(NAPSA)—Three days before the 2002 state of the union address, a Gallup Poll chose Laura Bush as the most admired woman in America. Yet, former ABC News correspondent Kati Marton reveals in a new book, Laura Welch initially resisted being set up with George W. Bush because, in her own words, she was “so uninterested in politics.” Marton is the author of the national best-seller Hidden Power: Presidential Marriages That Shaped Our History. Just released in paperback, Hidden Power (Anchor Books, $14.00) sheds light on thecritical ,, achievementsof presidential spouses and ASSKe features a new chapter that chronicles Marton Kat Laura Bush’s pivotal transformation from an intensely private womaninto the public’s “Comforter-in-Chief” after the events of September 11th. As proof of the First Lady’s universal popularity after the terrorist attacks, Marton points to Laura’s bipartisan reception at her husband’s 2002 State of the Union address. When the President invited the chamber to welcome his WB FRA wife, Marton writes, KS oe “fifty- two million viewers watched as both sides of the aisle stood in unison and whooped like teenagers at a highag Gy. school pep rally.” a2Aas In eleven other chapters on the Wilsons, Roosevelts, Trumans, Kennedys, Johnsons, Nixons, Fords, Carters, Reagans, elder Bushes, and Clintons who occupied the White House, Marton uncovers the dynamics of the ultimate power couples. Edith Wilson secretly ran the country after Woodrow’s debilitating stroke. Eleanor Roosevelt was FDR’s moral compass. Nancy Rea- gan used astrology andherprivileged access to the President to influence staffing and engage in direct policy making. Through extensive research and interviews, Marton reveals the substantial—yet often overlooked—legacy of presidential wives, providing insight into the evolution of women’s roles in the twentieth century and vividly depicting the synergy of these uniquepolitical partnerships. For more information go to www.anchorbooks.com.
