# Is the first lady mentioned in the law anywhere? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 19, 2003, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-first-lady-mentioned-in-the-law-anywhere/202679 "2003-09-19T21:15:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-first-lady-mentioned-in-the-law-anywhere/202679/1 "2003-09-19T21:15:03Z")
Are there some sort of regulations for the first lady? Is she official? I just saw that she has a homepage on [www.whitehouse.gov/firstlady/](http://www.whitehouse.gov/firstlady/). 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](http://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. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-first-lady-mentioned-in-the-law-anywhere/202679/2 "2003-09-19T21:19:50Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-first-lady-mentioned-in-the-law-anywhere/202679/3 "2003-09-19T22:04:13Z")
It couldn’t have been an “anti-Eleanor Roosevelt” measure. President Kennedy appointed his brother Robert as attorney general in 1961. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-first-lady-mentioned-in-the-law-anywhere/202679/4 "2003-09-19T22:20:29Z")
Possibly (probably) there are various laws concerning who gets secret service protection that mentions the president’s family anyway. ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2003, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-first-lady-mentioned-in-the-law-anywhere/202679/5 "2003-09-19T23:56:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dogface \* > \*\*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. \*\* …and Dolly invented ice cream mmmmicecream:D ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-first-lady-mentioned-in-the-law-anywhere/202679/6 "2003-09-20T00:37:55Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-first-lady-mentioned-in-the-law-anywhere/202679/7 "2003-09-20T00:46:02Z")
James Buchanan, the only bachelor president, asked his neice Harriet Lane to fill the role of First Lady, I mention for the sake of trivia. ---
**Author:** ![YWalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/6f9a4e/32.png) [@YWalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YWalker)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-first-lady-mentioned-in-the-law-anywhere/202679/8 "2003-09-20T02:21:46Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-first-lady-mentioned-in-the-law-anywhere/202679/9 "2003-09-20T06:16:30Z")
The U.S. Code has a section where a pension for a surviving spouse of a president is approved. Lady Bird Johnson would be the only one around to collect that right now. It wasn’t a large sum. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2003, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-first-lady-mentioned-in-the-law-anywhere/202679/10 "2003-09-20T06:22:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bryan Ekers \* > \*\*James Buchanan, the only bachelor president, asked his neice Harriet Lane to fill the role of First Lady, I mention for the sake of trivia. \*\* And, interestingly enough, Dolley Madison, as well as being First Lady in her own right, served as Jefferson’s “First Lady”, because he was a widower.