There can be few public figures in America who stir up such raw emotions as Hillary Rodham Clinton. Reviled by some and admired by others, she has focused attention on the role of the president's wife in American politics.
There can be few public figures in America who stir up such raw emotions as Hillary Rodham Clinton. Reviled by some and admired by others, she has focused attention on the role of the president's wife in American politics.
But Mrs Clinton is not the first presidential spouse to challenge the traditional role of First Lady.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt - the wife of Franklin Delano Roosevelt - ploughed a strangely similar furrow back in the 1930s and 40s.
Like Hillary, Mrs Roosevelt took a keen interest in her husband's political affairs. She served as his liberal outrider, attracting the opprobrium of many of those on the right.
She was even asked - but declined - to stand in her own right as Senator from New York State after the war. But the similarities do not end there: Eleanor, too, bore the burden of her husband's adultery, committed before FDR came to office.
Hard act to follow
Subsequent First Ladies have since had to live in Eleanor's shadow.
Bess Truman and Mamie Eisenhower couldn't have been more different, but they found themselves compelled to take on a greater public role than they would perhaps have liked.
Then, with the advent of television coupled with the arrival of Jackie Kennedy, interest in First Ladies grew exponentially, with the president's wife assuming many of the attributes of a royal personage.
First Ladies have often been left out of the political equation but there is ample evidence to suggest their importance. The Roosevelt's was one of the most effective partnerships in American politics but not unique.
An important role
Lyndon Johnson relied on his wife Lady Bird - telling his advisors to 'ask Bird' - and Jimmy Carter proudly proclaimed that Rosalynn Carter was 'a partner in every sense of the word' (years before the Clintons offered Americans 'two for the price of one', Carter invited his wife to sit in on Cabinet meetings and sent her on a diplomatic mission to Latin America, prompting the press to ask 'Who Elected Her').
Jackie Kennedy proved that even the most reluctant First Lady has a role to play. She may have hated the grubby world of politics but Jack Kennedy was quick to make use of her popularity to win votes.
It has since become necessary for every presidential spouse to master the art of posing as the adoring wife: Pat Nixon had it to perfection and despite all their problems Hillary can still turn it on for Bill.
The downside
But there are pitfalls to look out for too: Betty Ford demonstrated the dangers of a First Lady who was not 'on message' with a television appearance which her husband claimed cost him up to 20 million votes.
The great difficulty is that the office of First Lady is not subject to popular mandate which is why Hillary Clinton antagonised so many when she tried to use it as a political platform.
Her decision to stand for election as junior Senator for New York State is surely - in part - an attempt to answer those critics but to do so, of course, she has to win.