GOP Debate Trivializes First Ladies

OP-EDS & REVIEWS By Gil Troy, HNN, 1-28-12 Toward the end of Thursday night’s debate in Florida, which viewers were told repeatedly would be high stakes and very serious, CNN’s moderator Wolf Blitzer asked the candidates to assess their wives as potential First Ladies. Blitzer’s question was valid and relevant.  For decades now, Americans have [...]

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Betty Ford’s Candor Hurt Gerald Ford’s Presidency – but Enhanced his Historical Reputation

OP-EDS & REVIEWS By Gil Troy, 7-10-11 Betty Ford, who died on Friday at the age of 93, in the 1970s was the most controversial First Lady since Eleanor Roosevelt.  During Gerald Ford’s brief presidency, from August 1974 through January, 1977, his wife Betty retrofitted the odd role she inherited to suit the modern media [...]

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Gil Troy “G20: America’s golden couple”

Gil Troy “G20: America’s golden couple Sarah Wildman: If Michelle Obama is the new Jackie Kennedy, will she upstage her husband on their European trip?”: To be fair to the Obamas, there’s another reason the couple should shun the Kennedy comparison – one that historian Gil Troy shared in an email. When Kennedy famously declared [...]

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Gil Troy “Barack and Michelle: A more perfect union?

OP-EDS & REVIEWS Gil Troy “Barack and Michelle: A more perfect union? First Couple-to-be could be relationship role models for nation, experts say” Source: MSNBC, 11-29-08 The Obamas have the best of both worlds, said Gil Troy, professor of history at McGill University and author of “Mr. and Mrs. President: From the Trumans to the [...]

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Gil Troy on “Michelle the belle; Wife of U.S. president-elect has a wardrobe that is colourful and accessible”

Trish Crawford, Toronto Star, November 21, 2008, LIFE; Pg. L01 Every time Michelle Obama wears one of her unusual dress selections on television, the item flies off the shelves. The famous $148 sundress she wore on The View and the J.Crew yellow suit she wore on Letterman were huge hits with shoppers, while the red [...]

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Gil Troy on Michelle Obama as First Lady

First among first ladies Devoted, smart and forcefully clear about her role, Michelle Obama could be the most successful first lady in decades Sarah Wildman, guardian.co.uk, Friday November 7 2008 As Washington preps for a transition team, there is one person of whom there is no doubt. Throughout the raucous American election season, Michelle Obama [...]

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