Content-Type: text/html Magazine Coverge of First Ladies from Hoover to Clinton From Election Through the First 100 Days of Office By Liz Watts, Ph.D. School of Mass Communications Journalism Division Texas Tech University Lubbock, Texas 79409-3082 A content analysis of all magazine articles of first ladies from Hoover to Clinton in the honeymoon period tested Gutin's categories of their communications styles, if their coverage fit predictable categories and if coverage was positive, negative or neutral. Magazines tend to give first ladies more positive coverage if they adopt communications styles that emphasize being a hostess, entertainer, fashion trendsetter or a supporter of the arts or a cause. Personal information is also important. Magazine Coverge of First Ladies from Hoover to Clinton From Election Through the First 100 Days of Office By Liz Watts, Ph.D. School of Mass Communications Journalism Division Texas Tech University Lubbock, Texas 79409-3082 [log in to unmask] 806-742-3160 (Office) Presented to The Commission on the Status of Women AEJMC Washington, D.C. Aug. 9-12, 1995 Magazine Coverge of First Ladies from Hoover to Clinton From Election Through the First 100 Days of Office The February 1994 Spy magazine cover depicted Hillary Clinton, the first lady of the United States, as a Dominatrix,[1]clearly a different role--a deviant role--from those usually associated with the spouse of the President . Spy magazine editors were perhaps signalling a change in the style of reporting about first ladies. Hillary Clinton did not fit the old "Washington-wife culture" in which the wives of politicians concerned themselves with party favors for fundraisers, ladies' luncheons, teas and bridge parties; and magazine reports about her did not fit the "Washington-wife culture" brand of reporting which Newsweek's Meg Greenfield described as "layers of pink whipped-cream prose."[2] Clinton assumed a highly visible position in her husband's campaign for President and as an advisor once he was in office. In doing so she opened herself to attacks from President George Bush's re-election staff and from Republicans who portrayed her as a leftist and a radical feminist, opposed to the traditional family.[3] In spite of the criticism, Clinton decided that she was a wife who would be "noted," as opposed to the wives of other dignitaries and officials whose names are not even listed among the "notables" in attendance at political and government events. She would not be invisible.[4] Instead she would serve as her husband's trusted partner, a key advisor and a crafter of policy. In doing so she was not unlike a number of her predecessors--Nellie Taft, Florence Harding, Ellen Wilson, Rosalynn Carter and Eleanor Roosevelt. Clinton was just more open about it.[5] The collective American memory forgets that many Presidents' wives have chosen political roles for themselves, and this collective forgetfulness forces citizens and media alike to view the current first lady, Carl Sferrazza Anthony said, as "being deviant from women's proper role."[6] The media play a critical role in transmitting both the image and the substance of a first lady. As Richard Cohen notes, the modern day first lady and U.S. Vice President are creations of of the national news media who have made them constitutional monarches, people with limited powers who receive unlimited coverage.[7] MaryLouise Oates, writing in the Los Angeles Times, defined the political wife this way: Look good, but not too good, or people will wonder how you can afford all those great clothes, Be thin, but not too thin--maybe you've got an eating disorder. Be warm with your husband in public, but not too clingy, or there will be rumors of marital troubles. Be independent, but not a free thinker, or there will be expectations of marital troubles. Keep the kids nearby, but not in the way, or you'll look exploitative. Bring in an outside income, but not too much, or you'll look greedy. Be up on the issues, but not too outspoken, since you're only the wife anyway, and what are you supposed to know. Campaigning is tough. Have smiles for supporters and snacks for reporters and don't dare get caught with a bourbon and soda in your hand. Spend weeks being told where to go and what to say and who to talk to, all by staff hired by someone else, all praying that you won't slip up and cost them the election.[8] The role of the President's spouse is not constitutional. Her power does not derive from any document. She is, as Carl Sferrazza Anthony observes, the wild card of American politics. Her power simply is.[9] In spite of formal definition and recognition, the role of President's spouse has been defined as manager of the White House, hostess of dinners, receptions and parties, and participant in social causes and politics. From the days of George Washington, the social calendar has been viewed as a political tool,[10] and the task of selecting menus, dishes, decorations and even chairs for White House socializing has been that of the first lady. After making the appropriate arrangements, she is then to greet the guests, make them feel comfortable and charm the uncommitted or recalcitrant politicos into sharing the views of her husband. Not all first ladies have accepted this role--Letitia Tyler, Margaret Taylor and Abigail Fillmore did not make many social appearances--but the majority acted as social hostesses and homemakers at some level.[11] The New York Times Magazine featured Lou Hoover in its March 10, 1929, edition and observed: The gifted wife of a distinguished husband has a difficult role if she is to keep her own individuality intact without overshadowing his. This is an achievement we demand of our Presidents' wives, even in this day of universal suffrage and of theoretical equality of the sexes. They must be in the middle foreground but never in the limelight. They must meekly follow their illustrious consorts when going in to dinner and even, it is said, when entering an elevator. They must be faithful helpmeets {sic} and constant inspirations, yet it must never so much as be suspected that they are running the administration. They have to know the gravest secrets and not whisper one of them to their dearest friends. They have to be paragons of tact, discretion and unfailing charm. There is no doubt whatever that Mrs. Hoover, by reason of temperament and long experience, comes as near this superwomanly ideal as any feminine occupant of the White House ever has.