Canada has the ‘hottest first lady,’ but who were the most influential?

It's been just a few days since the election of Justin Trudeau as Canada's prime minister, and Trudeau's victory certainly will move the country leftward and, perhaps, affect its relations with the United States in ways not yet known.

But forget all that. How about that new first lady?

Already, the always-reserved New York Post has dubbed Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau "the hottest first lady in the world."

Now, we wouldn't get involved in a discussion like that for a truckload of Molson Goldens. But it did make us wonder: Who might be counted as among the United States' most influential first ladies?

Michael Green, an associate history professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, notes that the question is difficult to answer, first because "people didn't pay a lot of attention to first ladies for much of our history. Mary Lincoln was first to be called first lady.

"The other thing is, the job of first lady has stayed very similar as the role of women in society has changed. There's still the expectation that the first lady is in charge of the house side of the White House. It will be interesting to see what changes would be in store if we were to have our first first gentleman."

Nonetheless, Green was game to offer a few of his picks.

Eleanor Roosevelt (Franklin D. Roosevelt, March 1933 to April 1945)

It was said that "she was his legs, that she could get out to places that he couldn't go, not just because of his paralysis, because of his physical issues, but because the presidency was not then a traveling road show," Green says. "In a way, that's how we expect the president to get around today."

Eleanor — who made her own name as dedicated human rights advocate — "was certainly political in her own right, but she had the image of not being a politician," Green says. "She was a crusader for her issues in a way her husband could not be as a politician.

"There were stories that she would just harangue him about the issues that mattered to her: the coal miners she had seen who were ill, the children who were not being taken care of."

Eleanor also was so ardent in making her husband aware of issues that she deemed important that "FDR would occasionally say to somebody, 'The missus says I'm not paying enough attention to this. What do you think?' " Green says. "So she had an impact."

Hillary Clinton (Bill Clinton, 1993 to 2001)

"Hillary Clinton, I think, certainly had impact as first lady in part by something she failed at, which was health care reform," Green says.

As first lady, Hillary spearheaded the White House's efforts to adopt a nationwide health care initiative. While the initiative failed, Hillary — for good or bad — was seen by many not just as first lady, but as an extension of her husband and his office.

"During the '92 election, there was talk of getting two for one, and, in turn, Bill Clinton's opponents were talking about her," Green says.

In contrast, "Richard Nixon's opponents did not attack Pat Nixon," he adds. "But in a sense, the Clintons proceeded on the premise this was a more modern relationship, reflecting changes in women's role in society.

"So she had to struggle with that, and was successful in some ways and not successful in others. But it certainly was an important moment in terms of the role women play in the White House."

Jacqueline Kennedy (John F. Kennedy, 1961 to 1963)

First, Green says, Jackie Kennedy "was raising young children in the White House, which was new and modern. There had not been young children present, really, since Teddy Roosevelt, but this was with much fuller media scrutiny, especially television."

Then, Jackie "glamorized the White House and her position in various ways, compared with the grandmotherly Mamie Eisenhower and the grandmotherly Bess Truman, and she was the first first lady to be a real television star. She did a tour of the White House that all three networks broadcast, and the Kennedys promoted the idea of the White House as the people's cultural center."

"The talk of Camelot with the Kennedy White House was something I think John Kennedy would have found hysterical, but she created that image after his death. But, at the same time, the idea of this glamorous, brief, shining moment was partly her doing when he was alive, not just in the formation of his posthumous images."

Claudia Alta Taylor "Lady Bird" Johnson (Lyndon Johnson, 1963 to 1969)

"Lady Bird Johnson just tends to be remembered as the woman who tolerated and encouraged Lyndon, but she made her issue beautification," Green says. "And some of the environmental legislation of the Great Society resulted from her push."

"You cannot claim Lady Bird Johnson ranked with ("Silent Spring" author) Rachel Carson or others who were major environmental advocates. But, in a very quiet way, she played a part in the higher levels of government to help make that more of an issue than it might have been in her husband's administration."

And just a few more …

Far from being domestic-minded wives, several first ladies "were politically ambitious for their husbands and helped drive them."

Among them was Mary Todd Lincoln, who "had vowed to marry a future president," Green says. "And one of the things that brought her and Abraham Lincoln together when they were dating was a shared love of politics."

Similarly, Helen Louise Herron "Nellie" Taft (William Howard Taft, 1909 to 1913) and Grace Coolidge (Calvin Coolidge, 1923 to 1929) "were real political advocates in their household. Maybe not in the White House, but they played an important role in their husbands' political lives. And I think that can also be said of Rosalynn Carter and Nancy Reagan."

— Contact reporter John Przybys at jprzybys@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0280 or follow @JJPrzybys on Twitter.