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Hillary Rodham Clinton was no ordinary First Lady. In the 218-year history of American First Ladies she is an anomaly: the first co-presidency elected U.S. senator, and if destiny prevails, the 44th President of the U.S. However, this by no means suggests that her predecessors lacked ambition or achievement.

Edith Roosevelt, wife of the 26th President Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt (19011909), instituted the Office of the First Lady and its social secretariat, which survives to this day. The roots of social programs and the White House's benevolent "fundraising" are attributed to the dynamism of First Lady Dolly Madison, wife of the fourth President James Madison (18091817), "Father of the Constitution". There is arguably no more tangible and aesthetically endearing legacy than of Lady Bird Johnson and her "Highway Beautification Act" of 1965. Her long and rich life survived her husband LBJ (19631969) by some 34 years, ending peacefully earlier this month.

The White House residency of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt (niece of Teddy Roosevelt) is unprecedented, not only in its duration (12 years), but more so for her qualities of astute political commentary, authorship and international prominence. After the death of her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt (19331945), Eleanor was actively lobbied to stand for the U.S. Senate. This "empowerment" outside the great shadows cast by their presidential spouses would boldly manifest itself in the lives of two First Ladies, Eleanor Roosevelt and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Hillary Clinton, however, was determined to be a "first among equals".

There is intense if not inordinate scrutiny and critical dissemination following the rite of passage of Hillary Clinton. Her journey can be traced back to a tomboyish little girl who harbored complex, grandiose ideas far beyond childish daydreaming. Arriving at the White House in January 1993, the First Lady was a multilayered, character-flawed prevaricator, and cunningly ruthless a product of her marriage to the 42nd President Bill Clinton (19932001). After a rare audience with the Clintons in March 1993, Richard M. Nixon, another multilayered, treacherous individual, said that Hillary Clinton "inspires fear". Conversely, this may be viewed as the revenge of a narcissist: in 1974, Hillary Rodham was a young lawyer assisting counsel for the judiciary committee of the United States House of Representatives, which was then investigating the Watergate scandal.

In his authoritative book The Truth

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