As the Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton is poised to make history as the United States’ first female head of state. Less discussed is how her husband, former president Bill Clinton, could permanently elevate the status of the “first spouse.”
If Mr. Clinton were to return to the White House as our nation’s first “first gentleman,” he would bring an unprecedented level of political experience to the role. It doesn’t appear anybody has projected Bill Clinton’s potential value as “first gentleman,” but in April, Money ballparked the market value of a modern first lady. Experts considered many of the roles a first lady must play, assigned a salary to each job (see chart from TIME at right), and calculated that a first spouse ought to be paid $287,000.
While in the last century, first ladies have taken on increasingly more public roles within their husbands’ administrations, Bill Clinton as first spouse would be at a different level, Anthony J. Eksterowicz, political professor at James Madison University, told Voice of America: “I look for even greater professionalization of staff under his management. Probably more staff, more hierarchical organization, and much, much higher integration with the White House office and his office.”
Granted, Hillary Clinton has said she would include her husband in her administration as the person she is “going to put in charge of revitalizing the economy, because you know he knows how to do it.”
Whatever official job Mr. Clinton assumes, and however that pans out, his presence would almost certainly demand more spotlight than any previous first spouses. And Mrs. Clinton, Eksterowicz says, would be foolish not to encourage the work that would attract the spotlight. “He knows all the global leaders, he is conversant in domestic policy, and he’s conversant in all policy issues. So he’s an enormous resource, and she has to use him, and she will use him.”
Given this expanded range of responsibilities and workload, a win by Mrs. Clinton may inspire a more serious public push for a first-spouse salary. Currently, the first lady is not paid, although the position is reimbursed with plenty of perks: lifelong pension, free accommodations, international travel, personal security detail, a private chef and enough fame to fuel a bestselling memoir or two.
If fair-pay advocates more aggressively petition for first-spouse compensation, don’t expect any concern for the Clintons’ financial security to enter their argument. The couple has made an estimated $230 million in the 15 years since the end of Bill Clinton’s presidency. They have enough assets built up to scrounge by on Mrs. Clinton’s $400,000 presidential salary.
The push would be made more for the sake of those who would follow Mr. Clinton as first spouse, most of whom will still likely be women. This isn’t a new idea. In 2012, President Obama advocated for it on behalf of his wife, First Lady Michelle Obama: “I want to make sure that when she’s working, she’s getting paid the same as men. I gotta say that First Ladies right now don’t [get paid], even though that’s a tough job!”
Last year President Obama again referred to carving out a first-lady salary during a discussion of the Paycheck Fairness Act, a proposed bill meant to further reduce the pay gap between men and women while mandating federal collection of data on compensation, hiring, termination, and promotion sorted by sex. Despite repeated attempts since 1997, the bill has never passed Congress.
While party divisiveness has submarined that bill, a push for first-spouse pay could find more bilateral support. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan, for instance, referred to the role of his wife, Nancy: “You know, the government, with the first lady, gets an employee free.”
In the end, establishing a salary for the first spouse (whether Mr. Clinton or Melania Trump) is a statement that hard work deserves fair compensation at all strata of American society. This particular duo doesn’t need the money, but as Gregory Krieg wrote for Policy.Mic, mandating a salary for their role within the White House “would send a powerful signal that equal pay is an important principle at the highest level of government.”
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Former First Lady Laura Bush offered her opinion on the matter in an interview on C-SPAN:
