“It’s impossible to examine the arc of American history or tell the full story of the American Presidency without considering the influence and the achievement of our First Ladies.”
WASHINGTON, DC — In remarks this past Monday afternoon before a luncheon meeting of The Ripon Society, former White House official Anita McBride discussed her groundbreaking book, Remember the First Ladies: The Legacies of America’s History-Making Women, and how First Ladies have shaped the American Presidency — and American history — through the years.
“It’s impossible to examine the arc of American history or tell the full story of the American Presidency without considering the influence and the achievement of our First Ladies,” McBride stated. “When you think about the role of First Lady in our country, think first about the oath for the President of the United States. It’s only 35 words long. There’s not one word in the Constitution or any governing document of our nation that tells the First Lady what she’s supposed to do. There is no formal position description. It’s left to each First Lady to devise how they want to lead in the role.
“There was also no formal staff and no formal budget for the First Lady’s office until 1978 and Rosalynn Carter. In Mrs. Carter’s memoir, she said the only fight she ever had with her husband was over her desire to expand her office and expand her staff. He had given her an initiative to run, the Mental Health Commission. But he campaigned on cutting the White House staff in the post-Watergate era because he felt the presidency had become too large and too imperial. And so there was a conflict between the two of them over this. But Mrs. Carter persevered. And as someone who worked in the East Wing, I’m very grateful for her perseverance.”
McBride’s service in White House spans two decades and three presidential administrations. She served as assistant to President George W. Bush and chief of staff to First Lady Laura Bush from 2005 to 2009, directing the staff’s work on the wide variety of domestic and global initiatives in which Mrs. Bush was involved. She previously served as director of White House Personnel under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush and as director of the U.S. Speaker’s Bureau at the United States Information Agency. McBride currently serves as executive-in-residence at the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies in the School of Public Affairs at American University, where she directs programming and national conferences on the legacies of America’s first ladies and their historical influence on politics, policy, and global diplomacy.
In 2023, she co-authored the nation’s first-ever textbook on the contributions of first ladies, U.S. First Ladies: Making History and Leaving Legacies. The book was later adapted for the general public under the title, Remember the First Ladies. She is also the author of the children’s book, First Ladies Make History. McBride discussed the books in her remarks on Monday afternoon, sharing her thoughts on some of the women who helped make the Office of First Lady what it is today and, in doing so, helped make history.
One of those women was the wife of America’s third President, Dolley Madison.
“During the war of 1812,” McBride recounted, “Dolley Madison became the first First Lady to actually operate in a war zone. Washington was a war zone. The British advanced on the city, burnt the Capitol, burnt the White House, and they were coming after her. James Madison was out in the field in Bladensburg, Maryland, surveying the advancing of the British troops. They were already here, and she knew there were things that had to be saved. It is not merely legend that the portrait of George Washington was saved. She had it cut from its frame, rolled up, and taken to safety. Why? Because she knew if it had been captured, it would be considered a prize of war by the British, and it would be paraded all over the streets of London as proof that Britain had actually decimated this new nation.
“She also saved all of the founding documents that were there in the executive residence. There was no national archives then. Those papers were with the president. There was no Library of Congress. Those papers resided in the President’s house. She saved them. She was beloved in Washington. She tutored many of her successors. When she died in 1849, President Zachary Taylor eulogized her, the entire city of Washington shut down. Her funeral was akin to a state funeral. It was President Zachary Taylor who referred to her as the First Lady of the land. That’s where we first start to see this term come into existence.”
Another First Lady who made her mark on the office of the Presidency, McBride said, was the wife of America’s 10th President, John Tyler.
“Julia Tyler was one of the youngest first ladies in history,” McBride said. “Only 24 years old, she was President Tyler’s second wife. He was 30 years her senior. She only served as First Lady for eight months, but she left an indelible mark on the White House. It is because of her that when a President enters the room, Hail to the Chief is played.”
McBride also touched on the history and precedent being set by America’s current First Lady, Melania Trump.
“This is only the second time in our history that a First Lady has returned in a non-consecutive term,” McBride observed. “And you know, Mrs. Trump set a standard when she came the first time. People criticized her for not wanting to move here right away. I looked at it in a different way. I looked at it as this is a position that everybody gets to rewrite in a way that suits them. There is no salary. They get to pick and choose what they want to do. Pat Nixon called it the hardest, unpaid job in the world.
“By not coming here right away, she made it easier for everybody who follows her. It’s hard to establish precedent, but I think she has to be given some credit for that. In some ways, it is moving the model forward. As the only second foreign born First Lady, she holds a place in history. And I think she’s much more confident coming back the second time.”
To view McBride’s complete remarks before The Ripon Society on Monday afternoon, please click on the link below:
McBride’s appearance on Monday occurred as part of a regular series of luncheons and other events The Ripon Society has hosted in recent years that are intended to bring together Republican women who are interested not only in policy and politics, but learning from and building relationships with other women who are pursuing similar careers. Past speakers in this series include U.S. Reps. Ashley Hinson (IA-02) and Julia Letlow (LA-05), and Vice President of U.S. and Canada Federal Government Affairs for Johnson & Johnson Jane Adams, among others.
The Ripon Society is a public policy organization that was founded in 1962 and takes its name from the town where the Republican Party was born in 1854 – Ripon, Wisconsin. One of the main goals of The Ripon Society is to promote the ideas and principles that have made America great and contributed to the GOP’s success. These ideas include keeping our nation secure, keeping taxes low and having a federal government that is smaller, smarter and more accountable to the people.