First Lady Quotes

Almost all first ladies have had tremendous power on personnel issues, whether the public realized it or not, whether it was Barbara Bush or Nancy Reagan or whoever. ~ Dee Dee Myers

I think the major role of the First Lady is to take care of the President so that he can best serve the people. And not to fail her family, her husband, and children. ~ Jackie Kennedy

It's rare for a first lady to be running for president. ~ Gwen Ifill

First Lady Michelle Obama appears on 'Sesame Street' to celebrate the show's 40th anniversary. It's going to be a big episode. Yes, sources say the episode gets a little tense when Ernie and Bert ask the first lady why her husband's dragging his feet on gay marriage. ~ Conan O'Brien

I am a big believer that you have to nourish any relationship. I am still very much a part of my friends' lives and they are very much a part of my life. A First Lady who does not have this source of strength and comfort can lose perspective and become isolated. ~ Nancy Reagan

I am a woman above everything else. ~ Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

We have to design policies that have meaningful impacts on the quality of life of women and families. And that's something that I know I can speak passionately about because whether I'm in the White House as First Lady, as long as I have kids and I'm trying to have a life, I'm gonna be trying to make this balance work. ~ Michelle Obama

I wish I could say that Carla Bruni's Guess campaign at age 16 led to her current role as First Lady of France, but that might be a stretch. ~ Paul Marciano

In designing for the first lady, I tried to sort of be in her shoes, but I didn't really look at her as an important political figure. I looked at her as a woman who would like to wear a beautiful dress to an important gala. ~ Jason Wu

I'll be a wife and mother first, then First Lady. ~ Jackie Kennedy

My wife, well she has extensive experience, because before becoming the first lady, she was the wife of the CEO of a large conglomerate. So I have very high hopes that she will carry out her job successfully as first lady of the Republic of Korea. ~ Lee Myung-bak

Phyllis Diller came through a mine field of male comedians when she arrived on the comedy scene and she defused them all. She won her place in the Hall of Comedy as the First Lady. I will miss her. ~ Tim Conway

Being in the audience of the State of the Union is not a passive experience. Every few minutes when the president completed a thought, everyone stood up to clap. Stand up. Sit down. Stand up. Sit down. The sound of the springs in the aged chairs of the House Chamber became a secondary soundtrack. I was distracted by my discomfort and began to dread the end of his sentences. But then I noticed that not every person stood up every single time. I realized they only stood up when he said something their side agreed with. I decided that no matter what he said next, I was going to stay seated. I was really hurting. I was going to sit one round out. Well, as soon as I'd made my mind up that I was staying put, President Obama made a statement and everyone stood up. Everyone. Not half of the room. Every person in the room except me. It happened far too fast for me to correct my mistake. What did he say? "We need equal pay for women." And I just sat there like a jerk. If the president himself had looked up and to the left, he'd have seen me just sitting there, seemingly opposed to equal pay for women! Good grief! I was not seated next to the first lady, thankfully. I made sure to stand up the rest of the time. ~ Noah Galloway

When President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was comforted by a piece of poetry given to her by a friend: They are not dead who live in lives they leave behind: In those whom they have blessed they live a life again.2 ~ Mark Batterson

IN THE EARLY MORNING of December 30, 1965, a few hundred Filipinos milled around the suburban residence of President-elect Ferdinand E. Marcos. They came in all manner of transport, from distant and nearby provinces, attracted by publicity on the celebrated beauty of the First Lady-to-be, Imelda Romualdez Marcos. ~ Carmen Navarro Pedrosa

Michelle has had to grapple with Hilary Clinton's legacy as First Lady ... Michelle Obama never wants to be seen as the kind of First Lady who is overly involved in the West Wing. ~ Jodi Kantor

I turned to books for comfort. (Former First Lady, Laura Bush) ~ Laura Bush

My job is to make certain that I've done what I was asked and my department has done what we were asked to do by the president and the first lady and the State Department. I believe that we accomplished that. ~ Desiree Rogers

The best thing about my family is my wife. She is a great first lady. I know that sounds not very objective, but that's how I feel. And she's also patient. Putting up with me requires a lot of patience. ~ George W. Bush

