Never the Oval Office? From Eleanor Roosevelt to Michelle Obama—First Ladies and Their Social and Feminist Agenda

• Main Author: Martina Kohl
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Göttingen University Press 2017-07-01
• Series: American Studies Journal
• Subjects: First Lady; gender roles; White House; women in politics
• Online Access: http://www.asjournal.org/62-2017/never-oval-office-eleanor-roosevelt-michelle-obama-first-ladies-social-feminist-agenda/

Prompted by the 2016 elections in the United States, women’s prospects in U.S. politics have received renewed attention among scholars and politically interested circles. Hillary Clinton, without any doubt one of the—if not the most qualified candidates for the Presidency ever, suffered an unexpected defeat on November 9th. Polls, experts, and the candidates were taken by surprise. Only in hindsight do critics claim to have known all along that Hillary Clinton’s defeat might have been foreseeable. As a former First Lady, Hillary Clinton belongs to a group of women in U.S. politics that at least have made it into the White House—though not as an elected representative of the administration. As different as these women have been, they all have one thing in common: the chance to shape policy.