Professor Catherine Allgor on First Ladies in History

Right from the start, first ladies answered a need, a psychological and emotional need, that Americans had that their nation was legitimate, that the authority that was ruling over them was the right authority, with just a touch of aristocratic grandeur. So, that's an important part of the role of the first lady. The second... aspect of the job, I think, that's very important is the first lady's job as the head of the social sphere. Now, I call it the unofficial sphere because I like to take society and social events as seriously as I do political ones. Michelle Obama is facing the same challenges her husband... is facing, in that, this country has a long way to go before we're back on track. ... She has a particular challenge being a woman of color and being a liberal and a feminist, and it's a paradox. Sometimes, women who present themselves as a much more conservative woman, traditional we'll say, have greater leeway to do their own thing, to do their work, then a woman who puts herself forward as liberal, feminist, a powerful woman. So, Michelle Obama has a kind of tricky road ahead of her. But! She's had a good example or a rather a sort of tortured example that is Hillary Rodham Clinton, and she saw how Mrs. Clinton took this job on and treated it like a professional job, which she had every right to do because she was a highly-educated credentialed person, but it backfired on her. Michelle Obama now understands that the role of the first lady, while it has a great capacity for connection, for reaching out, for connecting with the American people, there's also a backlash. We project a lot of our fears and anxieties about women and politics and power, onto the role of the first lady, and I do think people like Hillary Clinton, and other women, have been quite shocked to feel the attention and the scrutiny, and they think, I'm just one little person, but you're not. You are a part of a symbol.