[12] From the visibility acquired as the leading hostess of the nation's capitol, the first lady's visibility now extends beyond the home to include social causes and politics. This study will examine the national magazine coverage of first ladies from Lou Hoover to Hillary Clinton from election through the first 100 days of their respective husband's first terms of office. The study will analyze the content of all articles in the defined timeframe to determine if the coverage falls into predictable categories and to see if the personality of the respective first lady impacts the amount of coverage she receives. The first ladies included in this study were chosen because they are among the first ladies who have used modern mass communications. Hoover, for example was the first first lady to speak on the radio. Roosevelt was the first to conduct press conferences, and Kennedy was the first to conduct a tour of the White House for television.[13] The period of the study, from election through the first 100 days of office, is the traditional honeymoon period of favorable news media reports that the President usually enjoys. Literature Review While the media coverage of women and of the U.S. President have been analyzed by various researchers, the media coverage of first ladies has not been extensively examined. Individual first ladies have been the subject of research such as Beasley's work on Eleanor Roosevelt's press conferences, use of radio and work as a magazine journalist and the contrasting media relations styles of Bess Truman and Mamie Eisenhower.[14] Two studies have been helpful in framing this research. Gutin examined the backgrounds and communication activities of first ladies since 1920. She concluded that they assumed one of three communications stances: social hostesses and ceremonial presences, emerging spokeswomen, and political surrogates and independent advocates.[15] Social hostesses and ceremonial presences were the first ladies who either chose to be or were cast into the role of inactive communicators. They were the "White Housekeepers," as Gutin labeled them, and they were not encouraged to be public communicators .[16] She included Florence Harding, Grace Coolidge, Bess Truman and Mamie Eisenhower in this category.They performed the expected first lady role of entertaining and little more.[17] The emerging spokeswomen were more active privately and publicly. They expanded the ceremonial role, and as Gutin said, they gave some thought to communicating their ideas to the public and made use of the mass media to transmit their ideas.[18] Through this activity came the realization that the first lady could be a political asset.[19] Three first ladies were included in this category: Lou Hoover, Jacqueline Kennedy and Pat Nixon. The third group received the hearty support of their husbands to become actively involved, to participate in presidential decision making and to communicate publicly.[20] Eleanor Roosevelt, Lady Bird Johnson, Betty Ford, Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush were included in this category. Streitmatter analyzed the role of personality on coverage of Presidents in major newspapers and found that Presidents with appealing personalities received more coverage than the ones who were less outgoing.[21] He paired a reserved/introverted President with an outgoing/extroverted one and examined both general news coverage and personal news coverage of each pair. He found that overall the extroverted Presidents received 49 percent more general news coverage and 87 percent more personal news coverage than their reserved counterparts.[22] Although "first lady " is not an official position, responsibilities assigned to the job have included hostess, homemaker and public figure.[23] Only two Presidents have come to the White House as bachelors, James Buchanan (1856) and Grover Cleveland (1884); and Cleveland married before his first term ended, in response to criticism he received as a bachelor chief executive.[24] Two Presidents --John Tyler and Woodrow Wilson--whose wives died in the White House remarried while in office, accentuating according to Caroli "that Americans expected their chief executive to come in pairs."[25] By being married Presidents have gained in various ways--education, social standing, wealth and cultural sophistication,[26] qualities that have contributed to the definition of first lady. Since the Civil War, Sergio Rizzo noted, the candidate's personal character and domestic life have contributed to the symbolism of the presidency.[27] Domesticity is an important element, and it has chiefly been supplied by the President's wife. Although there is ample evidence that they held the interest and the ability to do so, many first ladies decided to forgo their own careers to focus on their husbands'.[28] Florence Harding in 1922 wrote that one career was all that any couple could manage,[29] a theme echoed by Mamie Eisenhower, Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush and endorsed by Hillary Clinton in some respects because she gave up her law practice.[30] This emphasis on domesticity will not diminish, as Williams noted, until the "new" political spouse continues to follow a career unrelated to her husband's. [31] Emphasizing domesticity has been a function of women's magazines since the late 18th century. List found that the three magazines she studied from that time did not portray women as politically active, and reinforced the idea that women's place was in the home.[32] In a study of a much later time period, 1911-1930, Hynes found that Atlantic Monthly, Cosmopolitan, Ladies' Home Journal, and The Saturday Evening Post did not portray the "flapper" or the politically, economically, and socially liberated woman in the 1920s as either typical or as an ideal of American women. Instead, many traditional norms and values were reinforced while the real-life activity and accomplishments in the political and economic sphere were underrepresented.[33] Women were discouraged from working during the Depression years, but from 1942 to 1945 advertising in magazines encouraged women to work. At the end of World War II, magazines told women to go home.[34] Another study analyzed the heroines in three women's magazines and found that the portrayal of heroines was conservative and when a wife was depicted, she was shown as a mother and housewife.[35]Spieczny's examination of how women's magazines covered the Equal Rights Amendment showed that the top circulation magazines did not pay much attention to the proposed amendment unlike the smaller and more specialized magazines. The women's magazines followed the lead of their readership in covering the ERA.[36] Johnson and Christ's study of Time magazine covers from 1923-1987 indicated that very few women in powerful roles were portrayed. Artists and entertainers were depicted most frequently.[37] Results of a survey by Andreasen and Stevens showed that women who were more assertive spent more time reading and they chose news magazines and progressive women's magazines most often.