Profile
Subscribe
Thanks to Andrew Romano for reminding us some of the embarrasing stories about the mothers of few American presidents in the past
Eliza Garfield demanded to arrive at dinners on the president’s arm, sit at his right hand and stay in the choicest accommodations, reminding him constantly that her death was nigh and that he must therefore devote himself to prayer for her.
Sara Roosevelt complained about the African-American servants and the First Lady’s working class and social reformer friends, even going so far as to mimic Eleanor’s voice; she barred FDR’s secretary from her house in Hyde Park, New York; she witheringly referred to Roosevelt ally Al Smith as "that man" (within earshot) and various cabinet officials as "those women"; and, finally, she pushed for an appointment as official White House hostess. FDR refused.
When Martha Ellen Truman arrived in Washington, D.C. for her first White House visit, she snapped at the swarm of reporters and photographers. "If I’d known there was going to be all this fuss," she said, "I wouldn’t have come." An unrepentant Confederate, she refused to sleep in the Lincoln Bedroom and eagerly debated her son Harry when she disagreed with a decision.
The most entertaining–or distracting–First Mother was undoubtedly the poker-playing "Miss Lillian" Carter, who served as her son’s official representative overseas and campaigned for other Democratic candidates. Her blunt wit was often refreshing, as when she quipped that she stayed in the White House’s Queen’s Room because that’s "where I belong." But it could also cause controversy. When Morocco’s Prince Hassan offered her perfume, Carter replied, "You damn foreigners are all alike!" And her headline-making analysis of the Iranian hostage crisis–"If I had a million dollars, I would hire some to shoot the Ayatollah!"–didn’t exactly assist her son’s diplomatic efforts.
Even with her experience as First Lady, current First Mother Barbara Bush has proven to be something of a political liability for her son. "Why should we hear about body bags and deaths?," she said two days before the invasion of Iraq. "Oh, I mean, it’s not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?" Critics said her statement was callous–a characterization seemingly reinforced by her claim, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, that the victims "were underprivileged anyway" and "this is working very well for them."
Right now with all the candidates talking about their mothers the reminder of the past is a nice distraction.
