America's First Ladies

America's First Ladies

Top of Mind with Julie Rose

The Syria Situation, A Spicy Cure, America's First Ladies

Episode: The Syria Situation, A Spicy Cure, America's First Ladies

  • Apr 19, 2018 11:00 pm
  • 51:58 mins

(Originally aired April 29, 2016) Guest: Kate Anderson Brower, Former White House reporter, Bloomberg, Author, “First Women” Barbara Bush passed away this week. As former first lady, she had been part of an exclusive sorority who’ve experienced things only THEY can truly relate to.  Mamie, Jackie, Lady Bird, Pat, Betty, Rosalynn, Nancy, Barbara, Hillary, Laura Michelle and Melania, America’s modern first ladies, faced challenges and opportunities inconceivable to most Americans--living in the White House, being married to the Commander-in-Chief.  But their shared experiences do not necessarily make them sisters. There are deep rivalries and long-standing animosities between some of them and surprising alliances between others. Michelle Obama felt more warmly toward Laura Bush on the other side of the political spectrum than she did toward fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton.  Former White House reporter Kate Andersen Brower wrote a book packed with fascinating anecdotes about how the wives of US Presidents have tackled the role of first lady and their relationships with each other. The book is “First Women: The Grace and Power of America’s Modern First Ladies.” We spoke with her in the spring of 2016, before the Obamas left the White House and the Trumps moved in.  Listen to our interview with Brower about First Lady Melania Trump