[38] Research Questions The following research questions were developed: R1 Do the women's magazines cover the first ladies more frequently than other magazines? R2 Does the coverage of first ladies in magazines from election through the first 100 days of their respective husband's first terms fall into predictable categories that reflect a standardized definition of first lady that emphasizes personal information, relationship information, social information or political activity? R3 Do the personality and the communications style of the first lady impact the amount of coverage she receives? Is there a difference between the coverage of a first lady who serves in a ceremonial role to that of a first lady who supports a cause or participates actively in politics? R4 Is the magazine coverage of first ladies from election through the first 100 days of their respective husband's first terms positive, negative or neutral? Method All magazine articles about first ladies from Lou Hoover to Hillary Clinton published between the November election and the first 100 days of office of the first term served were examined. In the cases of Truman, Johnson and Ford, whose husbands became President because of deaths or resignation, articles were coded for the first 100 days of their respective husbands' administrations. Articles were identified from the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature. The unit of analysis was the complete story. Each story was coded to determine if it were primarily about personal, relationship, social or political information and to determine the tone of the coverage defined as positive, negative or neutral. Personal information included family background, education, life at home, interests, hardships, successes, work training or career, reputation, religion, holiday plans and travel/vacations. Relationship information included daughter/sister, friend, wife, husband's helper, mother/grandmother, romance, birthdays, anniversaries and family obligations. Social information included hostess, entertainer, decorator, fashion trendsetter, ball gown and hair, supporter of the arts or causes, fundraiser, first visit to the White House and homemaker. Political activity included campaigner, organizer, speaker, at husband's side while making a campaign or political appearance, voter, policy setter, advising or deciding, naming staff and conducting first press conference. All stories coded could be marked for one or more of the four categories. The coverage was marked positive if the overall tone of the story was complimentary, flattering and upbeat; negative if it were critical or found fault; and neutral if it were neither complimentary nor critical. Relationships between attributes of the coverage were shown by the Chi Square statistic. The significance level of .05 was used. Analysis of Data One hundred and forty-five articles were found for the 12 first ladies included in this study. Hillary Clinton received the most coverage and Bess Truman received the least. Table 1 Magazine Articles about First Ladies From Election through the first 100 Days of first Term First Lady Year Articles Lou Hoover 1928-29 5 Eleanor Roosevelt 1932-33 4 Bess Truman 1945 1 Mamie Eisenhower 1952-53 9 Jacqueline Kennedy 1962-63 11 Lady Bird Johnson 1963-64 11 Patricia Nixon 1968-69 4 Betty Ford 1972 10 Rosalynn Carter 1976-77 11 Nancy Reagan 1980-81 15 Barbara Bush 1988-89 14 Hillary Clinton 1992-93 50 Total 145 There are three decades included in the timeframe of this study in which enough articles were included to make comparisons between first ladies, the 1960s, the 1970s and the 1980s, and examination of these decades show that over time the coverage of first ladies has increased.[39] During the 1960s the average amount of coverage was 8.66 articles each for Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon (n= 26). This increased 21 percent in the 1970s to an average of 10.5 articles each for Ford and Carter (n=21), and 38 percent in the 1980s to an average of 14.5 articles each for Reagan and Bush (n=29). However, Clinton received more than three and a half times the coverage of Barbara Bush. Thirty-nine different magazines covered first ladies from election through the first 100 days of their respective husband's first terms of office. Although it was expected that the women's magazines would cover the first lady most extensively, this was not the case. Table 2 Magazines Providing Coverage of First Ladies 1928-1993 Magazine Articles about first ladies Magazine Articles about first ladies Business Week 2 New Yorker 2 Delinator 1 Newsweek 28 Glamour 1 People 8 Good Housekeeping 4 Pictorial Review 1 Harper's Bazaar 3 Progressive 1 House and Garden 1 Reader's Digest 1 Jet 5 Redbook 1 Ladies' Home Journal 4 Review of Reviews 1 Lear's 1 Sassy 1 Life 3 Saturday Evening Post 2 Literary Digest 3 Scholastic Update 1 Maclean's 4 Spy 1 Mademoiselle 2 Time 23 McCall's 5 TV Guide 2 Mother Jones 1 U.S. News 16 Ms. 2 Vogue 4 National Review 3 Washingtonian 1 New Leader 1 Working Woman 1 New Outlook 1 World's Work 1 New Republic 1 Total 145 The traditional women's magazines, Good Housekeeping, Ladies' Home Journal and McCall's, contributed about 9 percent (n=13/145) of the total coverage. All the magazines which are aimed at women or teenaged girls contributed 21 percent (n=31/145) of the coverage. Clinton received 22 percent (n=7/31) of the coverage in these magazines, and Carter received about 19 percent (n=6/31). Table 3 Articles about First Ladies in Women's and Girls' Magazines From Election Through First 100 Days of First Term Eisenhower Kennedy Johnson Nixon Ford Carter Reagan Bush Clinton Good H. 1 1 1 1 LHJ 2 1 1 MLLE 1 1 McCalls 1 1 1 2 Harper's B 1 1 1 Ms. 1 1 Working W. 1 Vogue 2 1 1 House & Gard. 1 Redbook 1 Sassy 1 Lear's 1 Glamour 1 Total 1 3 3 1 3 6 2 4 7 Clinton received the most coverage (n=20) of any of the first ladies included in the study from the news magazines, Time, U.S. News and Newsweek , which together contributed the largest amount of coverage--46 percent (n=67). Table 4 News Magazine Coverage of First Ladies From Election Through First 100 Days of First Term First Lady Time U.S. News Newsweek Total Lou Hoover 0 0 0 0 Eleanor Roosevelt 0 0 0 0 Bess Truman 1 0 2 3 Mamie Eisenhower 2 3 2 7 Jacqueline Kennedy 1 1 2 4 Lady Bird Johnson 2 3 2 7 Patricia Nixon 1 0 0 1 Betty Ford 2 3 2 7 Rosalynn Carter 3 1 1 5 Nancy Reagan 4 1 5 10 Barbara Bush 1 0 2 3 Hillary Clinton 6 4 10 20 Total 23 16 28 67 After the news magazines Clinton received the most coverage in People ,which provided six stories. TV Guide provided two stories about Clinton but did not cover other first ladies in the timeframe. In addition the women's magazines covered her to a greater extent than it had other first ladies during the timeframe of the study. Good Housekeeping, Ladies' Home Journal, Mademoiselle, Sassy, Lear's, Harper's Bazaar and Glamour all provided coverage, but McCall's, Vogue and Redbook did not offer any coverage of Clinton during the timeframe. A variety of other magazines provided coverage of the first ladies