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5. Gender and Policy: The First Lady and Substantive Representation
- Texas A&M University Press
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5 Gender and Policy: The First Lady and Substantive Representation Many of the modern first ladies have been substantive representatives. Lou Henry Hoover mobilized networks of citizens and organizations to provide social and economic relief during the Depression. Eleanor Roosevelt held a presidential appointment as assistant director in the Office of Civilian Defense , in which capacity she testified before Congress. Bess Wallace Truman successfully lobbied the president to increase funding for medical research. Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy forged public-private partnerships, later formalized by statutory law and executive orders, to advance White House restoration . Lady Bird Taylor Johnson advertised administration policies and advanced a series of beautification programs. Pat Ryan Nixon conducted public diplomacy, improving north–south dialogues internationally. Betty Bloomer Ford lobbied for ratification of the equal rights amendment and for presidential appointments for women. Rosalynn Smith Carter effectively chaired the President’s Commission on Mental Health and testified before Congress in support of its recommendations. Nancy Davis Reagan conducted a public and media campaign against drug abuse. Barbara Pierce Bush funded and facilitated a series of literacy programs in the private, not-for-profit, and public sectors. Hillary Rodham Clinton led the President’s Task Force on National Health Care Reform and spoke internationally in support of human rights. Laura Welch Bush advocated on behalf of child development and youth mentoring initiatives. Michelle Robinson Obama led a media campaign and facilitated a series of initiatives to improve children’s health and nutrition. The first ladies have had very different issue agendas, have concentrated their efforts in different policy jurisdictions, and have sought different outcomes. Mamie Doud Eisenhower’s absence from this listing even encourages speculation about the extent to which a first lady may choose not to perform—or may be prevented from performing—substantive representation. In the midst of this rich diversity, however, there have been consisten- 152 chapter 5 cies. As one example, first ladies who endorsed a separate-spheres gender ideology, and whose partisan ideology led them to favor smaller and more limited government, conducted their substantive representation as moral guardians committed to private and not-for-profit initiatives. The strength of the relationships binding gender, partisanship, and policy making together are revealed by the strategies that first ladies have used to perform substantive representation. Strategies of Substantive Representation Like all successful policy entrepreneurs, first ladies committed to substantive representation have used multiple strategies to win support from the Washington community and the wider public. Each modern first lady, however, has tended to rely heavily on one approach while incorporating elements of the others into her advocacy. The result is a set of practices that are distinctive to each woman and yet susceptible to classification. No public substantive representation independent of symbolic or descriptive representation. This approach to substantive representation publicly expresses a separate-spheres gender ideology because it (apparently) limits the first lady to her role as the nation’s hostess. Bess Truman and Mamie Eisenhower were the most constant practitioners of this strategy. Rhetorical substantive representation. First ladies who adopt this strategy rely on their words to convey their policy priorities. This approach has not been associated with a particular partisan ideology—the recommendations for change have been either conservative or liberal. Likewise, the gender ideologies have varied, depending upon whether the first lady used her voice as a moral guardian (a more conservative, separate-spheres interpretation) or as an autonomous advocate (a more liberal and feminist frame). Pat Nixon, Betty Ford, and Laura Bush consistently provided rhetorical substantive representation. Nongovernmental substantive representation. First ladies providing nongovernmental substantive representation mobilized networks in the private and not-for-profit sectors. This strategy is most ideologically congruent with the partisan and gender priorities of Republican administrations. It reflects a conservative partisan ideology, which favors change driven by society or the market, and a conservative gender ideology, as the first lady models moral guardianship and caregiving. The first ladies who have [34.227.112.145] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 01:43 GMT) gender and policy 153 implemented this strategy for substantive representation are Lou Henry Hoover, Jacqueline Kennedy, Nancy Reagan, and Barbara Bush. Governmental substantive representation. This strategy draws the first lady directly into policy making, either as a semi-independent policy entrepreneur advocating her own agenda (e.g., Rosalynn Carter and mental health) or as a presidential advisor advancing administration priorities (e.g., Hillary Rodham Clinton and health-care reform...