Married to Nixon.

• Author: Klebanow, Diana
• Position: USA Yesterday - Pat Nixon

FIRST LADIES tend to be judged by the achievements of their husbands. In this respect, Pat Nixon is no exception. In the 2014 Siena College poll evaluating 39 First Ladies, she had the sixth-lowest rating. The ratings were done by 242 historians, political scientists, and authors. The subjects were rated in 10 categories, including accomplishments, value to president, own woman, and leadership. Mrs. Nixon came in last place in accomplishments, with similarly low ratings in other categories as well.

As in the five previous polls undertaken by Siena College, Eleanor Roosevelt finished in first place. Although Nixon never was a favorite First Lady in the Siena College polls, her ratings have fluctuated over the years. She was in 18th place in 1993, the year of her death; fell to 33rd in 2003; and climbed to 25th in 2008. Her all-time low rank in 2014 coincided with the 40th anniversary of Richard M. Nixon's resignation on Aug. 9, 1974, over the Watergate scandal, as he became the only president in U.S. history to resign.

What is Pat Nixon's place in history during her tenure as First Lady? While it might be argued that the role of First Lady really is not significant, the public's perception of her offers an insight into the thinking of the U.S. citizenry about the place of women in American life. At the same time, the role of the First Lady basically is muted because the real action of the nation takes place in areas far removed from her reach, even as the gap has narrowed in recent years.

In discussing the role of a politician's wife in an article in The New York Times on June 24, 1993, former Nixon aide and journalist William Safire set forth the role of First Lady: "The spouse of a politician accepts the loss of privacy and the loss of family time. [She] must stay strong without ever becoming tough; must be unfailingly supportive in public and constructively critical in private; must see all to avert trouble and say nothing to get into trouble."

While more recent First Ladies have professional degrees and probably would object to this description, the reality is that they hold no office and their marriage did not confer the job of policymaker upon them.

Pat Nixon, with all of her considerable talents and ability, maintained her stance as the traditional and nonconfrontational First Lady at a time when women were starting to be encouraged to reject this image of the American wife. During the years when her husband served as vice president (1953-61), she was named Outstanding Homemaker of the Year (1953); Mother of the Year (1955); and the Nation's Ideal Housewife (1957), being featured regularly in many of the leading women's magazines of the time, where her domestic skills were emphasized: she made all of the curtains, draperies, and slipcovers in one of her first homes in Washington, D.C., and she pressed Mr. Nixon's suits when she had the time.

She was very popular in the Gallup polls, and remained on the list until five years after her husband's resignation. Her traditional approach to her duties as both Second Lady and First...