First Lady's Role In America

The First Lady of the United States is not elected, her position is not defined, and her role is informal. She is not paid for her work, and there is no official documentation of responsibilities for her to follow, yet her position is both accepted and expected throughout the United States. Her actions represent and reflect the current president’s administration, and she serves a political and social platform in the country. Each woman creates her own version of what the position of First Lady entitles, since there are no constitutional guidelines, and each First Lady’s role ends up being as diverse as the women themselves. The founding fathers imagined the social role of the First Lady to represent the same core values that the nation stood upon, such as “elegance without excess, power without pomp, and dignity without disdain for the common man. The role of First Lady is viewed as an American institution, and the roles they took upon themselves has only grown over time. The term, First Lady, was not widely accepted and used until the late 19th century, around the time that Mary Lincoln was serving as First Lady in 1861. Until this term was established, the women were referred to as, “Lady” …show more content…
George felt that after several weeks of Congress not being able to agree on a name, that it was halting more important matters to be dealt with, so he announced that he would be called Mr. President, and that Martha would be referred to as “Mrs. Washington,” or “Lady Washington,” as she was before. George also took the opportunity to share that Martha would have a drawing room in which to receive visitors, and she quickly established herself in the role of hostess quickly and efficiently. Martha and George also decided that they would host events together, which gave the public a sense of what Martha’s role was alongside her