First Ladies

“First lady” is a term applied to the wife of a male president of the United States. It evolved in the late 1840s from earlier usages such as “president’s lady and “lady presidentress.” It also has gained usage recently in reference to wives of other heads of state and even wives of state governors and CEOs. FLOTUS is the acronym used within the U.S. government to denote the First Lady of the United States; OFL is the acronym used within the U.S. government to denote the Office of the First Lady, a unit of the Executive Office of the President. The state of the marriage of the presidential couple as portrayed by mass media has become an important societal beacon in an age of deep ...