.337

49

50

III. The limits to their influence

III.1 Boundaries created by gender norms.

Analyzing the controversies faced by the first ladies, we

realized that Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama are the two

ones who have been attacked personally. Do they have something

in common? Which link can we make between them to draw our

conclusions?

Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama are both Democrat first

ladies, they both belong to the post-second wave generation

and have a law degree. They also represented the generation of

women who, before being a first lady, had a salary of their

home, and so participated financially to take care of the

household.But the main important point they’ll have in common

is their outspokenness. They have been harshly criticized for

this characteristic.

With the case of Hillary Clinton who has been qualified as a

feminist by the media but above all by the conservatives who

denounced her as a dangerous feminist64, a debate over an

evolution of the role of first ladies has been aroused. Indeed

according to the public opinion, Hillary Clinton was the first

64 Robin Toner, “ The 1992 Campaign: Political Memo; Backlash for Hillary Clinton Puts negative image to Rout, 24 September 1992. Accessed 05 June 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/24/us/1992-campaign-political-memo- backlash-for-hillary-clinton-puts-negative-image.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

51

president’s spouse to push the boundaries of her role, by

asserting so much her independence, and imposing her voice.

But what are those boundaries? Who is imposing them? Where do

they come from?

As we have noticed that it is mainly her feminist tendencies

that have been criticized, we understand that the

conservatives, and generally the public opinion, are ill-at-

ease with women being in the limelight.

Indeed it was not that far away the time when women had to

remain in their private sphere, take care of the household,

were not the one who brought the paycheck at the end of the

month.

The idea that women can act equal as a men is still not

ingrained in the mind of the American citizens. In fact, we

must not forget that a certain Equal Rights Amendment, which

attempted

to assure an equal treatment for both men and women, in every

issues, failed and has never been adopted till today.

In the spirit of American citizens, and precisely

conservatives, men are still superior to women still have

field fated to them. Which means that politics in fact, is

much more appropriate to them.

Indeed, if we make the comparisons with the first ladies, were

positioned by the journalists as models of American womanhood.

As a precedent study has shown65, this concept is reducing the

65 Lisa Burns, “First ladies as political women : Press Framing of Presidential Wives”, 2004.

52

candidates’ wives, but also every American women in general to

a single ideology, that ignored the complexity of their lives

and their personalities.

Whenever a first lady was going too far into the male

political sphere, she was qualified as a “Political

interloper”. The terms means that they abused the power of

their position. It could be illustrated in different ways; by

first ladies who have a major influence behind the scenes, or

by first ladies who abuses of this power for their personal

political ambitions. They use this “hidden power” to advance

their political agenda.

As we have understood, Hillary Clinton is the perfect

illustration of what the media could have framed as a

political interloper.

Whenever you talk too much, whenever you as much as your

husband in the limelight, and whenever you push the limits of

the “conventional” role and come out of your domestic sphere

you are considered as an interloper.

If we make the comparison with Laura Bush who was a very

traditional first lady considering the fact that she did not

intent to be on the limelight and focused on traditional, we

cannot think of her as a political interloper. This is why she

has never been criticized, nor faced controversies.

This values that became criteria, used to determine whether

presidents' wives were fitting their role or not. Often, the

first ladies are compared according to their predecessor.

But is important to notice that the criteria are created by

the media. It is them who defined the proper role of the first

53

lady. The issue is that they still based their framing upon

the same frames rooted in the gender norms of the early

nineteenth century to classify the first ladies according to

their positions.

Considering these elements we realize that the media can do or

undo the reputation of the first ladies, because they are the

one responsible for they framing, the way the population is

going to judge them and they are the one who ingrained those

stereotypes in the mind of the American citizens.

Generally, the democrats first ladies are the first to suffer

from this biased framing, as their political opinion supports.

The framing of the first ladies by the media establish the

limits to their influence they could have through the media

platforms.

III.2 The impact on the public Opinion

All the elements that we have analyzed brought us to the

conclusion that when a First lady define her public image,

there are different elements that guide her in the definition

of the direction she would give to the years spend in the

White House.

However we could not conclude our research paper without

questioning the reaction of the the most directly concerned.

54

What’s the impact of this framing on the public opinion? How

are they influenced by the media ? What influence their

popularity ratings of first ladies ?

As we have observed, since 1992 with Hillary Clinton, first

ladies have assumed busy campaign for their husband, and have

been the subject of an important media coverage.

Indeed, candidates’ spouses represent strategic elements that

can generate positive media coverage and appeal to certain

voters who do not particularly appreciate their husband for

all that. They can appeal to different audiences. For example,

Laura Bush and other members of the Republican party

participated in events focusing on what the Bush

administration would do for them66.

First ladies are the seductive weapons of their husbands.

They focused their image on the need to please the public

opinion and to gather a larger audience around the

administration of their husband and this reflected on their

ratings.

