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Honoring first ladies as the presidents' soft power
Indonesia has no specific laws or regulations detailing the roles of the spouse of the president, so unsurprisingly we often overlook the contributions of the first ladies to the nation.
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First Lady Iriana Widodo (center) waves with Mufidah Jusuf Kalla (right), wife of previous vice president Jusuf Kalla, and Wuri Estu Handayani, wife of Vice President Ma'ruf Amin, prior to the presidential inauguration at the House of Representatives building in Jakarta on Oct. 20, 2019. (AFP/Adek Berry)
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fter watching two United States television series, The First Lady and First Ladies Revealed, the faces of Indonesia’s former first ladies Tien Soeharto and Sinta Nuriyah Wahid and current First Lady Iriana Widodo crossed my mind. Like the US women, these three Indonesian first ladies have contributed much to their husbands’ work as chief executives of the nation.
The First Lady is a revelatory reframing of US leadership through the lens of three first ladies. Starring Viola Davis as Michelle Obama, Michelle Pfeiffer as Elizabeth Anne Ford and Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Roosevelt, this series delves deep into the women’s personal and political lives.
Meanwhile, documentary-based First Ladies Revealed portrays Nancy Reagan, Rosalyn Carter and Jacqueline Kennedy, who all left an eternal legacy at the White House and the history of the US.
While in the US the history of its first ladies is well documented, our history pays little appreciation to first ladies, as if they are only complimentary to their husbands. I think it is time for the nation to pay tribute to the six Indonesian first ladies.
During her 12 years as first lady, the unprecedented breadth of Eleanor Roosevelt’s activities and her advocacy of liberal causes made her nearly as controversial a figure as her husband. She instigated regular press conferences for women correspondents. Wire services that had not employed women were forced to do so in order to have a representative present in case important news broke.
After his predecessor’s death, president Harry Truman appointed Eleanor as a delegate to the United Nations to serve as chairman of the UN Commission on Human Rights. She played a major role in the drafting and adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.
Elizabeth Anne Ford, popularly called Betty Ford, was known for her bravery in publicly announcing she had breast cancer and admitting to the American people that she would undergo treatment for her alcohol addiction. Her husband Gerald Ford replaced president Richard Nixon, who resigned to avoid impeachment because of his deep involvement in the Watergate scandal.
