User blog:TR/FLOTUS (for my amusement)

The First Lady of the United States is the official hostess of the White House, with ultimate responsibility for overseeing protocol at all White House functions. (In alternate history timelines where the seat of the Presidency is not the White House, we can assume that the First Lady performs the same function wherever the President does sit.) In recent years, it has also become customary for the First Lady to advocate on behalf of social initiatives, usually of a politically non-controversial nature. The position of First Lady is unpaid, and tradition prohibits a First Lady from being gainfully employed while she holds the post, for fear of an employer or contractor attempting to use her salary to influence the President.

Throughout American history, when the President has been married, his wife has held the position of First Lady, with one brief exception. However, contrary to popular belief, being the wife of a President and the office of First Lady are not one and the same. At several points in history, a President has spent part or all of his tenure in office as a bachelor or a widower. At these times, the position of First Lady is not vacant; it has been filled by a close female relative or friend of the President. For example, James Buchanan was never married. During his presidency, Buchanan's niece, Harriet Lane, held the First Lady position.

Joe Steele
Upon his death, President Joe Steele was succeeded by his Vice President, John Nance Garner, a widower. After Garner was impeached and removed from office, GBI Director seized "emergency" executive power. He was a bachelor.

Southern Victory
Only three FLOTUS were identified by name in the series:


 * MaryLincoln.jpg Todd Lincoln, wife of Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)


 * Enid Sinclair, wife of Upton Sinclair (1921-1929)


 * Flora Blackford, wife of Hosea Blackford (1929-1933)

In addition Charles W. La Follette and Thomas Dewey are both described as being married, but their spouses are not named.

Other First Ladies
In addition to the above, Harry Turtledove has written several stories in which the First Lady plays a prominent role or, at a minimum, in which the incumbent First Lady is referenced.

Eleanor Roosevelt is the incumbent in "Cayos in the Streamt" and The War That Came Early series. She makes a brief cameo in the former, and is referenced in the latter.

Bess Truman is the incumbent in The Man With the Iron Heart and The Hot War series. She's only briefly referenced in both, and is killed in an atomic attack in 1952 in The Hot War: Fallout.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis fairly briefly appears in "A Massachusetts Yankee in King Arthur's Court".

Barbara Bush is obliquely referenced in the satire "Bedfellows" as someone whom the O|main W|characters are on their way to meet. As the story is a satire, taking the plot literally is not the best approach to the material.

Nina Warren is the presumed incumbent in from 1960 to 1965 in the Colonization series. She isn't named, but does appear at her the funeral of her husband, President Earl Warren.

In the story "Vilcabamba", which is set in the 22nd century, Jessica Moffatt is the last First Lady of the United States after the country is finally defeated by the alien race, the Krolp.

Historical First Ladies in Non-First Lady Roles
In Joe Steele, Eleanor Roosevelt becomes First Lady of the State of New York as in OTL, but is murdered along with her husband in July, 1932.