To amplify our efforts, USDA is joining with First Lady Michelle Obama in aggressively promoting the 'Let's Move' campaign, which will combat the epidemic of childhood obesity through a comprehensive approach that builds on effective strategies, and mobilizes public and private sector resources. ~ Tom Vilsack

The First Lady is an unpaid public servant elected by one person - her husband. ~ Lady Bird Johnson

Any lady who is first lady likes being first lady. I don't care what they say, they like it. ~ Richard M. Nixon

When Mrs. Bush was First Lady, she went all over the Mideast talking about breast cancer awareness and the need for early screening. She did this in places where the cultures prohibit such discussion or even detection efforts. ~ Greta Van Susteren

I am the princess of G.O.O.D. Music, the first lady of G.O.O.D. Music, the baby of G.O.O.D. Music. I'm kinda the spoiled brat right now. I could get whatever I want. ~ Teyana Taylor

I had thought I would hate being First Lady ... I loved it. ~ Betty Ford

Frames 221 to 223: The motorcade is now in front of the camera lens, moving ever so slowly.
The President and First Lady are waving to the crowd. The President almost stands up to send kisses to a few ladies in the front rows, but the First Lady holds him by the arm.
The President sits back comfortably in his Lincoln. He is enjoying himself terribly. ~ Francis Barel

As social secretary, I was responsible for putting together all the events that the President and the First Lady host. ~ Desiree Rogers

It's interesting to me that really one of the first things she [Eleanor Roosevelt]did as First Lady was to collect her father's letters and publish a book called The Letters of My Father, essentially, hunting big game, The Letters of Elliott Roosevelt. And it really was an act of redemption, really one of her first acts of redemption as she entered the White House. She was going to redeem her father's honor. And publishing his letters, reconnecting with her childhood really fortified her to go on into the difficult White House years. ~ Blanche Wiesen Cook

The measure of any society is how it treats its women and girls. ~ First Lady Michelle Obama

You always hear about fashion's success stories. How a starlet lost an earring one night and by the next morning, the entire country was wearing one earring. Or how sweaters made a comeback in a drugstore, or a First Lady influenced how we dressed during her reign. But what about the losers? The fashions that came and went out the same day? The hopes and dreams of designers that were shattered by the sound of fifty million women ... laughing themselves to death. ~ Erma Bombeck

Midway through my treatments, I was at the White House to do an interview with President Bush's press secretary, Tony Snow. He had recently revealed he was facing cancer for a second time. While there I was told that the First Lady, Laura Bush, wanted to see me in the private residence for tea. Mrs. Bush has a family history of breast cancer. She personally invited me to accompany her on a portion of an international breast cancer initiative with the Susan G. Komen Foundation, and I couldn't pass up this opportunity. My doctors cleared me to travel - although getting my mom's blessing was far more difficult. Remember, I was in the middle of chemo treatments. I spent time with Mrs. Bush in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, in the UAE and in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. I met some incredible women on the trip. ~ Robin Roberts

It's a lot of fun to just say to people, proudly, 'I get to play the First Lady.' It's just fun to say. ~ Bellamy Young

The first lady must be a leader. She must not be a follower. ~ Oleg Cassini

For most of my life, I would have automatically said that I would opt for conscientious objector status, and in general, I still would. But the spirit of the question is would I ever, and there are instances where I might. If immediate intervention would have circumvented the genocide in Rwanda or stopped the Janjaweed in Darfur, would I choose pacifism? Of course not. Scott Simon, the reporter for National Public Radio and a committed lifelong Quaker, has written that it took looking into mass graves in former Yugoslavia to convince him that force is sometimes the only option to deter our species' murderous impulses.

While we're on the subject of the horrors of war, and humanity's most poisonous and least charitable attributes, let me not forget to mention Barbara Bush (that would be former First Lady and presidential mother as opposed to W's liquor-swilling, Girl Gone Wild, human ashtray of a daughter. I'm sorry, that's not fair. I've no idea if she smokes.) When the administration censored images of the flag-draped coffins of the young men and women being killed in Iraq - purportedly to respect "the privacy of the families" and not to minimize and cover up the true nature and consequences of the war - the family matriarch expressed her support for what was ultimately her son's decision by saying on Good Morning America on March 18, 2003, "Why should we hear about body bags and deaths? I mean it's not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something ~ David Rakoff

