First published 2016
Kate Andersen Brower examines the most demanding and underestimated role in American politics through the experiences of ten First Ladies who served from 1960 to 2016. Drawing on interviews with White House residence staff, social secretaries, friends, and political advisers, Brower reveals how these women navigated their complex responsibilities as inspiring leaders, skilled politicians, wives and mothers under constant public scrutiny, and executives managing White House operations. The book covers Jacqueline Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson, Patricia Nixon, Betty Ford, Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, and Michelle Obama. Brower explores their political campaigns, rivalries with Washington figures, friendships with each other, and both public and private relationships with their husbands. She provides particular focus on Hillary Clinton, examining how her White House years shaped her presidential campaign and what her experience suggests about the possibility of a First Husband. The book offers readers an insider's view of life at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue from both upstairs and downstairs perspectives.
Genres: 20th-century, political-science, non-fiction, biography-memoir, 21st-century, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: insider-perspective, political-drama
Setting: Pennsylvania Avenue, White House
Period: 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s
380 pages · Hardcover · Harper