Though Bill Clinton's waggish reply - "First Laddie!" "1st First Gentleman!"- is
more a confirmation of his political professionalism (make a joke, reach out to wavering voters of Scottish ancestry) than useful, it is a question he will have to consider if Hillary makes it to the White House.
First ladies of yore took their time: not until 1877, nearly 90 years after George Washington became the first US president, did they settle on First Lady, having called themselves "Lady", "Mrs President", "Mrs Presidentress", even "Queen". But these days it would be a dereliction of duty if a tabloid journalist did not come up with a name for him in the first 24 hours - so Bill would be well advised to get in first.
There have been several non-wives who served as "first ladies." Presidents Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, and John Tyler all had wives who died either before they were elected or while they were in office. In these cases, a close female relative, like a daughter or a niece, took on the position. James Buchanan was the only president to enter and leave the White House as a bachelor. He adopted his orphan niece, Harriet Lane, and appointed her to handle the First Lady's business.
The most generally suggested term is 1st First Gentleman. As that's also what the husbands of the female governors of Michigan and Alaska call themselves, perhaps they could gracefully step aside. Other countries have ducked the issue - in Ireland, Mary McAleese's husband is generally called Dr Martin McAleese, the president's husband; Angela Merkel's spouse, a quantum chemist, is so unwilling to have anything to do with her job that he was once nicknamed "the Phantom of the Opera" by the German press. But both the Philippines and India have First Gentlemen, so maybe Bill could join them, and make a club of three. Just so long as he's not called First Partner. Or, heaven forfend, First Spouse.
Bill Clinton signaled his strategy for dealing with Donald's Trump's attacks on
his personal conduct Tuesday: ignore, and move on.
On a campaign swing through Puerto Rico Tuesday, the former president was asked by a reporter whether he had any response to Trump's latest attack on Twitter -- alluding to his past infidelities and charging that he was the "worst abuser" of women in U.S. political history.
Even for Trump, the anything-goes showman whose insults left rivals reeling in the GOP primaries, the attacks have a searing personal dimension, pushing boundaries and forcing his presumed Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, to relive the humiliation of her husband’s adultery.
Given Trump’s own extramarital dalliances along his tabloid-chronicled path from his first wife to his second and third, the tactic could backfire. But it serves strategic goals for the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.
Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
Amazing that Crooked Hillary can do a hit ad on me concerning women when her husband was the WORST abuser of woman in U.S. political history
After Trump tweeted about the Clinton scandals of the 1990s earlier this month, Hillary Clinton was asked during a campaign appearance in Virginia whether she would attempt to correct the record on his provocations.
"I am going to let him run his campaign however he chooses," she said. "I have nothing to say about him and how he is running his campaign."
Her campaign stuck to that approach Tuesday, issuing no formal response to Trump's trolling on Twitter.
