Eleanor Roosevelt and the "newspaper girls" -- Early first ladies and the public sphere -- Jackie Kennedy and the construction of Camelot -- First ladies as political helpmates : Lady Bird Johnson and Pat Nixon -- First ladies and feminism : Betty Ford and Rosalynn Carter -- First ladies and image-making : Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush -- Hillary Rodham Clinton as media polarizer -- Laura Bush as emblem of national caring -- Looking ahead
Summary
"Looking at the personal interaction between each first lady from Martha Washington to Laura Bush and the mass media of her day, Maurine H. Beasley traces the growth of the institution of the first lady as a part of the American political system. Her work shows how media coverage of first ladies, often limited by stereotypical ideas about women, has not adequately reflected the importance of their role."--BOOK JACKET