during the timeframe of this study. Life covered Eisenhower and Kennedy. Business Week and the New Yorker covered Kennedy and Clinton. The Saturday Evening Post covered Johnson and Bush. Maclean's covered Reagan and Clinton. In addition to its coverage of Clinton, People covered Reagan and Bush. Reader's Digest and Scholastic UpDate covered Bush with one story each, and Jet presented two stories on Bush and three on Clinton. New Leader, the Washingtonian, Progressive, National Review, New Republic and Mother Jones together provided nine stories about Clinton, but did not cover any other first ladies during the timeframe. All but four first ladies received comprehensive coverage to the extent that magazine articles about them during the time period mentioned at least one item of each of the four categories established for the study. The four who did not receive complete coverage were Eleanor Roosevelt, Bess Truman, Patricia Nixon and Rosalynn Carter. For Roosevelt, Truman and Carter, none of the articles about these women mentioned relationship information such as being a daughter, sister, friend,wife, husband's helper and mother or grandmother. The article about Truman did not mention any personal or relationship information or political activity. The articles about Nixon did not mention any political activity. Table 5 First Ladies' Communications Style by Magazine Article Content Style & Number of First Ladies Personal N % Relationship N % Social N % Political N % Total Social Hostess (2) 4 .01 2 .005 9 .02 3 .008 18 Emerging Spokesw.(3) 8 .02 7 .002 14 .04 3 .008 32 Political Surrogate (5) 51 .14 31 .08 65 .18 36 .10 183 HRC Style (1) 38 .10 25 .07 23 .06 47 .13 133 Total (12) 101 65 111 89 366 X2 =26.13 DF=9 p>.001 Table 5 indicates there is a statistical difference in the type of coverage first ladies received in magazines based on the style adopted. The first ladies who adopted the social hostess style together garnered a smaller amount of the total coverage (7 percent, n=10/145) in magazines between the election and the first 100 days of office, and half (n=9/18) of the references in that the coverage concentrated on social aspects such as playing the role of hostess, entertainer, decorator or fundraiser. Twenty-two percent of the references (n=4/18) in these articles were about personal information, 17 percent (n=3/18) was about political activity and 11 percent (n=2/18) was about relationships. Truman and Eisenhower were included in this group. Emerging Spokeswomen, Hoover, Kennedy and Nixon, got 14 percent (n=20/145) of the total coverage with Kennedy accounting for 11 of the articles. The coverage about them again concentrated on the social aspects to a slightly lesser degree than the coverage of the Social Hostesses, 44 percent (n=14/32) to 50 percent (n=9/18). However, they received slightly more coverage than did the social hostesses about personal information such as family background, education, interests and life at home--25 percent (n= 8/32) to 22 percent (n=4/18). The political surrogates and independent advocates, Roosevelt, Johnson, Ford, Carter, Reagan and Bush, together got 45 percent (n=65/145) of the coverage, and it continued to focus on the social area, however to a lesser degree than the Emerging Spokeswoman and Social Hostess. Coverage of these first ladies included more references to personal information and political activity, 28 percent (n=51/183) and 20 percent (n=36/183) respectively. The coverage of Clinton, who got 34 percent (n=50/145) of the total coverage, reflects the overt political style she adopted. However, while the coverage of her did not refer often to social or relationship information, it did continue to refer to personal information in 29 percent (n=38/133) of the cases. This data also indicate that the coverage about the first ladies fits the first ladies' communications styles. Articles about social hostesses, who were encouraged not to be public communicators, concentrated on the social aspects 50 percent of the time (n=9/18). Articles about the emerging spokeswomen, political surrogates and Clinton did not emphasize the social as much--44 percent for emerging spokeswomen (n=14/32), 35 percent for political surrogates (n=65/183), and 17 percent for Clinton (n=23/133). After the social hostesses, the first ladies were supposed to be more communicative, and, in the cases of the political surrogates and Clinton, more political. This is supported by the data that show they got more coverage as well as more mentions about political activity. Political activity was mentioned 19 percent (n=36/183) for political surrogates and in 35 percent (n=47/133) for Clinton. Table 6 Content of Articles About First Ladies In Magazines From Election Through First 100 Days of First Term First Lady Personal Relationships Social Political Total N %* N %* N %* N %* Lou Hoover 3 .3 2 .2 4 .4 1 .1 10 Eleanor Roosevelt 2 .22 0 2 .22 5 .55 9 Bess Truman 0 0 1 1. 0 1 Mamie Eisenhower 4 .24 2 .12 8 .47 3 .18 17 Jacqueline Kennedy 4 .24 3 .18 8 .47 2 .12 17 Lady Bird Johnson 9 .3 6 .2 10 .33 5 .17 30 Patricia Nixon 1 .2 2 .4 2 .4 0 5 Betty Ford 11 .37 5 .17 7 .24 6 .21 29 Rosalynn Carter 4 .24 0 6 .35 7 .41 17 Nancy Reagan 10 .34 4 .14 12 .41 3 .10 29 Barbara Bush 15 .22 16 .23 28 .4 10 .14 69 Hillary Clinton 38 .28 25 .19 23 .17 47 .35 133 Total 101 65 111 89 366 *Percentages =row percentage When the data for individual first ladies are examined, the personal style of each still seems to be intact. Truman's only article emphasized the social. Eisenhower and Kennedy's coverage emphasized social aspects nearly 50 percent of the time. Hoover, Nixon, Reagan and Bush's coverage emphasized the social aspects at least 40 percent of the time, while Johnson and Carter's coverage emphasized this aspect at least a third of the time. Ford's coverage included social references 24 percent of the time and Clinton's 17 percent of the time. Four first ladies' coverage mentioned personal information at least 30 percent of the time--Hoover, Johnson, Reagan and Ford, while the coverage of Nixon, Bush, Roosevelt, Carter, Kennedy, Eisenhower and Clinton mentioned this aspect at least 20 percent of the time. Nixon and Truman's coverage did not mention this aspect at all. The references to relationship information ranged from a high of 40 percent for Nixon to a low of 0 for Roosevelt, Truman and Carter. The Democratic first ladies received more coverage of political activities than their Republican counterparts. Roosevelt's coverage mentioned this aspect 55 percent of the time, Carter's 41 percent of the time, Clinton's 35 percent of the time, Johnson's 17 percent, Kennedy's 12 percent and Truman's 0. Ford's coverage reported political activity 21 percent of the time followed by Eisenhower, 18 percent; Bush, Reagan and Hoover, 10 percent each; and Nixon, 0. Table 7 Tone of Magazine Coverage by First Lady From Election Through First 100 Days of First Term First Lady Positive Negative Neutral Total Lou Hoover 4 0 1 5 Eleanor Roosevelt 2 0 2 4 Bess Truman 0 0 1 1 Mamie Eisenhower 6 0 3 9 Jacqueline Kennedy 7 0 4 11 Lady Bird Johnson 11 0 0 11 Patricia Nixon 0 1 3 4 Betty Ford 9 0 1 10 Rosalynn Carter 10 0 1 11 Nancy Reagan 8 3 4 15 Barbara Bush 14 0 0 14 Hillary Clinton 21 6 23 50 Total 92 10 43 145 The majority of the magazine coverage of first ladies from election through the first 100 days of their respective husband's first term of office was positive. About 65 percent was positive (n=92/145), 30 percent was neutral and 7 percent was negative.