Through press coverage, U. S. first ladies have become some of the most prominent and recognized figures in American politics. While the U. S. Constitution doesnÆt enumerate the responsibilities of the first lady, a succession of dynamic women, beginning with Martha Washington, have shaped this post into a highly visible public office. First ladies have performed a variety of public and private roles, from hostess, escort, and social advocate to advisor and policymaker. The gendered nature of the position, however, has always influenced first ladiesÆ performance as they balanced their institutional duties with high expectations from the press and the public that they serve as role models for American women. In First Ladies and the Fourth Estate, Burns analyzes the coverage of presidentsÆ wives in five leading newspapers and magazines-The New York Times, The Washington Post, LadiesÆ Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, and McCallÆs-to prove that the press has helped shape the first lady institution as well as influence the changing social and political roles of American women. By examining press portrayals of 20th-century first ladies, Burns highlights the intersection of gender, publicity, and power at particular historical moments. Through the years, journalists have used both the gender ideals of the time and the collective memories of previous first ladies to assess the performance of the presidentÆs wife. The first lady has emerged as a celebrity, an advocate for humanitarian causes, and, in more recent years, a political activist. Burns argues that this evolution of the first lady institution-from the \\u201cnew woman\\u201d of the early 1900s to the \\u201cnew traditionalist\\u201d and \\u201csuperwoman\\u201d of the 1990s, and from the domesticity of the Cold War to the activism of second wave feminism-spurred increasingly critical press coverage as the presidential wives expanded their sphere of influence from the personal to the political. The interdisciplinary approach of this study reveals the significance of the first lady institution not only to womenÆs history and gender studies but also to the study of U. S. history, the American presidency, political communication, rhetorical criticism, and media history. | First Ladies And The Fourth Estate by Lisa Burns, Paper over Board | Indigo Chapters