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If Hillary Clinton should win election, there won't be a niche for 'first gentleman'
By Stephanie Warsmith
Beacon Journal
Published on Tuesday, Apr 01, 2008
CANTON: U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has her place in the National First Ladies' Library in Canton.
But if she's elected president, her husband will not.
Those in charge of the library, which chronicles the contributions of first ladies, say that former President Bill Clinton wouldn't be welcome in their collection.
''We are a women's library,'' said Mary Regula, the library's president and founder, who is also the wife of U.S. Rep. Ralph Regula, R-Navarre. ''We're not going to honor first men.''
Pat Krider, the library's executive director, said Bill Clinton already has a library — his presidential library in Little Rock, Ark.
''They're going to have to build their own thing,'' Regula said of Bill Clinton or other future ''first men.''
The library plans to spotlight the role of spouses in presidential campaigns with an exhibit opening today and a symposium in May.
The ''Bill'' question clearly annoys Regula, who has been involved with politics alongside her
husband for 36 years.
''Don't ask,'' was her response when a Beacon Journal reporter first inquired about how the library would respond if Hillary Clinton were elected.
''We have never honored men and I don't think we'll start,'' Regula said while sitting at a table beside shelves of books by or about first ladies.
''The National First Ladies' Library says it all,'' Krider said.
A suggestion that the name could be changed to National First Spouses' Library didn't go over well.
''NO,'' Regula said.
Krider said the Ida Saxton McKinley home that is tied to the library is registered as a national historic site, making changing the name ''nearly impossible.''
A phone call to the William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum for comment was not returned. The Beacon Journal also was unable to reach Bill Clinton through his wife's campaign.
Women's achievements
Regula said the National First Ladies' Library pays tribute to the accomplishments not only of first ladies, but also other women who have made history, such as Madeleine Albright, the first female secretary of state, and Dee Dee Myers, the first woman to be press secretary. (She served in this role for Bill Clinton at the beginning of his presidency.)
''We have a lot of women to honor,'' Regula said. ''It boils down to teaching children that women are part of American history.''
Regula and Krider were somewhat put off by questions about Bill Clinton's role if his wife were elected.
Krider said asking whether he would plan state dinners makes it sound like that's all ''first ladies have done.'' Regula said first ladies have other people to create their menus.
Regula said Bill Clinton would have more important things to do than pick the White House china. ''They have plenty of china,'' she said.
Krider thinks Bill Clinton would be like Eleanor Roosevelt — more interested in causes than state functions. She said he probably would focus on his charitable foundation.
''He would continue doing the same thing he's doing now,'' she said.
The next generation
Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain — the other potential first spouses — also would make history.
Carl Anthony, the library's consulting historian, said both ''represent the next generation.'' He said they each have higher degrees — Obama's in law and McCain's in special education.
''These women have had their own lives entirely apart from their husbands,'' said Anthony, who lives in Los Angeles and is writing a biography of Ida McKinley, the latest of several books he's written about first ladies.
Obama would be the second first lady with a law degree, with Hillary Clinton being the first. Either Obama or McCain would be the fourth first lady with graduate-level degrees. The others were Clinton, Pat Nixon and Laura Bush, Anthony said.
Obama would be the first since Rosalynn Carter to have young children in the White House. The Obamas have two daughters, Malia, 9, and Sasha, 6.
''You really have to go back to the Kennedy years to find a comparable situation,'' Anthony said. ''Much of what shaped Jackie Kennedy's tenure was her so-called mystique based on her rare appearances, media inaccessibility and participating in fewer ceremonial events, and it was because she set aside a certain number of hours to spend with her kids.''
Obama would be the country's first African-American first lady and — at about 5 feet, 11 inches — among the tallest, Anthony said.
McCain would be only the second first lady married to a divorced man. The other was Nancy Reagan. There have been many second wives of presidents who were widowers, Anthony said.
Bill and Hillary Clinton wouldn't be the first presidential couple to return to the White House. Grover Cleveland and his wife, Frances, left when he lost his re-election bid in 1889, and returned when he won four years later, Anthony said.
''That is the only situation vaguely close to this one,'' Anthony said of the Clintons.
A question of title
A question that remains unclear if Hillary Clinton is elected is: What would Bill be called?
Anthony said Bill Clinton has joked about being called ''first laddie'' or ''first gent.'' Some think ''first gentleman.''
''He may be called 'President Clinton' as a courtesy,'' Anthony said. ''Then, we will have two President Clintons by title.''
The term ''first lady'' evolved accidentally because of use by the press and public. The term was disliked by some first ladies, including Jackie Kennedy, who complained that it sounded like the name of ''a race horse,'' Anthony said.
The Clintons have been friends of the library. Mary Regula visited Hillary Clinton in the White House in 1995 and explained her idea for a first ladies' library.
''She said, 'I think this is a great idea,' '' Regula recalled.
Hillary Clinton signed on as an honorary chair of the library, prompting the other living former first ladies to follow suit.
The Clintons made the library part of the federal Save America's Treasures program, through which the library got a $2.5 million grant to help with renovations.
Whether Hillary Clinton is elected, she still has made history as the first first lady to run for president. She also was the first to run for office when she was elected to the Senate, Regula said.
''She's already broken big barriers,'' Regula said.
Upcoming Events
New exhibit: Team Players: Triumph and Tribulation on the Campaign Trail beginng today and runs through Nov. 21. Examines the changing and increasingly prominent role of spouses in presidential campaigns. Will include music from campaigns and television footage of first ladies at campaign events.
Symposium: From Front Porch to Webcast: the History and Impact of Spouses in Presidential Campaigns, May 16 and 17. Topics include, Who Elected Her? Historic Presidential Campaigns Where Wives Counted, and A Media Perspective on Spouses and Gender in the 2008 Race. Longtime Washington correspondent Helen Thomas will give the keynote address. Cost is $150 to $325, based on the length of participation. Deadline is April 18. To register, visit the library's Web site at http://www.firstladies.org
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached
at 330-996-3705 or
swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com.
CANTON: U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has her place in the National First Ladies' Library in Canton.
Get the full article here.
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