ICRW and George W. Bush Institute Release New Report on First Ladies

Today, ICRW and the George W. Bush Institute released a new report, “A Role Without a Rulebook: The Influence and Leadership of Global First Ladies.” This report, launched at an event at the Bush Institute in Dallas, helps shed light on the impact of first ladies around the globe.

Prior to this report, little evidence has been documented about the roles, responsibilities and impact of first ladies worldwide. To help fill this gap, ICRW and the Bush Institute studied the leadership potential of the role of the first lady, common and uncommon challenges first ladies face and how they have overcome challenges to make an impact on their chosen issues. This report compares and contrasts the experiences of historical and contemporary first ladies from 12 countries on five continents.

“The First Ladies Initiative supports first ladies in using their unique platforms to improve lives,” said Natalie Gonnella-Platts, Deputy Director of the Women’s Initiative at the Bush Institute. “Through our work, we found that there is an extremely limited field of research on global first ladies despite their incredible influence in addressing issues at local, national and global levels. We set out to change that.”

The report found that, worldwide and throughout history, first ladies are often positioned to champion the wellbeing and rights of socially marginalized groups, including women and girls. Through an initial literature review, researchers found that the role of first ladies has encompassed several different, but overlapping roles, including hostess, partner/teammate, champion and policy advocate, with most first ladies balancing these different roles throughout their time as first lady.

In previous centuries, first ladies were predominantly seen as a hostess, as the wives of leaders were expected to fulfill ceremonial responsibilities, such as social gatherings and attending events alongside their husbands. Throughout the 20^th century, the role expanded. First ladies began to play the role of political partner, wielding influence and power as teammates with their husband. Clementine Churchill, for example served as a counterpart and advisor to her husband, Winston Churchill, a role similar to a chief of staff position. Additionally, first ladies around the world have played the role of a champion, choosing one or two key issues to focus on and help elevate during their time in office. Eleanor Roosevelt focused on championing the rights of women and children, among other marginalized populations. And lastly, first ladies often play the role of policy advocate, taking on a more explicit role to influence government policy, civil society and/or the private sector.

Throughout their many roles, first ladies faced a handful of challenges, including that the role is poorly defined, requiring first ladies to craft and defend their leadership platform; first ladies often face the burden of gender stereotypes, expected to first and foremost play the role of the hostess; and a “legitimacy gap”, as there is no formal mandate for the role of the first lady.

Despite these challenges, the first ladies interviewed for this report played an important role in elevating key issues and calling attention to important causes both in their home country and abroad. Laura Bush, wife of President George W. Bush, helped champion education and advocated for human rights protections in Burma while also promoting the President’s AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) project. In Honduras, Ana Garcia De Hernandez, worked together with her husband, President Juan Orlando Hernández Alvarado, to launch a program called “Vida Mejor (Living Better)”, a social program to meet the needs of the poor. As former first lady of the Dominican Republic, Vice President Margarita Cedeño de Fernández transformed the office of the lady into an “agent of social transformation,” tackling issues from poverty, to the digital divide, to children’s health care. Each first lady interviewed spoke about the issues on which they worked and championed, but all carved out a niche for themselves on issues they were passionate about.

“From Afghanistan to Uruguay, the research shows that first ladies play an important role in elevating the rights of women and girls,” said ICRW President Sarah Degnan Kambou. “We hope that this report helps spark an important conversation about how we can ensure that first ladies at home and abroad are able to use their platform to positively affect women, girls and their families for generations to come.”

Importantly, the report notes that first ladies’ leadership on their championed issues does not end when their husband leaves office. Cherie Blair, wife of former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Hillary Clinton, wife of former President Bill Clinton, provide a good example of how  former first ladies continued to lead. Mrs. Blair has continued her work on women’s economic empowerment through the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, while Hillary Clinton was a Senator and served as Secretary of State to the United States, as she continued to champion gender equality in these roles.

The report contains four main recommendations for how women leaders can build a platform for impact:

• Develop a strategic vision;
• Engage with citizens and peers;
• Encourage collaboration among stakeholders; and
• Promote the value of women as leaders.

The full report, as well as the executive summary and in-depth recommendations are available here.