“The Fact That She Could Bring an Item of Such Cultural Importance Overseas at This Time Was Not Soft Power—It Was Power”
Interview with Katie Rogers, author of American Woman: The Transformation of the Modern First Lady, from Hillary Clinton to Jill Biden.
There’s an anecdote early on in Katie Rogers’ new book, American Woman: The Transformation of the Modern First Lady, from Hillary Clinton to Jill Biden, which was released on 27th February, in which Rogers recounts seeing the Jacqueline Kennedy exhibition at the Chicago Field Museum as a child, which proved formative for the New York Times White House correspondent. Rogers writes:
“When I saw the exhibit, I was only just beginning to understand just how deeply the East Coast, male-dominated worlds of politics and media had shaped my understanding of influence and power. But I didn’t enjoy the exhibition because it was about a woman and her fashion choices. I enjoyed the exhibit because it was about how an intelligent woman had figured out a way to start a conversation between Americans and the rest of the world—during the height of the Cold War, no less.”
American Woman seeks to bridge the gap between “soft power,” a term Rogers despises, that has traditionally been associated with the charitable and White House decorating duties of First Ladies, and their increasingly influential roles in shaping the presidencies of their husbands, particularly the 21st century First Ladies, which the book focuses on.
Rogers was kind enough to grant me an email interview about her new book, which you can find below.
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