Ironically, this historic gesture will cement her reputation as a great first lady with most historians and with her fans, even as it damages the very office she vowed to expand and invigorate. Without winning a single vote, simply by becoming the first first lady ever to run for office, Mrs. Clinton has imposed a happy ending on her stormy White House years. This symbolic legacy compensates for her otherwise minor individual achievements and major surrenders. To be fair, being first lady is one of the world's toughest posts. It is an aristocratic throwback in a modern egalitarian democracy.
Occupants endure a maximum of scrutiny with a minimum of autonomy.
Americans expect First Ladies to be happy homemakers and do-gooding celebrities, independent yet supportive, newsworthy but not controversial, neither too feminine nor too feminist. First Ladies enter the public sphere to champion the private sphere, they are supposed to blaze the trail for modern women while defending the traditional family. In recent years, some First Ladies have thrived. Even Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush found their voices. Alas, Hillary Clinton's tenure has been particularly rocky.