Running Mates: The Making of a First Lady

Offers an incisive look at the new roles played by the wives of political candidates, revealing how these functions have evolved to a position of great influence over the last decade

Journalist Grimes's slate is made up of the spouses of the presidential hopefuls of 1988. The 13 range from stoically faithful Lee Hart to careerists Tipper Gore and Elizabeth Dole. After the primaries, the field narrows to old-fashioned Barbara Bush and attractive, tormented Kitty Dukakis, perhaps the campaign's most conspicuous casualty and certainly the woman most fully realized in the book. Skillfully tracking the two to the present, Grimes allows us to watch as Kitty Dukakis blooms in the limelight and then wilts in its glare, while Barbara Bush, confident in her traditional role, strides into the White House. The author respectfully analyzes all these wives' styles as each tests her mettle in a national crucible. Grimes comes to the not unexpected conclusion that the country isn't yet ready for a First Lady who is more than a "podium prop"--and that each woman considered here loses her individuality as she is packaged for public consumption. Such running mates still serve, argues Grimes, as "unsalaried surrogates" for their husbands, and are the real losers in the political arena. BOMC alternate; author tour.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Journalist/documentary filmmaker Grimes provides a well-written, thoughtful analysis of the role played by the wives of presidential candidates during the 1988 campaign. These women--and wives of politicians generally, says Grimes--have difficulty retaining independent status. Elizabeth Dole and Marilyn Quayle, for example, are both professionals, yet at times they have had to sacrifice their careers to campaign for their husbands. Grimes suggests that Barbara Bush may be the last political spouse of her kind. She predicts that, although Americans may not be ready for the change, future first ladies will most likely continue their careers. Recommended for all political science and women's studies collections.
- Eleanor A. Schwab, South Dakota State Univ., Brookings
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.