When " Money " magazineasked executive salary expertsto come up with a average recompense for the first lady of the United States , one firm thought the good equivalent weight was COO ( chief operating officer ) of a global corporation . They estimated that a " first lady COO " put to work in Washington , D.C. should take home $ 287,000 a twelvemonth .
Instead , first ladiesfrom Martha Washington to Melania Trump have been pay exactly zero dollar , despite the fact that first lady - ing is a full - time task that requires the combine skills of an issue contriver , policy advisor , residential area relations manager , spokesperson , brand name ambassador and we can only assume professional therapist .
But there ’s a reason why you will never pick up a first lady rightfully grumble about adequate pay for equal work . Because theWhite Houseknows that paying the first dame would in effect make her a politician . And if there ’s one affair we ’ve read from decades of political research — and the wage increase of outsider campaigner like Donald Trump himself — it ’s that mass hate politicians .
First Ladies Are Likable
Lauren A. Wright is a lecturer in political science and public intimacy at Princeton University and the author of " On Behalf of the President : Presidential Spouses and White House Communications Strategy Today , " in which she reason that innovative first ladies are much more than behind - the - scene influencers . They are strategic and remarkably effective political operative .
allot to information quote in Wright ’s book ( and reissue here ) , first madam enjoy favorability ratings their husbands can only dream about . When George W. Bush and Barack Obama ’s Book of Job favorable reception numbers sank into the low 40s , for deterrent example , the favorability ratings of Laura Bush and Michelle Obama hum along in the high LX and 70s . The same is true forMelania Trump ’s approval ratings . And unlike their husbands , first Lady typically are n’t as harshly knock by the opposing party .
Because of their likeability , modernistic first ladies are increasingly called on to be the public - confront deputy for the president . set out in 2005 , Laura Bush made doubly as many public speeches as Vice President Dick Cheney , and three meter as many in 2007 and 2008 . Michelle Obama continued the trend , out - appear Vice President Joe Biden every twelvemonth her husband was in position .
When first ladies seem on daytime and tardy - night talk shows , or make the occasionalsitcom cameo , rating for those programme get a big bump . And when first lady sit down down for interview , the press usually pitch softball questions about life in the White House and that dress they wore to thestate dinner party , bolstering their mom - next - door relatability .
They’re Also Apolitical
While Wright absolutely think that first gentlewoman deserve to be paid for the of import part they play in White House communications , she does n’t believe it will ever happen . That ’s because the very informant of a first lady ’s alone political big businessman , says Wright , is her public perception as an unpolitical " voluntary . "
" The White House bet so much on their recreational and unofficial position , " Wright say . " There ’s an advantage to that , to be able-bodied to leverage this someone who seems like they ’re unpolitical , not vested in political outcomes . They do n’t have a professional interest in what ’s happen , which make them more believable and real - seeming to the public . "
While the folks at abode exhaust up this figure of the first lady as a supportive married person and political naïf engage in public reason out of the goodness of her own heart , it could n’t be farther from the truth . When first lady take a platform — like Nancy Reagan ’s " Just Say No " campaign or Michelle Obama ’s " permit ’s Move " initiative — the decision is for the most part a political one and the programs are implemented by a paid and professional White House staff .
While the billet of the first dame is not mentioned in theConstitution , her East Wing staff has been fully fund by Congress since 1978 , starting with Rosalynn Carter . Wright says that modern first ladies are supported by pay staff typically numbering between 15 and 25 people with a budget of roughly $ 2 million .
According to a 2017 annual report to Congress , Melania Trump ’s chief of staff , Lindsay Reynolds , is give $ 179,700 a year . Like anterior boss of staff for the Office of the First Lady , Reynolds is also an help to the president , which mean that she attends daily strategy meetings with the respite of the White House senior staff . This ascertain that the East and West Wings are always on the same political varlet .
" I ca n’t emphasize enough how ego - mindful the posture and the federal agency is and how professionalize it has become , " Wright say . " In the Obama administration , we saw a lot of people derive from individual sphere PR and non - profit military position who specialized in the case of initiative she was interested in launch . "
It ’s not an accident that the issues and initiatives prefer by first ladies are often a " diffused , " more family - oriented version of their husband ’s policy priorities :
On May 7 , Melania Trump unveiled her Be Best campaign , an drive to draw tending to matter facing child , namely their forcible health and well - being , the psychological personal effects of social sensitive bullying , and the opioid crisis . In this case , it ’s not as clear how the first lady ’s platform aligns with her hubby ’s , and some critics have point out the irony of the wife of@realDonaldTrumpcalling for parents to learn children to " choose their words wisely and utter with respect and compassion " on societal media .
