Is the first lady more powerful than the US president? From Melania Trump to Michelle Obama, these supposedly apolitical figures have influenced everything from fashion to global affairs

May 20 , 2021

Melania Trump, Jill Biden and Michelle Obama. Photos: @melaniatrumpfashion/Instagram, ZUMA, PA/DPA

Michelle Obama had her Let’s Move campaign, Melania Trump launched the Be Best initiative and Nancy Reagan told young people to ‘just say no’ to drugs

President Woodrow Wilson’s wife Edith even took over the executive’s decision-making after he suffered a stroke, nicknamed the ‘Second President’

While the role has no official job description, generations of first ladies have used their powerful position to influence the White House and beyond. Let’s take a look at who, and how.

The first lady who secretly ran the country

When Woodrow Wilson suffered a stroke midway through his second term, his wife Edith Wilson stepped in to make the executive branch’s decisions. Photo: Corbis

It’s not just the aesthetics of the White House that have fallen under the first lady’s unofficial responsibilities, with several women in the role credited historically for making some major decisions on their spouse’s behalf.

In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson was bedridden following a stroke. While in such cases the vice-president should take over, his wife Edith was in fact secretly making decisions for a year and a half.

In less dramatic circumstances, Nancy Reagan is said to have wanted Ronald Reagan to fire his chief of staff Donald Regan in 1987 before he ultimately resigned. And in 2018, Melania Trump publicly called for deputy national security adviser Mira Ricardel to be dismissed.

The issues they care about most influence policy

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama host a group of Girl Scouts at the White House as part of the first lady’s Let’s Move! initiative. Photo: EPA

Whether its lobbying for healthier food in schools like Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign, shining a spotlight on the vaping crisis like Melania Trump’s Be Best initiative, or telling young people to “just say no” to drugs like Nancy Reagan – what the first lady cares about often ends up making it to the Congress floor.

“The White House depends so much on their unpaid and unofficial status,” Lauren A. Wright told website HowStuffWorks. The author of On Behalf of the President: Presidential Spouses and White House Communications Strategy Today, added: “There’s an advantage to that, to be able to leverage this person who seems like they’re apolitical, not vested in political outcomes.”

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