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  • US First Ladies

    Is there an actual "office of the First Lady"? Or is it just ceremonial? The reason i am asking is not so much that the Mrs's give speeches in support of their husbands etc, but i have noticed that the First Lady seems to "crop up" in significant places within the power structure.

    For example, she is front and centre during the US President's inaugaration speech and the photo's of LBJ's swearing in on Air Force One have Jackie Kenendy placed prominantly as part of the proceedings (which given the circumstances i am not sure she would want to be involved unless she had to be). I know there is something about the spouse taking the place of a memeber of congress if the candidate should die during the campaign, but win posthumously. But i thought the US VP was there fore that role!

    There was a kerfuffle about the role Hillary clinton played (something to do with Healthcare as i remember) in that of course she wasn't elected to office etc.

    Just curious.
    at

  • #2
    No, there is no "office" of the First Lady. It's just a title given to the president's wife.

    The spouse of a Senate or HR officeholder or candidate is not automatically appointed to that seat, it is at the discretion of the state governor. In my state, Jesse Ventura appointed Dean Barkley to serve the remainder of Paul Wellstone's term when he died in a plane crash. Of course, his wife died with him, but Ventura could have appointed anybody he wanted,

    The situation in Missouri was a bit different, as Mel Carnahan was the governor of Missouri while running for senator when he died in a plane crash. The lieutenant governor became governor, and appointed his wife to take his place in the Senate.

    In 1976, Walter Mondale resigned as a Minnesota senator, and Governor Wendell Anderson appointed himself as senator filling the vacancy. In 1923 when MN senator Knute Nelson died, later governor Magnus Johnson was appointed to take his place. In 1935, Elmer Benson, also a later governor, was appointed to the US Senate by Gov. Hjalmar Peterson when Sen. Thomas Schall died.
    "Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."

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    • #3
      Originally posted by Trooth
      Or is it just ceremonial
      As Ironduke said it's just a title, but the first ladys are encouraged to have, mostly social issue, pet projects.
      No man is free until all men are free - John Hossack
      I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
      even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
      He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry

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      • #4
        What happens if a woman becomes the president of the US? Will her husband be the "first gentleman"?
        Brahma Sarvam Jagan Mithya
        Jivo Brahmaiva Na Aparah

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        • #5
          Originally posted by roshan
          What happens if a woman becomes the president of the US? Will her husband be the "first gentleman"?
          I wondered that myself.
          No man is free until all men are free - John Hossack
          I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
          even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
          He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Confed999
            I wondered that myself.
            There are no gentlemen in politics. :)
            at

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Trooth
              There are no gentlemen in politics. :)
              LOL :) No ladies either. ;)
              No man is free until all men are free - John Hossack
              I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
              even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
              He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Trooth
                There are no gentlemen in politics. :)
                lol nice one

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