[40] While Clinton achieved the most positive coverage, 14 percent of the total (n=21/145), the coverage of Johnson and Bush, was totally positive. Three first ladies received coverage negative in tone: Nixon, Reagan and Clinton. Clinton's negative coverage amounted to about 12 percent of her total (n=6/50). Table 8 Tone of Coverage by Style of First Lady From Election Through First 100 Days of First Term Style of First Lady Number Included Positive Negative Neutral Total Social Hostess 2 6 0 4 10 Emerging Spokesw. 3 11 1 8 20 Political Surrogate 6 54 3 8 65 HRC Style 1 21 6 23 50 Total 12 92 10 43 145 It appears that the communications style adopted by the first lady may have some impact on the tone of the coverage she receives. The Political Surrogate style achieved 83 percent positive coverage (n=54/65) and only 4 percent negative coverage (n=3/65). Clinton's coverage was less positive and more negative than the other first ladies included in this study, 42 percent positive coverage (n=21/50) and 12 percent negative coverage (n=6/50), while first ladies adopting the Social Hostess and Emerging Spokeswoman style achieved 60 percent and 55 percent positive coverage respectively and either no negative coverage or a minimal amount of negative coverage. Neutral coverage ranged from a high of 75 percent for Nixon, (n=3/4) 50 percent for Roosevelt (n=2/4),46 percent for Clinton( n=23/50), 36 percent for Kennedy (n=4/11), and 27 percent for Reagan (n=4/15). The communications style of the Political Surrogates got the least neutral coverage--12 percent (n=8/65). Discussion Modern first ladies received more coverage than their earlier counterparts. The latter day first ladies also received more coverage in women's magazines and news magazines. Until Hillary Clinton, first ladies realized modest increases in the amount of coverage they received in magazines, a 21 percent increase in the 1970s over the previous decade to a 38 percent increase in the 1980s. Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush's coverage was similar in amount, 15 articles and 14 articles respectively. Their coverage reflected modest increases over the coverage of Carter who got 11 articles and Ford who got 10. However, Clinton's coverage eclipsed all of the other first ladies included in this study. In the timeframe she received 50 articles in a variety of magazines. The women's magazines and the news magazines covered Clinton more than any other magazines in the timeframe. She was the subject of 20 articles out of a total of 67 in the news magazines and of seven articles out of a total of 30 in the women's and girls' magazines. By the same token Nancy Reagan took second place for number of articles in the news magazines with 10 articles. Rosalynn Carter was second place for the women's magazines with six articles. Hoover, Roosevelt and Truman were not covered in women's magazines during the timeframe. Together, the women's and girls' magazines contributed about 21 percent of the coverage while the news magazines provided 46 percent. As weeklies, the news magazines have a higher rate of consumption for stories, and this study seems to indicate the first lady apparently makes good copy during the timeframe of election through the first 100 days of office. On the other hand, many women's magazines are monthlies and have a longer lead time, and they may have preferred to wait to develop a more detailed rep ort. Because she got the most coverage, Clinton was the subject of articles in a diverse grouping of magazines. New Leader, the Washingtonian, Progressive, National Review, New Republic and Mother Jones covered her when they did not cover previous first ladies, while McCall's, Vogue and Redbook did not cover her at all during the timeframe. After the news magazines, People, also a weekly, provided a total of 8 stories about three first ladies, Reagan, Bush and Clinton. The coverage of the first ladies included in this study does fall into predictable categories, but it appears that two categories, social and personal, attract the most mentions. References to social information accounted for 30 percent of the total, followed by personal information, 28 percent; political activity, 24 percent, and relationship information, 18 percent. From Hoover to Bush, the coverage focused on the social with few exceptions--Roosevelt and Clinton's coverage focused on political activity and Ford's focused on personal information. This accent on social information shows that the magazines have moved toward a standardized definition of first lady because even when such first ladies as Carter said they intended to pursue other activities, they still received coverage about the social aspects of their roles. Clinton, with her overt political style, was the first first lady in 65 years to garner less coverage in this category. Prior to her becoming first lady, no other first lady had gotten less than 22 percent and recent first ladies, Reagan and Bush, got as much as 40 percent. The communications style adopted by the first lady did impact the amount of coverage. Bess Truman, who did not want to be first lady and who came to the position because of the death of Franklin Roosevelt, was the subject of only one article in Time, which used an unflattering photo of her.[41] On the other hand, her Democratic descendent, Hillary Clinton, who eagerly sought the role of first lady, captured the most coverage. This study seems to show that the communications style, the personality and the political party of the first lady impact the coverage she receives. Social Hostesses attracted the least coverage. Political Surrogates who had their husbands' approval to be in the public limelight, attracted a good deal more, and Clinton who ventured further into the political aspects than any other first lady had before, attracted the most. Personality impacted the coverage as well. Nixon was taciturn. The four articles about her included relationship information as often as it did social information. She was the only first lady to be covered in this way. Betty Ford, on the other hand, was open and more personal information was reported about her than that of the other first ladies. Eisenhower's coverage highlighted the social role she adopted. News magazine articles about her in November and December 1952 and January 1953 described her as a homemaker and hostess. U.S. News said the household would be her principal assignment and that she would not "assert herself as a public figure, a maker of opinion and influence on policy as did Mrs. Roosevelt, nor would she tend to withdraw to the background as did Mrs. Truman."