Laura Bush Was Pro-Choice -- and Dozens of Other Things You Never Knew About America's First Ladies

By Carl Sferrazza Anthony, Huffington Post. Posted February 6, 2009.

She has two daughters -- like Laura Bush, Lady Bird Johnson and Nixon -- closer in age to Amy Carter and Chelsea Clinton than the Kennedy children when they moved into the White House. She is the second lawyer -- Clinton was the first, and the second to continue working after her children were born -- yes, you guessed it, Clinton was the first.

My litany of facts got a lot of silence in reaction. One reporter finally said it: She still saw Obama as the "anti-Laura" or the "black Jackie" -- but not the "new Hillary."

Of course, she's none of these. She's Michelle Obama, and her singularity is, in fact, what makes her more like Jackie ... or Hillary ... or even Lucretia Garfield --  an individual who has given up any profession except that of wife and is often then implored by the media, White House aides and complete strangers with no idea of who she is as a real person, what she "should" or "has to" say and do (and wear), despite being under no legal obligation to do anything.

And what makes all the first ladies like all of us is a larger reality that the new administration signifies: none of us are merely the sum of any one, or even a combination, of all of our factual labels.

What does this mean for the 40th wife of a U.S. president to serve as first lady? First off, for those who think her self-described priority as "mom in chief" is shorthand for "I won't do anything substantive" -- think again.

Consider this reality: she has spent all her energy in the last year focused on campaigning without trying to think too far beyond election day and what she would accomplish. In less than three months, she's had to learn the configuration of rooms of her new home and figure out how she, her husband, daughters and mother will use them, what to put in storage, what to take, what to keep in their Chicago house, do national interviews, get through the holiday season, choose a new school for her daughters and help them transition into it.

She's had to hire a permanent staff who have a sense of who she really is and how she functions, yet also possess a level of professional experience to meet the sort of enormous global expectations put on first ladies -- especially this one, who generates so much interest and expectation -- answer mail, get new clothes and conjure and approve the symbolic events for the inauguration and decide which were important for her to attend.

That leaves little peace of mind to consider the inevitable pressures within the new administration to support or aid this program or that legislation; what will be a healthy schedule for her own self; which new, eager best friends to trust; and what fundamental qualities she will not permit to change within herself -- all the while self-conscious of the fact that there are people like yours truly who are recording, investigating and analyzing it. That's hardly enough time to breathe, let alone roll out an agenda that will be recorded for history.

We do have basic clues. She has stated some general areas of concern. During the campaign, she found herself especially moved by the sacrifices made by military families who have a parent serving on active duty -- and troubled by how some of their most basic needs aren't met. That issue alone could lead to some potential funding increase, which she may involve herself in behind the scenes while not seeking any direct public credit. It could certainly lead to her creating some sort of formal network of support organizations in the private sector.

Considering her own professional experiences in drumming up corporate underwriting and serving as a liaison between constituencies such as local area residents and the University of Chicago Medical Center, it could prove rewarding to Obama personally -- beyond the desire to help the families in a serious and tangible way. In her realizing how to address the uninsured and underinsured, whom often have to rely on emergency rooms to get basic health care, there's also the suggestion that, at the very least, she could be helpful in talking through practical aspects of health care reform.

Less tangible is how she will craft a concrete system for addressing the problems of women seeking to balance their work (public) and family (private) responsibilities -- another area of concern she's talked about. Some have suggested it might mean an expansion of the Family and Medical Leave Act, although perhaps it would mean an increase in tax credits for child care or other federal enhancements for families. That could be a minefield ripe for the opposition.

See more stories tagged with: media, hillary clinton, first ladies, laura bush, michelle obama

Carl Sferrazza Anthony is historian of the National First Ladies Library and the author of several books, including the two-volume history, First Ladies, a history of the role's evolution and political power. He also has written biographies of Jacqueline Kennedy, Florence Harding and Nellie Taft.

Liked this story? Get top stories in your inbox each week from Reproductive Justice and Gender! Sign up now »