Real Talk: Chapter Two of Dr. Watson's The Presidents' Wives

Tonight, this episode of Real Talk (First Ladies edition) starts off with the second chapter of Dr. Robert Watson, author of The Presidents' Wives: The Office of the First Lady in US Politics (2014). We put more of the information we want to convey about this topic in my PowerPoint presentation and the presentation notes. As a result, our chapter notes is short this week.

The first part of the chapter is based on two of Watson’s scholarly articles, on several comparative works that have chapters on each first lady, and on new scholarship that has been published since 2000. Sections on the partner concept, pp. 31-32, will be especially covered since these relate to our conceptual framework. Special attention to the paradoxes, conflicting expectations, and Catch-22 situations that first ladies encounter, will also be covered. Benze has already introduced you to the problem of paradoxes, and Dr. Watson refers to Benze’s article in chapter two. Paradoxes are related to one of our key concepts for the semester, “role transgression,” because the paradoxes create limits, however vague these may be, that first ladies may transgress. A firestorm of criticism of a first lady – and Watson has a good section on criticism in this chapter – is a signal that role transgression has happened. Specific examples of types of paradoxes and of first ladies who got caught up in them may be covered in this broadcast.

Tune in as Jacob delves into this portion of this series of Real Talk in-depth to give the conversation about this important topic more substance. We apologize for schedule delays because of life's priorities (e.g., education and work). Other topics are to be announced.