Through press coverage, U.S. first ladies have become some of the
most prominent and recognized figures in American politics. While
the U.S. Constitution doesn't enumerate the responsibilities of the
first lady, a succession of dynamic women, beginning with Martha
Washington, have shaped this post into a highly visible public
office. First ladies have performed a variety of public and private
roles, from hostess, escort, and social advocate to advisor and
policymaker. The gendered nature of the position, however, has
always influenced first ladies' performance as they balanced their
institutional duties with high expectations from the press and the
public that they serve as role models for American women. In First
Ladies and the Fourth Estate, Burns analyzes the coverage of
presidents' wives in five leading newspapers and magazines-The New
York Times, The Washington Post, Ladies' Home Journal, Good
Housekeeping, and McCall's-to prove that the press has helped shape
the first lady institution as well as influence the changing social
and political roles of American women. By examining press
portrayals of twentieth-century first ladies, Burns highlights the
intersection of gender, publicity, and power at particular
historical moments. Through the years, journalists have used both
the gender ideals of the time and the collective memories of
previous first ladies to assess the performance of the president's
wife. The first lady has emerged as a celebrity, an advocate for
humanitarian causes, and, in more recent years, a political
activist. Burns argues that this evolution of the first lady
institution-from the "new woman" of the early 1900s to the "new
traditionalist" and "superwoman" of the 1990s, and from the
domesticity of the Cold War to the activism of second wave
feminism-spurred increasingly critical press coverage as the
presidential wives expanded their sphere of influence from the
personal to the political. The interdisciplinary approach of this
study reveals the significance of the first lady institution not
only to women's history and gender studies but also to the study of
U.S. history, the American presidency, political communication,
rhetorical criticism, and media history.
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