This got me thinking. What if she is a freaking tard? I know that political figures wives have become a big part of campaigns (ie Arnold + Maria) but where did this come from? Is it legal?
If she can have a homepage on whitehouse.gov, can I also? I mean, I didnt vote her into office did I? Just because she sleeps with the president doesnt mean she gets her own webpage.
The only “mention” is purely off-hand. As an anti-Eleanor Roosevelt measure after WWII, a law was passed prohibiting close relatives (including the spouse) of a President from having an official Federal position.
As for the tradition and custom of the First Lady, it goes all the way back to Mrs. Dolly Madison, wife of President Madison. She pretty much invented it. While it is not enshrined in law, we can see that special social and cultural status for the “First Lady” is very old in US political traditions.
As an aside, Panama does have a legally recognized “First Lady” position (Primera Dama) that is an actual governmental office with its own budget. The Primera Dama’s office does things like promote cultural events, charities, etc.
It is normally filled by the President’s wife. However, the present President of Panama, Mireya Moscoso, is a woman (widowed - her husband was a former president), and her daughter serves as Primera Dama.
The first lady does have a staff so it could be that the money for that staff is included in the White House budget every year. That would be a mention in law.
When Clinton ran a lot of people thought Hillary would do some kind of work and she was put in charge of the health care reform group - which of course went nowhere. She was sworn in as a Senator a few weeks before Bill left office.
