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Famous first ladies: Martha
Washington; Dolley Madison; Edith Kermit Roosevelt;
Eleanor Roosevelt; Jacqueline Kennedy; Pat Nixon;
Elizabeth Ford; Rosalynn Carter; Nancy Reagan; Barbara Bush; Hillary Rodham
Clinton; Laura
Bush | |
The first first lady to:
★ Establish a library in the White House:
Abigail Fillmore, with a $2,000 congressional appropriation that her husband
obtained at her request, 1850-1853.
★ Hire a social secretary: Edith Kermit Roosevelt, in 1902.
★ Reach out to female journalists and allow
them to quote her directly: Helen Herron Taft, 1909-1913.
★ Ride in an "aeroplane": Florence Kling
Harding, in 1921. She donned pants, a helmet and goggles for the occasion.
★ Deliver a radio address: Lou Henry Hoover,
in 1929.
★ Lobby members of Congress directly for
legislation: Lady Bird Johnson, in pushing for passage of a strong version
of the Highway Beautification Act of 1965.
★ Attend Cabinet meetings: Rosalynn Carter,
1977-1981. She sat on the side of the room with staff members and took
notes.
★ The first wife of a president to consider running for senator from New
York?
It wasn't Hillary Rodham Clinton. In 1945, as Eleanor Roosevelt weighed
what to do in her post-White House years, Interior Secretary Harold Ickes
urged her to run. "You would be unbeatable," he wrote her. She considered
the suggestion but demurred.
In 1999, it was Ickes' son, a longtime Democratic activist, who was among
those urging Hillary Clinton to take the same step. She ran, of course,
and won.
★ Shortest tenure: Anna Harrison, at six weeks. William Henry Harrison caught pneumonia
and died in April 1841, before she had arrived in Washington.
★ Longest tenure: Eleanor Roosevelt, at 12 years.
★ Youngest: Frances Folsom Cleveland, 21 years old when she married then-President
Cleveland.
★ Oldest: Anna Harrison, 65 when her husband took office. (Others were older by
the end of their husband's terms.)
★ Women who were wives to and then mothers of a
president: Abigail Adams and Barbara Bush. Anna Harrison was both the wife to and
the grandmother of a president (Benjamin Harrison).
Historians' ranking
The Siena Research Institution in 1993 surveyed historians at 102
colleges and universities. They were asked to rank first ladies in 10
categories, including accomplishments, public image and value to
president. Note that Laura Bush had not yet assumed the role by that time.
Their ranking, by total score:
1. Eleanor Roosevelt
2. Hillary Rodham Clinton
3. Abigail Adams
4. Dolley Madison
5. Rosalynn Carter
6. Lady Bird Johnson
7. Jacqueline Kennedy
8. Barbara Bush
9. Betty Ford
10. Edith Bolling Wilson
(Agencies) |
成為第一名的第一夫人們:
第一位在白宮中建造圖書館的第一夫人:在第一夫人阿比蓋爾·菲爾莫爾(1850-1853)的請求下,她的丈夫、美國第13任總統米勒德·菲爾莫爾獲得了2000美元的國會撥款,在白宮里建了一座圖書館。
第一位雇用社交秘書的第一夫人:1902年,伊迪絲·柯米特·羅斯福雇傭了一名社交秘書。
第一位與女性新聞記者接觸,并允許她們直接引用自己的話語的第一夫人:海倫·海洛恩·塔夫托(1909-1913)
第一位駕駛飛機的第一夫人:1921年,弗洛拉·克琳·哈丁穿上緊身長褲,戴上頭盔和護目鏡第一次駕駛飛機。
第一位發表廣播講話的第一夫人:盧·亨利·胡佛(1929)
第一位為了立法直接游說國會議員的第一夫人:為了使強硬的公路美化議案(1965)得到通過,伯德·約翰遜夫人曾游說國會的議員。
第一位參加內閣會議的第一夫人:羅莎琳·卡特(1977-1981)經常參加內閣會議。她和工作人員們一起坐在房間一側,還記筆記。
第一個考慮競選紐約州參議員的第一夫人是誰呢?
希拉里·羅德翰·克林頓并不是第一位考慮參加競選紐約州參議員的第一夫人。1945年,當埃莉諾·羅斯福盤算著自己離開白宮后該做些什么時,當時的內政部長哈羅德·伊克斯鼓動她參加競選。他寫信給她說:“你將是不可戰勝的。”她考慮過這個建議,但是躊躇不定。1999年,伊克斯的兒子成為眾多鼓勵希拉里·克林頓走上相同道路的人中的一員,伊克斯的兒子長期以來一直是民主黨的活動家。她參加了競選,當然順利當選了。
任期最短的第一夫人:安娜·哈里森只當了六個星期的第一夫人。1841年4月,威廉·哈里森不幸感染了肺炎并逝世,那時安娜·哈里森還沒來得及趕到華盛頓。
任期最長的第一夫人:埃莉諾·羅斯福在第一夫人的寶座上一呆就是12年。
最年輕的第一夫人:弗朗西斯·福爾松嫁給當時的總統克利夫蘭時只有21歲。
最年長的第一夫人:安娜·哈里森的丈夫上任時,她已經65歲了。(也有其他第一夫人在丈夫任期屆滿時比她年長的)
既當過總統之妻,又當過總統之母的第一夫人:阿比蓋爾·亞當斯和芭芭拉·布什。安娜·哈里森曾先后擔任過總統妻子和祖母的角色(她的孫子本杰明·哈里森后來也成為總統)。
歷史學家們提供的排名
1993年,錫耶納研究機構調查了來自102所大學的歷史學者。這些學者被要求從十個方面為歷史上的第一夫人們排名,包括成就、公眾形象和對總統的幫助等。那時,勞拉·布什還未成為第一夫人,第一夫人們按照綜合積分排名如下:
1. 埃莉諾·羅斯福 2. 希拉里·羅德翰·克林頓 3. 阿比蓋爾·亞當斯 4. 多莉·麥迪遜 5.
羅莎琳·卡特 6. 伯德·約翰遜夫人 7. 杰奎琳·肯尼迪 8. 芭芭拉·布什 9. 貝蒂·福特 10.
伊迪絲·伯林·威爾遜
(中國日報網站譯) |