George and Barbara/ Bill and Hillary

A Guide to Abbreviations in Notes:

Sources Consulted

Collections Cited

Oral Histories Cited

George and Barabara Bush

In public, the Bushes endorsed the separate spheres illustrated by this Oval Office scene, where he tended the office, she minded the family, and Millie the dog stood watch. This traditional arrangement contributed to Barbara's great popularity, even though such distinctions were impossible to maintain in the modern White House. Barbara, too, was an active co-president, but her grandmotherly demeanor made her seem benign.

Bill and Hillary Clinton

The Clintons inherited this contradictory legacy. They promised a co-presidency, epitomized by Hillary Clinton's role in their health insurance reform plan, but often felt public pressure to act traditional.Fear of powerful women, combined with an atavistic anxiety about unelected presidential advisers, helped destroy the Clintons' co-presidency and their reform scheme. Although Mrs. Clinton remained a key, behind-the-scenes player, she made herself over into a more traditional First Lady and Bill publicly distanced himself from his wife to revive his presidency. Only when Hillary stood by her man throughout the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal did she achieve the broad popularity she had long craved. Above, Mrs. Clinton is at her usual post -- loyally by the President's side -- in January 1998 as Clinton wags his finger and declares he did not have sex with "that woman." (Reuters/Win McNamee/Archive Photos)