[42] Time 's Jan. 19, 1953, cover article revealed a mix of personal and social information. It noted that she was not a "grande dame. Her social attributes are amiability, small talk and an ability to put people at ease." It described the work of the first lady as dealing with 700 letters a day, giving at least six state dinners and managing 65 servants in a 54-room house. In addition, the article mentioned her bangs and her clothes, allowing that "{d}espite owning a few Paris gowns, {she} is a great one for ordering little $17.50 dresses and $16.95 hats from department stores."[43] More personal information was revealed in the articles about the first ladies who were the Emerging Spokeswomen, and this was emphasized in the coverage of Jacqueline Kennedy who garnered more than half of the coverage in this category (n=11/20). These articles described her background of wealth and high society, her education and her sense of fashion and elegance. Newsweek noted that fashion designer Oleg Cassini had been selected to make her inaugural ball gown because of his "synthesis of Mrs. Kennedy's elegance."[44] Both Life and Ladies' Home Journal provided photo displays of her, with Life titling one of its two displays "An Abundance of Beauties: Gina and Rita and Ava and Marilyn and Jackie."[45] Another Life article told about the Jackie look alikes and concluded that "she wears her clothes with such effortless grace, that despite herself, she is becoming the nation's No. 1 fashion influence." However, in another article in the same week that noted "her political role is mostly visual," she was quoted as saying, "I am determined that my husband's administration--this is a speech I find myself making in the middle of the night--won't be plagued by fashion stories." [46] Political Surrogates claimed 45 percent of the total coverage. While the social information reported about them remained as high as 40 percent in the cases of Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush, collectively the reporting in this area declined slightly as the reporting increased in personal information and political activity. Reagan and Bush's first magazine articles may have been more in response to the communications styles of Ford and Carter, who preceded them. One of the first headlines about Betty Ford signaled a change: "Betty Ford will set a different style," U. S. News and World Report announced.[47] While magazines credited Johnson with candor, they concentrated on the personal information of her business acumen and her family fortune. On the other hand, the coverage of Ford, the next political surrogate first lady, hailed her personal strength and described her candor as a political asset. She answered questions other first ladies had avoided for years.[48] Shortly after her husband took office, Ford was diagnosed with breast cancer and she underwent surgery in October 1974. Magazine coverage focused on the surgery, but it also incorporated her political views. Newsweek 's cover story, "Betty Ford's Operation," observed that "{s}he promised to devote herself to the usual bland pastimes of first ladies--arts and children--but she also let it be known that she would campaign for the Equal Rights Amendment, and she favored 'liberalized' abortion and marijuana laws and even that she thought trial marriage might be a good thing."[49] Carter signaled another change from the social hostesses and emerging spokeswomen first ladies when the articles about her reported that she planned to bring her own clothes to the White House along with her sewing machine and that she cut her own hair. She would not be redecorating the White House, but she did plan to sit in on cabinet meetings and to hold issue-oriented press conferences of her own.[50] Nancy Reagan turned the coverage away from the political and back to the social and personal. While Carter admitted in an interview that it bothered her to be asked who made her clothes, the former debutante Reagan's coverage immediately zeroed in on appearances. Time focused on the "Reagan Look: Assured, Affluent, and Yes Conservative," while U. S. News and World Report hailed the "Nancy Touch" and People touted her as "Elegant, Opulent {and} Right Minded."[51] Articles that did not focus on her skin, hair and inaugural ball gown told of her plans to redecorate the White House. Time observed that "{f}ew other First Families have plunged into redecoration right away."[52] By February 1981, Reagan had already replaced her press secretary; and according to Melinda Black of Newsweek, Reagan was "searching for a role."[53] However, to Gloria Steinem, writing in Ms., Reagan still had the role she had chosen for herself when she married--"{t}he Marzipan Wife. The rare woman who can perform the miracle of having no interests at all; of transplanting her considerable ego into a male body."[54] Barbara Bush's magazine coverage likewise featured her appearance, but in a different way than Reagan's did. Vogue noted that Bush "had been stung repeatedly ... by the media observation that she looks more like George Bush's mother than his wife."[55] Reader's Digest pointed out that she dyed her hair, and Maclean's said she represented the elegant older look and on the cover it called her "Everybody's Grandmother." Yet the same article said "her no nonsense style... could liberate American women from the tyranny of dieting, face lifts and high fashion."[56] Unlike Reagan, Bush did not have to find a role. She had already established herself as an ardent supporter of literacy programs and 13 of the 14 articles about her in the timeframe mentioned her support of such. Kennedy did not like the title first lady and for a time forbade her staff from using it.[57] With Hillary Clinton, the magazines did not hesitate to replace the title with such labels as "Superwoman," "Co-President," or "the First Advocate in Chief," while referring to the presidential couple as "First Friends," or the "The Dynamic Duo."[58] These labels were the magazines' attempts to make sense out of a first lady who was not going to be content figuring out the seating arrangements for state dinners when that apparently was what the public expected of her. A U.S. News and World Report poll reported in January 1993 that 59 percent of the respondents did not want her to be a major adviser to her husband on politics and personnel and 70 percent preferred that she serve as a "traditional" first lady.