The memory of that scene for me is like a frame of film forever frozen at that moment: the red carpet, the green lawn, the white house, the leaden sky. The new president and his first lady. ~ Richard M. Nixon

Our guest tonight is Michelle Obama, first lady of the United States. She's here to announce her run for president. ~ David Letterman

We have first lady Michelle Obama on the show tonight. As you'd expect, security's been pretty tight. On my way in I got five pat-downs, and that was just from Joe Biden. ~ Jimmy Fallon

You can really call Irene Dunne 'The First Lady of Hollywood', because she's the first real lady Hollywood has ever seen. ~ Leo McCarey

I really had no great love for shoes. I was a working First Lady; I was always in canvas shoes. I did nurture the shoes industry of the Philippines, and so every time there was a shoe fair, I would receive a pair of shoes as a token of gratitude. ~ Imelda Marcos

During the first campaign, one of my jobs as my husband's spouse was to travel around the country and really listen to women. There were voices that were new to me: the voices of military spouses, many of them women, and veterans ... I was overwhelmed by their challenges, and the notion that we as a country don't even know that these women exist, because we live in a country where one percent of the population protects the rights and freedoms of the other 99 percent of us. I thought that if I had the opportunity to serve as First Lady, I was going to use this platform to be their voice. ~ Michelle Obama

First lady has been a thankless position. Eleanor Roosevelt was brilliant and had strong views. She was criticized for her politics and for her appearance. Mrs. Roosevelt was attacked for being too involved in politics. Bess Truman was criticized for being uninvolved in politics. ~ Karen DeCrow

First ladies are doing a lot. But the job remains undefined, frequently misunderstood, and subject to political attacks far nastier in some ways than those any President has ever faced. ~ Margaret Truman Daniel

I've been very lucky to put women that I sincerely admire on the cover of 'Vogue:' the then First Lady and now Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and, more recently, First Lady Michelle Obama. Those were benchmarks for the magazine, and certainly covers that I've been very, very proud of. ~ Anna Wintour

Throughout Ronnie's presidency, there was an ongoing public discussion as to how much influence the first lady should have on the president. It's hardly a new problem. As long as mankind has lived in groups, there's always been a question of how to handle the boss's wife. ~ Nancy Reagan

People vote for whom they believe will be the best president and representative for our country. The First Lady is not on the ballot. ~ Venita Ellick

I think being an effective First Lady is first of all being the partner that your husband needs. ~ Elizabeth Edwards

Jackie Kennedy was the most appropriately dressed first lady we've ever had. You can see how lasting Jackie's style is. ~ Lynda Resnick

Actions, such as the designation of National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, spring from First Lady Michelle Obama's leadership of efforts to end childhood obesity within this generation. ~ Richard Carmona

The first lady in my life, but now you're gone,
I learned through the years to keep carrying on.
Your picture brings me tears and memories,
The way things could be ... and they should be, but they're not. ~ Afrika Baby Bam

Being first lady is the hardest unpaid job in the world. ~ Pat Nixon

While it was true that the president of the United States was the world's ultimate juggler of tasks, it was also a fact that the First Lady, traditionally, was no slouch in that department either. ~ David Baldacci

With Barack Obama as president and the super-happening Michelle Obama as First Lady, you would think a new tone, a new tune, a kicky new jazzitude, would have entered Washington discourse, but it remains a landlocked island unto itself, held captive by its tribal fevers. ~ James Wolcott

Feminism is the ability to choose what you want to do. ~ Nancy Reagan

First Lady Michelle Obama has posted an exercise video of her beating up a punching bag. But don't worry, Vice President Biden is going to be OK. ~ Conan O'Brien

We should all do something to right the wrongs that we see and not just complain about them. ~ Jackie Kennedy

Upon hearing the results of her breast examination, the First Lady said - "I guess it's my turn." ~ Nancy Reagan

When Hillary Clinton was in the Clinton White House as first lady, the left - the right accused her of being wide eyed radical lesbian feminist and in some issues, like welfare reform, she pushed back against the new . ~ David Corn

The search for human freedom can never be complete without freedom for women. ~ Betty Ford

I wasn't born a first lady or a senator. I wasn't born a Democrat. I wasn't born a lawyer or an advocate for women's rights and human rights. I wasn't born a wife or a mother. ~ Hillary Clinton

