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A Half-Century Gallery of First Ladies as Cover Girls

Posted on January 21, 2021

With a new First Lady in the White House, there’s a high likelihood that we’re going to be seeing Dr. Biden on the covers of a lot of magazines over the years. It remains to be seen if she’ll do something for Vogue, which might spark too much of a backlash after an industry wide near-moratorium on featuring her predecessor on fashion (or indeed, any other) covers, but as this gallery shows, First Ladies haven’t relied on the fashion press solely for their media coverage.

A few things that stuck out for us as we went through these covers: Jackie Kennedy was the most influential First Lady of all time. Every woman after her more or less mimicked her style until Nancy Reagan came along and completely upended what First Ladies are supposed to look like. Every FLOTUS from Johnson to Carter tried to mimic Jackie’s bubble ‘do, pearls and sense of genteel, ladylike comportment. From about the time of Betty Ford, there was a concerted effort on each FLOTUS’s part to establish herself as “not like the other girls.” Either she was free-wheeling and high-spirited (Ford) or she was low-key to the point of being almost saintly in her affect (Rosalynn Carter, Laura Bush) or she was Hollywood glamorous (Reagan, Obama) or she was a hard-working feminist figure with her own ambitions (Clinton, Biden). Barbara Bush was different because she really leaned into her status as a grandmotherly figure; something most First Ladies either couldn’t do yet or didn’t feel comfortable presenting herself that way.

To our way of thinking there have been four absolute game-changers in the last sixty years of FLOTUSdom: Jackie, Nancy, Hillary and Michelle. All the others followed the leads of these ladies in one way or another. Jackie established the modernity of the figure, combining old money comportment with mid-Century style in a way no one had ever done. Nancy brought unapologetic high glamour to the role, as well as reinforcing the idea of FLOTUS as full partner to the President. Hillary fucked everyone up by refusing to “bake cookies” and having a personality much sharper and more clearly ambitious than previous First Ladies. And of course, Michelle broke down barriers and made history, but she also really changed our conception of how a First Lady dresses and presents herself. Melania would not have been able to sport the kind of tacky-rich trophy wife label-slinging she was known for without Michelle turning the image away from sweater sets and pearls.

What stands out for you as you scroll through these covers?

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy
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