[59] That was not Clinton's plan, and as her friend, Linda Bloodworth-Thomasen, explained in a TV Guide article. "Hillary will never sit in the back of the bus. Nor should she. The irony of Hillary's life is that she's qualified for any post in government, starting with Attorney General. and now, because of the election, she's supposed to act like Mamie Eisenhower?"[60] "The idea that I would check my brain at the White House door, just doesn't make sense to me," Clinton told Maclean's writer Scott Steele, who noted that her decision to be her husband's politically active assistant began the media's "demonization" of her.[61] It appears that the magazines are willing at least initially to present reports on the new first lady in a positive light. Overall the tone of the coverage was positive. Less than seven percent of the 145 articles were negative (n=10/145). The first ladies who adopted the Social Hostess communications style did not receive any negative coverage, and the Emerging Spokeswomen category only received one negative report. However, the first ladies included in these two categories received not more than 60 percent positive coverage. They did not actively communicate and got fewer reports than the other categories of first ladies and thus limited the positive effect their coverage might have had. The Political Surrogate first ladies, on the other hand, achieved a greater amount of positive coverage than any of the other categories. The coverage of the first ladies in this categories focused on the social aspects and then the personal. Two first ladies in this category received only positive coverage. Hillary Clinton who adopted a much more political style than her predecessors, received a little more negative coverage--six of the 50 articles were negative in tone. It must be noted, however, that nearly half of the articles about her were neutral--not complimentary or critical (n=23/50). Nixon was the only first lady to attract more neutral coverage than Clinton, and she got 75 percent (n=3/4). However, she got no positive coverage at all. The magazines, it appears, failed to provide neutral coverage of the political surrogate style, and only succeeded in providing neutral coverage of the other categories about 40 percent of the time. The positive nature of the coverage the magazines gave the first ladies in this study may stem from the recognition that Presidents are expected to come to the White House with wives who are supposed to be socially active in supporting causes, entertaining and setting fashion trends and only somewhat active in political decision making. Magazines recognize that the first lady as the nation's most prominent hostess makes good copy, and if she stays within the proscribed role, the magazines are apparently willing to make the coverage positive. If the first lady steers away from the proscribed role as Hillary Clinton has done, the magazines appear to make an effort to be neither complimentary nor critical. However, the first lady must expect a little more negative coverage if she takes a more political than social role. Conclusion This research shows that the magazine coverage about Hillary Clinton reflects her decision to be overtly political and to de-emphasize the social aspects of the first lady role. It also shows that when a first lady defines her role differently such as Clinton did, the magazines apparently are willing to cover her in a more neutral manner. If the first lady decides to retain the social role and to occasionally highlight political activity, the coverage may be quite positive as it was in the case of Johnson and Bush. This research also shows that the magazine articles about the other first ladies reflected the communications styles they adopted. The coverage does fall into predictable categories with one exception. Relationship information was not a significant element of the coverage for most of the first ladies. In the case of Patricia Nixon relationship information played a bigger role than personal and social information and political activity, but this was an exception. The social and personal category were the important elements of the coverage, and together they accounted for 58 percent of the total. The accent on social information shows that the magazines have adopted a standardized definition of first lady because even when a first lady said she intended to pursue other activities, the magazine coverage still focused on the social aspects. Clinton, with her overt political style, was the first first lady in 65 years to garner less coverage in the social category. Prior to her becoming first lady, no other first lady had gotten less than 22 percent and her immediate predecessors got as much as 40 per cent in the social category. Finally, a variety of magazines cover first ladies from election through the first 100 days of their husband's first terms, but the women's magazines do not seem to cover them extensively during this timeframe. The weekly news magazines provided the most coverage. Gutin's categories of the first ladies' communications styles were tested in this research and it was found that there is a difference in the magazine coverage of a first lady who adopts the social hostess style as opposed to one who adopts the political surrogate style or Hillary Clinton's style. This research is restricted by the timeframe and the number of first ladies included. More comprehensive research especially on how the magazines' coverage of first ladies is impacted by their communications style should be done. Notes [1] See Spy, February, 1993. [2] Meg Greenfield, "Mrs. President," Newsweek, June 20, 1977, 100. [3] Michael Wines, "First Lady Rises to De fense of Successor," New York Times, Dec. 2, 1992, B10. [4 ] Robin Abcarian, "Can't We Redefine the Perfect Political Wife?" Los Angel es Times, June 30, 1993, E1. [5] Carl Sferrazza Anthony, " First Ladylike, After All," Washington Post, Jan. 31. 