A woman who is a wife, no matter what hubs does,
Can and should be an asset.
She should support him, he should support her in her endeavors, as well.
I’m assuming most men here have not been wives. You gotta know to know.
The wife of the president can do great things or they can flop like Melania’s “Be Best” campaign.
Nancys “Just say no” was so known, it turned into a joke. I don’t know if it was successful. But, dang everyone knew about it.
There were a couple First Ladies who went on to be senators and other elected officials.
They are not useless, by far.
I bet some were actually running the whole show.
I don’t think RFKjr’s wife should be supporting him through his endeavors.
I don’t think Vance’s wife should be supporting him either, but like Melania, she seems to be an awful person. Cheryl Hines used to seem like she had some integrity, but it’s been missing for awhile.
The sense I have, from the few times W has said anything on the topic, is that he seems to feel a certain responsibility to respect the office, even if he has no respect for the person holding the office.
I mean, if I were in her position right now, I’d be laying as low as I could as well. I wouldn’t want to have my name associated with any of this, and if it gets ugly, I’d want to be able to point at the fact that I hadn’t supported my husband at all in public.
All I can come up with is that if he criticizes Trump, he feels like he’s tarnishing his own legacy somehow. Which seems absurd, but who knows?
Oh you don’t have to worry about ole Melania she is doing just fine with that $40 million dollar deal from Amazon for her life story that everyone is clamoring for. I also read that they are doing a short theatrical release where companies can add themselves to the credits for a certain $$ donation…
Well, “great at being decisive” would be fair - but not necessarily commendatory (any more than “great at multitasking”, which says nothing about how well the various tasks are done)
As noted by others, “First Lady” isn’t an official title or status in the US government. It’s an unofficial title (one that has also been used for, e.g., the wife of the president of Israel).
I think pretending that high-ranking politicians’ wives have no official role whatsoever is somewhat problematic, and feeds into stereotyped expectations of women’s uncompensated labor. If a spouse like Sara Netanyahu (to take another example besides the first lady Michal Herzog) is expected to host and attend state dinners with her husband, then it’s not entirely true that his job “ends at the office”.
Yes, high-ranking spouses shouldn’t get official titles and responsibilities automatically, because they’re not chosen in accordance with political protocols of election or appointment. And yet, they are definitely part of the functioning of government in its diplomatic and PR manifestations.
So ISTM that having an unofficial but standard designation like “First Lady” is probably the best available compromise for negotiating that ambiguity.
Well, it seems to me that democratic First Ladies have had more personality and more exposure than their republican counterparts. I think of Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Jackie Kennedy in particular. I can’t think of a single republican counterpart that is remotely close.
My theory, and it is solely a theory based on feeling, is that part of the republican mantra about “family values” is that the woman walks behind and supports her man. Outside of Melania, I can’t think of the name of a single republican First Lady. Part of the democratic mantra, however, is the equality of women and the importance of their contributions to our society.
