Top 40 First Lady Quotes

A lot of what I do around Houston is to find ways to lift people through literacy. It’s become part of our family culture. Everyone in our family has found some way and capacity to serve. You don’t necessarily need to be President or First Lady to serve and help.

The role of first lady brings with it unique opportunities to help people across the country and around the world.

I view myself as being the average woman. While I am first lady, I wasn’t first lady my whole life. I’m a product of pop culture. I’m a consumer of pop culture, and I know what resonates with people.

In France, a first lady has no status, and therefore she isn’t supposed to do anything else.

I have known Hillary Clinton for 25 years. I remember her, as you do, as a great first lady who broke precedent in terms of the role that a first lady was supposed to play as she helped lead the fight for universal health care.

I want to be the first lady to land a quadruple jump in competition. As I grow older, I know that my skating style will develop and mature.

First lady has been a thankless position. Eleanor Roosevelt was brilliant and had strong views. She was criticized for her politics and for her appearance. Mrs. Roosevelt was attacked for being too involved in politics. Bess Truman was criticized for being uninvolved in politics.

Theodore Roosevelt had drawn public attention to his attractive family in order to create a bond with ordinary Americans. Eleanor Roosevelt had successfully broached the idea that a First Lady could be nearly as much a public figure as her husband.

With Barack Obama as president and the super-happening Michelle Obama as First Lady, you would think a new tone, a new tune, a kicky new jazzitude, would have entered Washington discourse, but it remains a landlocked island unto itself, held captive by its tribal fevers.

Being first lady is not just about being the wife but really taking command and having true vision.

John F. Kennedy brought style and charisma to the White House and a first family that captivated the country: a handsome, witty president, an elegant first lady, and two adorable young children.

Both Kennedy and Obama exuded a dash of glamour in their roles as commander-in-chief and became the darlings of Hollywood. As president, each brought to the White House a fashionable and accomplished First Lady, two adorable young children and scene-stealing pets.

Gay marriage has jumped out of the closet on to the front page. Everyone from the president of the U.S. to retired four-star general Colin Powell is embracing the issue, now supported by most Americans. Still, a few people, like former First Lady Laura Bush appear to be conflicted.

There is an environment where someone is always looking for someone to make an error. They’re always looking not for the good things, the wonderful things the president and first lady are doing, they’re looking for an error or to criticize. And it’s not conducive to good work.

The one thing I do not want to be called is First Lady. It sounds like a saddle horse.

Historically, the most favorably viewed figure in any administration is the first lady, regardless of her husband’s popularity. That is largely because first ladies avoid the political fray and are ritualistically presented as a warm, human presence in the White House.

Actions, such as the designation of National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, spring from First Lady Michelle Obama’s leadership of efforts to end childhood obesity within this generation.

It was so surreal, having my parents hear the President and First Lady saying to me, ‘Good to see you again! We’re so proud of you. We watched you on the Grammys and were like, ‘That’s our girl!’

It’s easier to make fun of a first lady than for a first lady to have fun. The scrutiny is ferocious.

I wish I could say that Carla Bruni’s Guess campaign at age 16 led to her current role as First Lady of France, but that might be a stretch.

I’d love to have First Lady Michelle Obama over and ask, ‘How do you make your marriage work?’ I think the president is sexy as all get-out, but he has got to get on her nerves some kind of way. He’s this wonderful, powerful man, but she sees him leaving his socks on the floor.

As first lady, Hillary Clinton spent the early months of her husband’s administration drafting healthcare-reform legislation, only to see it put on the back burner by the North American Free Trade Agreement.

First Lady Michelle Obama – I admire her confidence, integrity, intelligence, compassion, and her overall vibe – she is such an inspiration.

My job is to make certain that I’ve done what I was asked and my department has done what we were asked to do by the president and the first lady and the State Department. I believe that we accomplished that.

The memory of that scene for me is like a frame of film forever frozen at that moment: the red carpet, the green lawn, the white house, the leaden sky. The new president and his first lady.

The greatest advantage of being First Lady is the opportunity it presents to truly make a difference on issues of great importance.

Any first lady can do whatever they want to do. In this country, people expect them to work on whatever they want or to have a career of their own.

I am First Lady by accident. I was not elected by the people but here I am.

I’ve been in a lot of tough businesses: First Lady of San Fransciso, working as model, actress, TV host. You better have thick skin, for sure, but you also need to laugh at yourself. I make fun of myself all the time.

When you become first lady, it’s like, ‘O.K., now what do you do?’

Wellesley’s president, Nannerl Overholser Keohane, approved a broad rule with a specific application: The senior thesis of every Wellesley alumna is available in the college archives for anyone to read – except for those written by either a ‘president or first lady of the United States.’

Being first lady is a full-time job. Betty Ford worked full time and should have received a salary. Michelle Obama works full time and should be paid.

Being first lady is the hardest unpaid job in the world.

I’ve been around all kinds of people, defense attorneys, working with cops, working with politicians, both sides of the aisle, including Democrats as former first lady of San Francisco, and the Republicans, too, so I’ve had a front row seat to lots of things in life.

It’s a lot of fun to just say to people, proudly, ‘I get to play the First Lady.’ It’s just fun to say.

To amplify our efforts, USDA is joining with First Lady Michelle Obama in aggressively promoting the ‘Let’s Move’ campaign, which will combat the epidemic of childhood obesity through a comprehensive approach that builds on effective strategies, and mobilizes public and private sector resources.

There were the questions of what kind of First Lady I would be, what issues would I focus on. Those were the questions that were being pounded on me through the campaign. A lot of times, I wondered what in the world Barack was even getting us into.

Jackie Kennedy was the most appropriately dressed first lady we’ve ever had. You can see how lasting Jackie’s style is.

When I was first lady, I worked to call attention to the plight of refugees fleeing Cambodia for Thailand, I visited Thailand and witnessed firsthand the trauma of parents and children separated by circumstance beyond their control.

The history of the office of First Lady had not been kind to those with mental health issues.