Book Review: 'Hidden Power: Presidential Marriages That Shaped Our History'

(C) 2002 Anchor Books

I rarely read books about politics or political figures, even though my main interest in the non-fiction genre – military military history – is, in essence, an account of political decisions gone wrong. When I do read books about Presidents, it's usually about the Cold War (The Crisis Years: Kennedy and Khrushchev – 1960-1963) or specific events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis or that awful day in Dallas.

Very rarely, though, do I read books about the personal lives of America's Chief Executives. I used to, as a schoolboy, read very generic accounts of those few Presidents I found interesting (Washington, Lincoln, the two Roosevelts, Ike, and JFK), but as I grew older I became less a generalist history buff and became more of a World War II/Cold War/Persian Gulf War specialist. Still, sometimes it's beneficial to step away from the familiar and explore uncharted territory from time to time.

Kati Marton's 2001 book Hidden Power: Presidential Marriages That Shaped Our History is one such sally from my familiar Stephen Ambrose/Cornelius Ryan fortress of historical reading. It's a selection of 12 short biographical sketches of 20th Century Presidents and their First Ladies, with a strong emphasis on the post-Eisenhower White House "power couples" from the Kennedys on to George W. and Laura Bush. (Ike and Mamie, incidentally, are not interesting enough for Marton to have a chapter of their own, and neither are most of the Presidential couples between the Wilson and Roosevelt Administrations. Whether it's because those pairings are too bland or because most of those were Republican, I can't discern for sure.)

Kati Marton’s bestselling Hidden Power is an engrossing look at twelve presidential marriages–from Edith and Woodrow Wilson to Laura and George W. Bush–that have profoundly affected America’s history.

Marton uncovers the behind-the-scenes dynamics of the ultimate power couples, showing how first ladies have used their privileged access to the president to influence staffing, promote causes, and engage directly in policy-making. Edith Wilson secretly ran the country after Woodrow’s debilitating stroke. Eleanor Roosevelt was FDR’s moral compass. And Laura Bush, initially shy of any public role, has proven to be the emotional ballast for her husband. Through extensive research and interviews, Marton reveals the substantial–yet often overlooked–legacy of presidential wives, providing insight into the evolution of women’s roles in the twentieth century and vividly depicting the synergy of these unique political partnerships. – Publisher’s back cover blurb, Hidden Power

To be honest, I found Marton's book to be well-written but not terribly engaging. Maybe it's because the post-1960 couples are all-too-familiar to me; I've heard far too much about how Jackie Kennedy thought her marriage was finally getting better by the time of that fateful trip to Dallas, or about Betty Ford's struggles with alcohol dependency, or the backlash to Hillary Clinton's "unlimited partnership" with Bill. As a result,  I only really enjoyed the first two chapters about Edith and Woodrow Wilson and Eleanor and Franklin D. Roosevelt. I found the image of the seemingly cold and stern Wilson acting like a lovesick teenager when he was courting the much younger woman who would become his second wife, a woman who, if truth be told, was actually more of a co-President of the United States than "mere" First Lady as a result of her husband's debilitating stroke after World War I and Wilson's efforts to create the League of Nations.

Because FDR's story dovetails nicely with my interest in World War II (and also because he was the country's first disabled Chief Executive, though much effort was expended to keep that from the public as much as possible back then), I really liked The Partnership That Changed the World, the chapter on Eleanor and Franklin. Of all the First Ladies of the 20th Century, Eleanor seems to me the most interesting, considering that she led such an extraordinary life at a crucial point in American history. 

Homely- a Jackie Kennedy or even Hillary look-alike she wasn't - and living with the knowledge that Franklin had had an affair with one of her best friends, Eleanor Roosevelt  stayed by her husband's side - if not in an intimate manner - and became one of his socially aware "eyes and ears" advisers, particularly on issues of race and poverty. Her newspaper column and many public appearances - even in far-flung areas in the South Pacific and elsewhere during World War II - made her one of the iconic figures of the era and possibly one of the most admired First Ladies in American history.