1993, F1. [6] Ibid. [7] Cohen, Richard, "All the News That Meets Our Needs," Washington Post, Washington Magazine, Dec. 11, 1989, 11. [8] MaryLouise Oat es, "The Political Wife--an Enduring Breed," Los Angeles Times, June 24, 1993, B7. [9] Ibid. [10] Daniel C. Diller and Stephen L. Ro bertson, The Presidents, First Ladies, and Vice Presidents White House Biographies 1789-1989, (Washington, D. C. Congressional Quarter ly, 1989), 7. [11] Ibid., 8. [12] "The Lady of the White House," New York Times Magazine, March 10, 1929, V:1. [13] Gutin, 4,.56, 95. [14] See Beasley, Maurine, "The Press Conferences of Eleanor Roosevel t, " Paper delivered at the 66th annual meeting of the Asso ciation for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Portland, Oregon, August 6-9, 1983; "Eleanor Roosevelt: First Lady as Radi o Pioneer, "Paper delivered at the 68th annual meeting of t he Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communi cation, Memphis,Tennessee August 3-6, 1985; "Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady as Magazine Journalist," Paper delivered at the 67th annual meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Gainesville, Florida, August 5-8, 1984 ; "Bess Truman and the Press: Case Study of a First Lady as Political Communicator," in William F. Levantrosser, ed., Harry S. Truman: T he Man from Independence (New York: Greenwood Press, 1986) 207-216.; and "Mamie Eisenhower as First Lady: Media Covera ge of a Silent Partner," Paper delivered at the 67th annual meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communicat ion, Gainesville, Florida, August 5-8, 1984. [15] Gutin, Myra G., The Pres ident's Partner, (New York: Greenwood Press, 1989), 4. [16] Ibid., 41, 17 5. [17] Ibid., 7. [18] Ibid., 41. [19] Ibid., 72. [20] Ibid., 175-177. [21] Streitmatter, Rodger, "The Impact of Presidential Personality on New s Coverage in Major Newspapers," Journalism Quarterly, (Spr ing 1985): 66-73. [22] Ibid., 68. [23] Diller and Robertson, 7-8. [24] Betty Boyd Caroli, First Ladies, (New York, Oxford University Press), 1987, 307. Caroli notes that Jefferson and Van Buren were widowe d before becoming president, Jackson and Arthur's wives die d after they won the office, and Tyler, Harrison and Wilson had wives who died in the White House. [25] Ibid. [26] Ibid., 307-330. [27] Sergio Rizzo, "Presidential Wives: The Unacknowledged Legislators of the Race," Journal of American Culture, (Winter 1991): 23. [28] See Carl Sferrazza Anthony, "First Ladylike, After All," Washington P ost, Jan. 31, 1993, F6. [29] Florence Harding as quoted in Caroli, 164. [30] Mrs. Eisenhower, for example, said she was a career wom an--her career was Ike. See "Dateline: The Last Word on Fir st Ladies," U.S. News and World Report, March 30, 1992, p.17. Mrs. Reagan said her greatest ambition was to have a successful, happy m arriage. See "First Lady is a Former Debutante," People, No v. 17, 1980, 46. People also pointed out that Barbara Bush was "no stranger to personal sacrifice for her husband's career." See G. Gi lford Garry, "At Long Last Rainbow's End," Nov. 21, 1988, 5 6. [31] Marjorie Williams, "First Ladies, Why Political Wives Make Such Ba d Role Models," Washington Magazine, Washington Post, Nov. 1, 1992, 25. [32] Karen List, "Magazine Portrayals of Women's Role in the New Republic," Paper delivered at the 69th annual meeting o f the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Comm unication, Norman, Okla., August 3-6, 1986. [33] Terry Hynes, "Magazine Po rtrayal of Women, 1911-1930," Journalism Monographs, No. 72, May 1981. [34] Nancy Roberts, "Riveting for Victory: Women in Magazine A ds in World War II," Paper delivered at the 62th annual mee ting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Houston, Texas, August 5-8, 1979. [35] Beverly Loughlin, "The Women's Magaines Short-Story Heroine," Journalism Quarterly 60 (Autumn 1983):138-142. [36] Sandra Spieczny, "Dancing Backward: Women's Magazines and the Equal Rights Amendment," Paper de livered at the 70th annual meeting of the Association for Education in Jour nalism and Mass Communication, San Antonio, Texas, August 1 -4, 1987. [37] Sammye Johnson, and William G. Christ, "Women Through 'Time ': Who Gets Covered?" Paper delivered at the 70th annual me eting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, San Antonio, Texas, August 1-4, 1987. [38] Margaret And reasen and H. Leslie Stevens, "Employed Women's Assertiveness and Openness as Shown in Magazine Use," Journalism Quarterly 60 (Autumn 1983):449-457. [39] Prior to the 1960s a total of 19 articles were published about the f irst ladies between election and the first 100 days of offi ce, not enough articles for a comparison. [40] There was a statistical dif ference between the positive and neutral coverage of the De mocrat first ladies and the Republican first ladies (X2=19.84, DF=3, p>.01) . [41] See "Ups and Downs,"Time, May 2, 1945, p.50. [42] "Ike and Mamie : What They'll Be Like," U.S. News and World Report, Nov. 14, 1952, 54-55. [43] "The New First Lady, 'Politics Can Be Fun," Time, J an. 19, 1953, 17-20. [44] "Fit for the First Lady," Newsweek, Jan. 30, 1 961, p.60. [45] "An Abundance of Beauties: Gina and Rita and Ava and Mari lyn and Jackie." Life, Dec. 26, 1960, 54. [46] See "You D on't Have To Look Hard To See Another Jackie," Life, Jan. 20, 1961, 16; an d "Jackie: First Lady of the Land," Time, Jan. 20, 1961, 26 . [47] "Betty Ford Will Set a Different Style," U. S. News and World Repo rt, Aug. 19, 1974, 20. [48] See Nan Robertson, "Our New F irst Lady," Saturday Evening Post, Feb. 8, 1964, 20-25; "S tory of the Johnson Family Fortune," U. S. News and World Report, Nov. 16, 1963, 75; and "Three Other LBJ's," Newsweek, Dec. 9, 1963, 264, which notes that she made a fortune investing her inhe ritance. Also see, "Betty Ford, Role on the Election Circuit," U. S. News and World Report, Oct. 7, 1974, 31. [49] "Betty Ford's Ope ration," Newsweek, Oct. 7, 1974, 33. [50] See Bonnie Angelo, "Rosalynn: S o Many Goals," Time, Jan. 10, 1977, 12; Charlotte Curtis, " What Kind of First Lady Will She Be?" McCall's, Jan. 1977, 24; "Change Come s to the White House," U. S. News and World Report, March, 21, 1977, 31-33; and "Rosalynn on the Road," Time, Dec. 13, 1976, 16. [51] See, Change Comes to the White House," U. S. News and Wor ld Report, March, 21, 1977, 31-33; M. Demarest, "American P ie at Its Best," Time, Jan, 19, 1981, pp 78-79; Patricia Av ery, "At White House; Now Its the Nancy Touch," U. S. News and World Report ,, Jan. 26, 1981, 24-25; and "Elegant, Opulent, Right Mind ed," People, Jan. 19, 1981, 38-40. [52] Melinda Black, "Nancy: Searching For a Role," Newsweek, Feb. 2, 1987, 54. [53] Gloria Steinem, "Finally a 'Total Woman' in the White House," Ms., March 19, 1981, 13. [54] "Winnin g Style: Kitty Dukakis and Barbara Bush on First Lae," Ms., March 19, 1981, 13. [55] "Winning Style: Kitty Dukakis and Barbara Bush on First Lady Dr essing," Vogue, Nov. 1988, 444. [56] See Margaret Carlson , "Barbara Bush: Down to Earth First Lady," Reader's Digest, April 1989, 83-87; and Maree McDonald, "A Favorite Grandmother," Maclean 's, Jan. 23, 1989, 30. [57] See Caroli, xvi. [58] See Sally Quinn, "Lo ok It's SuperWoman," Newsweek, Feb. 15, 1993, 24-25;"First Friends," People, Nov. 16, 1992, 92-94; Matt Cooper, "Co-President Clinton, " U.S. News and World Report, Feb. 8, 1993, 30-32; Kenneth T. Walsh and Thomas Toch,"Now, The First Chief Advocate," U .S. News and World Report, Jan. 25, 1993, 46-47; Margaret Carlson, "The Dyn amic Duo," Time, Jan. 4, 1993, 38-41. [59] Kenneth T. Wal sh and Thomas Toch,"Now, The First Chief Advocate," U.S. News and World Report, Jan. 25, 1993, 46-47. [60] Mary Murphy, "Bill&Hillar y&Harry&Linda," TV Guide, Jan. 16-22, _See Spy, February, 1 993. [61] eg Greenfield, "Mrs. President," Newsweek, June 20, 1977, 100. _ Michael Wines,