American Woman

April 1, 2023

A White House correspondent for the New York Times, Rogers tracks the life and accomplishments of Jill Biden to reveal how much the role of First Lady has changed--and considers where it might head in the future. Among other things, Biden is the only First Lady in history to work outside of the White House. Prepub Alert.

Copyright 2023 Library Journal

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from December 1, 2023
In 1993, the differences between the outgoing president, patrician George H. W. Bush, and the newly elected, folksy Bill Clinton could not have been more telling. The contrast between their wives was equally stark. While Barbara Bush appeared as an irascible matron, Hillary Clinton presented the epitome of feminist ambition. With her assignment to shepherd sweeping new health care legislation, Clinton's tenure as First Lady morphed from a traditional ceremonial post to something of significance. By its very nature, the office's unstructured portfolio exposes its occupants to open interpretation by themselves and others. If Jill Biden is famously hands-on in protecting and advising husband Joe, Melania Trump was infamously hands-off, to the point of inscrutability. For other FLOTUSes, their mandate was a manifestation of their core identities. Former librarian Laura Bush championed literacy. For Michelle Obama, with her controversially toned arms, the cause was health and nutrition. As the New York Times' White House correspondent, Rogers rigorously examines the notion of legacy and the first lady in the modern era. These women, she maintains, are "the most known (and often least understood) women in America." Rogers' unerring journalistic evaluation of the person behind the post should help change all that.

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December 15, 2023
A historical study of the soft power of modern First Ladies. As a White House correspondent for the New York Times who's covered two presidential administrations, Rogers has reported recently on the Hunter Biden custody case involving his unacknowledged daughter, Navy. The author uses the life and career of Jill Biden as a springboard to discuss the evolving nature of the modern First Lady role, starting with Hillary Clinton. As Rogers writes, the word ambition is not often associated with First Ladies. Even though she was often pilloried for her ambition, Clinton was the first lawyer in the role, and she was also a highly competent policymaker charged with putting together a national health care bill in the first 100 days of her husband's presidency. "No First Lady had ever tried to push the boundaries of her role so far and so fast," writes Rogers about the resulting backlash. In contrast, Laura Bush, the soft-spoken librarian and teacher, did not get involved in the administration policies of her husband. "She was not there to push George toward policy or to mediate some of the more conservative voices in his ear," writes the author. "She was there to remind him where he came from." Outspoken Michelle Obama left her high-paying job to help her husband's campaign, while Jill Biden has continued to work at a community college. Melania Trump was the most enigmatic of the modern First Ladies, defined largely by her absence and Sphinx-like demeanor and sometimes odd behavior and comments. All of Rogers' subjects faced controversies and "struggle[d] with feeling understood." The author's detailed coverage of the Bidens, from their earliest days, reveals a symbiotic partnership, and Jill emerges as a fiercely protective mother and wife, not easily forgiving of disloyalty. A well-written, extensively researched account of a challenging role in the public eye.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2024

New York Times White House correspondent Rogers looks at the role of U.S. First Ladies. She notes that the position is unpaid, and the duties are unspecified; therefore, the incumbent has the opportunity to make the job her own. The book's introduction examines First Ladies before the Clinton administration and shows how the role has evolved since. Rogers applies specific characteristics--ambition, tradition, expectations, and even reluctance--to Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, Michelle Obama, and Melania Trump respectively and details how each woman shaped the office during her tenure. The core of the book examines Jill Biden's service in-depth. Rogers says that Biden embodies traditional traits, such as support for her family and her husband's career, but she also continues to teach English, when her predecessors were not allowed to have other jobs. She looks at Biden as an asset to her husband's campaign, as well as her role as the source of familial stability. She gives a brief comparison to men political spouses, namely Doug Emhoff, the current Second Gentleman. VERDICT A thoughtful and recommended exploration of the often-contradictory office of U.S. First Lady. General readers interested in learning more about Jill Biden will especially enjoy this title.--Rebekah Kati

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 12, 2024
Rogers, a White House correspondent for the New York Times, debuts with a sympathetic survey of recent first ladies. Profiling presidents’ wives since the 1990s—Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, Michelle Obama, Melania Trump, and Jill Biden—Rogers highlights ways in which each pushed back against the role’s strictures and expectations. The account begins with Clinton, who learned “the hard way” that strides made by her more outspoken predecessors, including Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush, did not mean she wouldn’t face public backlash for trying to be politically engaged with her husband’s administration. Clinton’s struggle, according to Rogers, “permanently and fundamentally shifted how Americans view the role,” allowing later first ladies more room to maneuver: Laura Bush was more involved in activism than she probably would have been without Clinton’s precedent (mainly on behalf of Afghan women and girls); politics-hating Obama pursued her own initiatives (mostly around fitness and nutrition) while staying away from limelight when possible; “absentee” Trump opted out almost entirely (her anti-bullying “Be Best” campaign being a notable exception); and Biden has kept her job as a teacher while taking on a vigorous support role in her husband’s administration. Rogers’s easily digestible analysis—polite, respectful, and light on dirt or gossip—is focused on outlining the first ladies’ own perceptions and reminiscences. Readers will be rewarded by this feminist personal history of celebrity and power.