You [future first ladies] will feel that you are no longer clothing yourself, you are dressing a public monument. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

If I am honored to serve as first lady, I will use that wonderful privilege to try to help people in our country who need it the most. One of the many causes dear to my heart is helping children and women. ~ Melania Trump

Anna Wintour is the most powerful woman in the global fashion industry, the first lady of fashion. She's a politician; I'm a stylist. They are two very different jobs. ~ Carine Roitfeld

Manners matter as this author memorably illustrates. Eleanor Roosevelt stubbornly kept her clout behind Adlai Stevenson was an almost visceral resistance to John F. Kennedy's charms as a newcomer to power. The sudden death of Eleanor's granddaughter shortly before JFK was to meet with her suggested that rapprochement was impossible. Kennedy's genuine gentle manners toward the grieving former first lady won her over and may have shifted the balance in an extremely close election. ~ David Pietrusza

It's easier to make fun of a first lady than for a first lady to have fun. The scrutiny is ferocious. ~ Suzanne Fields

She has followed me into every single room in this palace, and then she followed Anne Neville when she was her lady-in-waiting, too. She walked behind Anne at her coronation, carrying the train. Perhaps Lady Margaret is feeling that it's her turn to be the first lady now, and she wants someone trailing along behind her. ~ Philippa Gregory

I am just here to support the President of the United States. President of the United States is our boss, but he is also ... you know, the President and the First Lady are kinda like the Mom and the Dad of the country. And when your Dad says something you listen, and when you don't it will usually bite you on the ass later on. So, I'm here to support the President. ~ Chris Rock

Reading will give you lasting pleasure. ~ First Lady Laura Bush

My children were born into this. They will always be the grandchildren of the President and First Lady of the United States. ~ Columba Bush

Few would disagree that Herbert Mullin, who thought he was saving California from the great earthquake by killing people, and Ed Gein, who was making chairs out of human skin, were entirely insane when they committed their acts. The question becomes more difficult with somebody like law student Ted Bundy, who killed twenty women while at the same time working as a suicide prevention counselor, or John Wayne Gacy, who escorted the first lady and then went home to sleep of thirty-three trussed-up corpses under his house. On one hand their crimes seem "insane," yet on the other hand, Bundy and Gacy knew exactly what they were doing. How insane were they? ~ Peter Vronsky

Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady? ~ Robert De Niro

Anecdote: The extent of Michael Jackson's fame at its height, and his eagerness to exploit it is shown by an incident in 1984 when invited to a White House reception hosted by then President and First Lady Ronald and Nancy Reagan. Jackson had been assured that the only people there, besides the presidential couple, would be a few staff members' children. Aghast to find around 75 adults and no children, Jackson locked himself in an upstairs bathroom, refusing to emerge until assured that all non-essential adults had been replaced by a number of children. ~ Michael Jackson

It doesn't look like Michelle Obama follows her own nutritionary dietary advice. And then we hear that she's out eating ribs at 1500 calories a serving with 141 grams of fat ... No, I'm trying to say that our first lady does not project the image of women that you might see on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue or of a woman Alex Rodriguez might date every six months or what have you. ~ Rush Limbaugh

Avoiding the appearance of queenly behavior is politically wise. But it does American culture no favors if a first lady tries so hard to be average that she winds up looking common, ~ Robin Givhan

I have known Hillary Clinton for 25 years. I remember her, as you do, as a great first lady who broke precedent in terms of the role that a first lady was supposed to play as she helped lead the fight for universal health care. ~ Bernie Sanders

If a woman chooses to support her husband and become First Lady, I believe she must do so with the understanding that the public expects the full-meal deal. ~ Venita Ellick

Although the circumstances of our lives may seem very disengaged, with me standing here as the First Lady of the United States of America and you just getting through school, I want you to know we have very much in common. For nothing in my life ever would have predicted that I would be standing here as the first African-American First Lady. ~ Michelle Obama

According to the National Gardening Association, food gardening is now a $3.5 billion industry. In 2013, 37 million home gardens were growing food, an increase of four million since 2008. Even First Lady Michelle Obama joined the trend, planting a "kitchen garden" on the White House (back) lawn. Gardeners' most popular motivations: better-tasting food and lower grocery bills. ~ Anonymous

