SPOUSES IN THE WHITE HOUSE: AN ANALYSIS OF THE INFLUENCE OF GENDER ON THE ROLE OF UNITED STATES PRESIDENTIAL SPOUSES

Abstract

During the 2016 United States presidential election, American citizens became the closest to electing the first female President than ever before. In fact, Hillary Clinton, the candidate representing the Democrat party, received 65,853,514 popular votes in comparison to the 62,984,828 popular votes that President Donald Trump received.1 With society becoming closer to electing a President with a male spouse, there are concerns about the role of the President’s spouse in future administrations. In this thesis, I analyze interviews with research scholars, journalists, political strategists, and spouses of female members of Congress to understand how the role of the First Lady of the United States will change once the American people elect a President with a male spouse.