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From 'Jackie' To Melania: First Ladies Of The United States

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The new "Jackie" movie is out. Melania Trump will soon replace Michelle Obama as FLOTUS. What it means to be First Lady of the United States, then and now.

This image released by Fox Searchlight shows Natalie Portman as Jackie Kennedy in the film, "Jackie." (William Gray/Fox Searchlight via AP)
This image released by Fox Searchlight shows Natalie Portman as Jackie Kennedy in the film, "Jackie." (William Gray/Fox Searchlight via AP)

Film star Natalie Portman plays Jackie Kennedy in the new film “Jackie.” All breathy elegance and tragedy and strength. She set a marker for the First Lady role. But there have been many markers, from Eleanor Roosevelt to Michelle Obama. Now the first foreign-born First Lady since 1825 is preparing to, well, not enter the White House – Melania Trump says she’ll live in New York – but take the role. And then there’s Ivanka. This hour On Point: being First Lady. What’s it’s been. What it may soon be. — Tom Ashbrook

Guests

David Sims, senior associate editor at the Atlantic, where he covers media and culture. (@davidlsims)

Katherine Jellison, professor of history at Ohio University.

Mary Jordan, national correspondent for The Washington Post. Covered Melania and Ivanka Trump during the 2016 election. (@marycjordan)

Suzanne Fields, political columnist at The Washington Times.

From Tom's Reading List

The Atlantic: Jackie Enters A First Lady's Worst Nightmare — "This is a movie broadly about Jacqueline Kennedy in the wake of her husband’s assassination, but it’s also about her efforts to shape the country’s perception of the event amid her deep trauma, and to leave out the uglier parts. Pablo Larrain’s new film is a wonderful subversion of one of Hollywood’s favorite genres: an illustration of public life that understands its inherent artifice."

The Washington Times: Discarding the idea of a first lady — "The role of first lady is out of date, an anachronism and benign nepotism at best. At worst it’s an unelected appendage to the president. In Trump time, when all assumptions are subject to revision, the time is right to think again about the ultimate “wife of.”'

The Washington PostMeet Melania Trump, a new model for first lady — "Before she met Donald Trump at the Kit Kat Klub in Manhattan and stepped into a glitzy world of limos and penthouses, diamonds and caviar, Melania Knauss lived quietly."

This program aired on December 6, 2016.

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