So she [Eleanor Roosevelt] is an amazing First Lady. What other First Lady in U.S. history has ever written a book to criticize her husband's policies? ~ Blanche Wiesen Cook

While he was in Utah, Obama discussed immigration reform with leaders of the Mormon Church. Obama introduced the first lady. Then the church's president introduced HIS first lady. And his second lady. And his third, fourth, and fifth ladies. ~ Jimmy Fallon

I'd love to have First Lady Michelle Obama over and ask, 'How do you make your marriage work?' I think the president is sexy as all get-out, but he has got to get on her nerves some kind of way. He's this wonderful, powerful man, but she sees him leaving his socks on the floor. ~ Sherri Shepherd

The typical presidential staff resents the vice-president even more than they do the first lady. ~ Dick Morris

Way back in 1979, as a guest on a local TV show in Arkansas, then Hillary Rodham was quizzed about not taking her husband's last name when they got married and keeping her job as a lawyer while being first lady of the state. ~ Tamara Keith

Grief and resilience live together. I learned this not just once as First Lady but many times over. ~ Michelle Obama

The President and first lady did hold a private party at the White House over the weekend, but given the private nature of that event, I don't have a lot of details to discuss from here. ~ Josh Earnest

Children are apt to live up to what you believe of them. ~ Lady Bird Johnson

I see the first lady as another means to keep a president from becoming isolated. ~ Nancy Reagan

Wellesley's president, Nannerl Overholser Keohane, approved a broad rule with a specific application: The senior thesis of every Wellesley alumna is available in the college archives for anyone to read - except for those written by either a 'president or first lady of the United States.' ~ Bill Dedman

Never dress down for the poor. They won't respect you for it. They want their First Lady to look like a million dollars. ~ Imelda Marcos

I am First Lady by accident. I was not elected by the people but here I am. ~ Imelda Marcos

The First Lady asked me how many people passed through the White House on tours. When I told her thousands did, she said they should sell something to the tourists and use the profits to help redecorate the White House. She decided to make a small book. It cost 42 cents and sold for a dollar. Over the years it has brought in $42 million. ~ Clark Clifford

People are always going to have opinions, and people have a right to their opinions. ~ Michelle Obama

«All the Amazon guys around Seattle were also aware of the trend. They all knew that, someday, European haute couture would sell online. The problem was that feat couldn't be done by anybody from Amazon. Because Amazon guys were hacker geeks and cheesy hicks. Amazon had been invented to sell sci-fi books. The least chic thing in the world.
The European couture biz would never go anywhere near a dorky sci-fi geek like Jeff Bezos. As for Jeff himself, Jeff would much rather conquer outer space with his private rocket than ever dress the First Lady of France.» ~ Bruce Sterling

When I see my first lady angel, if God ever sees fit to show me one, it'll be her wings and not her face that'll make my mouth fall open. ~ Kurt Vonnegut

Michelle Obama is going to be an amazing First Lady: She's intelligent, capable and motivated. She just embodies everything that an American woman should represent. ~ Eva Longoria

With deep emotion, genuine poise, and true dignity, Reverend Mrs. Ada Slaton Bonds became the first lady of the cloth in the Louisiana Presbytery. ~ Reverend Loyce S. Estes, Cumberland Presbyterian

She was returning home to be the wife of, mother of, First Lady of, but what did that really mean? ~ Stacy Hawkins Adams

There is an environment where someone is always looking for someone to make an error. They're always looking not for the good things, the wonderful things the president and first lady are doing, they're looking for an error or to criticize. And it's not conducive to good work. ~ Desiree Rogers

The First Lady has a lot of power. I hope Hillary Clinton realizes that. ~ Letitia Baldrige

I think [Whitewater]'s going to prevent the First Lady from running for Senate. ~ Ann Coulter

She really is a completely different First Lady. Eleanor Roosevelt was not going to suffer and withdraw in the White House. And I think he's a very different President. He does not want his wife to suffer and withdraw in the White House. And they really are partners. They're partners in a big house where there are two separate courts, and they both know they have two separate courts. But these are courts that are allied in purpose, united in vision. ~ Blanche Wiesen Cook