Presidents’wives typically avoid low ratings by staying

away from divisive issues such as war, sluggish economies,

and universal health insurance to concentrate instead on

such matters as White House restoration and education. And

intelligent,voracious reader like Laura Bush knew this, and

throughout her second term in the White House she stuck to

an agenda unlikely to attract her husband’s critics67.

66 Ferguson, Michaele L, and Lori Jo Marso, W Stands for Women: How the George W. Bush

Presidency Shaped a New Politics of Gender. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.(2007)67 Betty Boyd Caroli,First Ladies: From Martha Washington to Michelle Obama, New York, Oxford University Press, 4th Edition, 2010, p.332

55

In fact, in the case of Laura Bush, when her husbands’ ratings

were very slow, she was used as as seducer to regain the

appreciation of the public opinion.

At a dinner honoring award-wining journalists, she took the

place of her husband and pronounced what was her most famous

speech, which has been remembered as “The Desperate Housewife

Speech”, a video that you can find in the appendix. In her

speech, she makes fun of her daily life as being married to

George W. Bush , mocking some characteristics of her husband.

She concluded by saying“So in the future, when you’ll see me

just quietly sitting right here, I want you to know that I’m

happy to be here for a reason, I love being with the man who

usually speaks to you for this occasion. ”

She tried to give a very different image of a Republican first

lady, using humor. The aim was to seduce the thousands of

journalists that were present for the occasion. It would

assure her a very good media coverage, and increase her high

ratings.

To understand the impact of their campaign of seduction, we

looked at several polls organized during the period of

elections from 1992 ( with Hillary Clinton), to 2008 with

Michelle Obama. The results of the polls were taken from the

Roper Center in at the University of Connecticut where all the

results are archived68.

68 Results quoted from a precedent study by Barbara Burrell, Laurel Elder and Brian Frederick,“Polls and Elections”,2011.

56

As we can observed on this two figures who present the

favorable and unfavorable ratings of candidates spouses, and

particularly on figure number 2, Republican first ladies has

always scored better ratings than the Democrats. Even when

57

Bill Clinton was elected, Hillary was less popular than the

wife of the other candidate.

The public opinion was very divided on her opinion. They were

ill-at-ease with her personality and this was reflected in

those ratings.

Barbara and Laura Bush appeared like the most appreciated

candidate, wheres their husband ratings were the lowest.

We should now pay attention to the appreciation of the first

ladies according to their political side. In a lead by Fox

News, American citizens were asked whether they would prefer a

Democratic or a Republican wife. Let’s observed the results.

On figure number 3, the results are clear. The

majority of the citizens would prefer Republican first lady.It

was the same for the 1996 , 2000, and 2004 elections. It seems

that our hypothesis that gender norms influence the framing of

58

first lady, and are ingrained in the American spirit is

checked through these polls.

Americans still have apprehensions toward Democratic First

ladies since the example of Hillary Clinton who was seen as a

threat because going to far in the male sphere of politics.

However, studying recent polls after the election of Clinton,

Bush and Obama, it seems that once elected the opinions can

evolve.

Hillary Clinton who has been so much criticized, has become

now the most admired woman in 2011 in a poll led by USA Today.

She arrives at the top of the list, largely before Michelle

Obama ( 5%) and Laura Bush (2%).

59

It seems that things have much evolved, and that all the

scandals are behind her. Indeed mentality are becoming

different. The personality of Hillary Clinton, framed as a

strong and independent woman, sometimes a little too feminists

is now admired for the job she is doing.

Michelle Obama is not less appreciated. In another USA Today

poll, 79% of Americans approved the way Michelle Obama was

handling the job of First Lady while only 8 percent

disapproved69

So as a conclusion, the public opinion is much influenced by

the framing of the media but also by the rooted gendered

prescriptions of the nineteenth century.And this can be felt

in their intention of vote.

They do not expect much from a first lady, but at the same

time they want them to exist for sure.

CONCLUSION

Throughout our study, we have analyzed the ambiguity of the

role of the first lady.

Between traditional expectations, and modernization, we

observed that the function of first lady, which is not really

specified, however is very much scrutinized.

69 Betty Boyd Caroli,First Ladies: From Martha Washington to Michelle Obama, New York, Oxford University Press, 4th Edition, 2010, p.355

60

The dimension given to this job depends on different elements

taken into account among which the political side, the

personal ambitions and interests.

We did confirm that Republican first ladies usually aspire to

a more traditional role, whereas Democratic first ladies allow

themselves much more liberty in their agenda.

However these liberties have been harshly criticized and

rejected by the media who exercise a scrutiny over the first

ladies of the nation.It is as if they were establishing a

principle of checks and balances over their function.

