Top ten Most Influential First Ladies for Global Issues

Top ten Most Influential First Ladies for Global Issues

1-First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt- After the Weeks Franklin Roosevelt assumed his role as president, Adolf Hitler became the chancellor of Germany. Hitler’s reign spurred a European refugee crisis and holocast Germany.

Eleanor Roosevelt used her platform as First Lady to garner United States support for refugees.

To that end, she came out as a supporter of the Wagner-Rogers bill. 

This bill would allow the entry of 20,000 German children into the United States. The Wagner-Roger bill ended up dying in committee, but the First Lady did not stop there. 

Eleanor Roosevelt proceeded to establish the United States Committee for the Care of European Children. 

USCOM was able to bring refugee children from France and others European countries safely into the United States.

2-First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy-Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis married John F. Kennedy in 1953. 

When she became first lady in 1961, she worked to restore the White House to its original elegance and to protect its holdings and what ever she can.

Onassis's first mission as first lady was to transform the White House into a museum of American history and culture that would inspire patriotism and public service in those who visited. 

"Every boy who comes here should see things that develop his sense of our history," she once said.

Onassis went to extraordinary lengths to procure art and furniture owned by former presidents of the United States including artifacts owned by George Washington, James Madison and Abraham Lincoln as well as pieces she considered representative of various periods of American culture. 

After JFK's assassination in 1963, she moved to New York City and married Aristotle Onassis in 1968. She died of cancer in 1994.

3-First Lady Patricia Nixon- This First Lady was known for her avid support of volunteerism and charitable causes. 

During her time in the White House, she made numerous journeys abroad worldwide. The first solo trip Patricia Nixon took was to Peru to provide relief supplies such as food and medicines to earthquake victims. 

She later traveled as her husband’s Personal Representative to Africa and South America and others parts of the world.

4-First Lady Rosalynn Carter- Rosalynn Carter embarked on perhaps one of the most ambitious international missions taken by a First Lady. In 1977, she visited Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Jamaica and assumed the position of the President’s representative. 

She took part in meetings to discuss policy issues such as drug trafficking, arms reduction and human rights in the world. She continued her work in 1979 when she learned of the Cambodian refugee crisis. 

After seeing the conditions of the crisis for herself, she urged the United Nations to get involved in the issue. As a result of her urging, the National Cambodian Crisis Committee was established for Cambodian refugee crisis.

5-First Lady Nancy Reagan- This First Lady is well known for her efforts to address the global drug epidemic like mexico, columbia and others parts of Latin America. 

In 1985, Nancy held a First Ladies Conference on Drug Abuse to discuss solutions to drug abuse with other first ladies from across the world. 

The following year, Reagan became the first First Lady to meet with the United Nations General Assembly where she highlighted the importance of attacking the world’s growing drug epidemics in the world.

6-First Lady Hillary Clinton- Hillary Clinton formed an impressive network with women global leaders across the world. 

She helped establish Vital Voices, an initiative that encouraged the incorporation of women in politics and establishment. 

She spoke out about gender equality at home and abroad. Hillary Clinton was one of the only political figures to draw attention to the violent treatment women's of Afghan women by the Taliban regime.

7-First Lady Laura Bush- As First Lady, Laura Bush allocated much of her time towards improving global education and Healthcare centers.

In 2005, she made the journey to Afghanistan for promoting teacher-training institutions for women in raere parts of the country.

Towards the end of her husband’s presidency, Bush continued traveling the world to promote the importance of global healthcare system. 

In 2007, she traveled to the Middle East to raise awareness for kids and women’s health and breast cancer in allover the Middle East.

8-First Lady Michelle Obama- In 2015, Michelle Obama launched the Let Girls Learn program. This program focuses on getting girls worldwide into school and making sure they remain in school as long as that can.

Let Girls Learn works with USAID, the State Department and the Peace Corps to carry out its mission through out the world. 

In 2016, Michelle Obama traveled to greet recipients of the benefits of the Let Girls Learn program in Liberia and Morocco and others parts of the world.

9-7First Lady Melania Trump- Melania Trump has shown that she intends on following in the steps of her predecessors. She has targeted disease, trafficking and hunger as some of her main issues afforts to solve.

The First Lady urged the United Nations to do more to aid these causes. She most recently embarked on a trip to Kenya, Egypt and Ghana and rest of world.

The First Lady was touched by the experience, and according to President Donald Trump, there are intentions of helping these regions in the future of loving life.

10-First Lady- Jill Tracy Jacobs Biden (née Jacobs, formerly Stevenson; born June 3, 1951) is an American educator who was the second lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She is married to Joe Biden, the president-elect of the United States, who is set to be inaugurated on January 20, 2021, at which time she will become first lady.