As a consequence, we observed that even if each first lady

defines her own public image, her own agenda, and create her

voice, whenever criticized by the media she would in a way

listen to the criticism and come back to a more conventional

role. In fact, even if there’s no written Constitution that

defines the role, the media have compared the First ladies on

the basis of gender norms. As in the early nineteenth century,

they expect their First Lady, the Mother of the nation to

answer to the criteria of a perfect Housewife. She should

remain in the domestic sphere, she cannot speak to much or be

involved in policy-making because she would be categorized as

a political interloper. A woman who tries to penetrate the

male sphere of politics is not welcomed . She cannot go too

far into her agenda because this is not what the people expect

her to do. Or at least what the media convinced the people

into thinking that is not convenient for this function.

61

So realize how much powerful the media is, and how it is also

used by the First ladies as a tool to play a perfect game of

seduction with the public opinion.

They learnt how to use it in their favor, through social

networks like Facebook and Twitter, which also introduces them

as modern first ladies and assure them a close relationship

with their supporters, and with the population in general.

Consequently, they maintain high ratings in the Poll and

become admired figures.

As we have noticed, it is important for a first lady to be

appreciated by the population, because she has become a

strategic element that can assure the popularity of the

current administration. This is why they paid so much

attention to the controversies published by the media.

Republicans or Democrats, they respect the polls, and the

public opinion because they know that they have to protect

their husbands and even sometimes their personal interests.

Still, the First Lady has to fit with the image of the model

implicitly linked with her position. Americans are really

proud of this institution that exists nowhere else. Once we

have understood that this is the reason why the people

scrutinized them that much, it appears very normal that the

most admired Woman in the United States is Hillary Clinton, a

former First Lady.

62

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63

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65

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66

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Individual Interests”,Washington, 15 January 2009, accessed 23

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http://www.firstladies.org/documents/art_interests.pdf

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68

that insane ””, Top News, 27 October 2007. Accessed 29 May

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monica-lewinsky-affair-oval-office-he-couldnt-be-insane-24602

Robin Toner, “ The 1992 Campaign: Political Memo; Backlash for

Hillary Clinton Puts negative image to Rout, 24 September

1992. Accessed 05 June 2012.

http://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/24/us/1992-campaign-political-

memo-backlash-for-hillary-clinton-puts-negative-image.html?

pagewanted=all&src=pm

Lisa Burns, “First ladies as political women : Press Framing

of Presidential Wives”, 2004.

6) Videos

Michelle Obama Speech “ Be not afraid” pronounced in Iowa

2007.

NBC Channel First lady Michelle Obama Shops at

Target,September 2011.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WfrmWwE8UY

Michelle Obama fashion show, an extract from the Talk Show

The Wendy Williams Show, broadcasted on the BET cable

networks. accessed 20 May 2012.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcMXjoAepiA ( See on the DVD )

69

Michelle Obama visiting a local school in Washington D.C and

dancing with the children, “Michelle Obama does the doogie and

the Beyoncé Dance” 2 May 2011. Accessed 31 May 2012.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3qr3HM6NAc

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June 2012.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF9LJw20bSc

Laura bush speech as a Desperate housewife http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQv0v3Xme0I

American Talk Show-Hillary Clinton in Arsenio Hall Show NBC

1992. Accessed on 1st April

( See on the DVD)

Laura Bush en Jenna Hager on Ellen Degeneres Show. Accessed on

1st April;

The first lady visits the sef of Extreme Makeover. Accessed on

24 December 2011.

70

The Appendix

Articles :

• “First lady has short time to define her public

image”,The Hill, 16/03/09

• “First 100 Days : Michelle Obama has big shoes to Fill,

But so far is walking in stride” Fox news.com 04/28/09.

• “What’s cooking at the White House” Tribune

Reporter,December 6,2009.

• “Women see themselves in Michelle Obama’s mirror”AP

Fashion Write,March 11, 2009.

• “In Obama White House, First lady Shows she’s part of the

team ”

• “What’s a first lady to do ? Role not specified, highly

scrutinized” USA TODAY,23.10.08.

• “Role of the first Lady Shaped by tradition and

Individual Interests” Washington 15 January 2009.

71

On the USB Drive:

• Michelle Obama Speech “ Be not afraid” pronounced in Iowa2007.

NBC Channel First lady Michelle Obama Shops at Target,September 2011.

• Michelle Obama fashion show, an extract from the Talk Show The Wendy Williams Show, broadcasted on the BET cable networks. accessed 20 May 2012.

• Michelle Obama visiting a local school in Washington D.C and dancing with the children, “Michelle Obama does the doogie and the Beyoncé Dance” 2 May 2011. Accessed 31 May 2012.

• Hillary Clinton in 60 minutes interview, 1992.

• Laura bush speech as a Desperate housewife

• American Talk Show-Hillary Clinton in Arsenio Hall Show NBC 1992.

• Laura Bush en Jenna Hager on Ellen Degeneres Show.

• The first lady visits the sef of Extreme Makeover..

72