Here Are the Surprising Rules First Ladies Have to Follow

By Stuart Wolf - Aug 10, 2025

This article appeared in bridesblush.com and has been published here with permission.

The First Lady of the United States is the most important woman in America. However, there’s a long list of rules, protocols, and sometimes bizarre traditions that a president’s wife must follow. So, from Mary Todd Lincoln suggesting selling White House manure to pay for her designer dress debts to First Ladies handing down the @FLOTUS Twitter account, here are the surprising rules First Ladies have to follow…

FLOTUS Doesn’t Get Paid

The President of the United States receives a salary of $400,000 per year. However, the First Lady doesn’t get paid as she isn’t an elected or appointed official. Instead, her position is a traditional ceremonial role with no defined duties or legal obligations.

Wikimedia Commons // Andrea Hanks // Public Domain

Author Lauren A. Wright explained, "The White House depends so much on their unpaid and unofficial status. There's an advantage to that, to be able to leverage this person who seems like they're apolitical, not vested in political outcomes."

First Ladies Can Work

While it’s not illegal for the President to have a second job, traditionally, they have placed their business interests in a blind trust, like Jimmy Carter’s Georgian peanut farm. However, the First Lady is allowed to have a job as she's an unelected official.

Wikimedia Commons // Eric Draper // The White House // Public Domain

Doctor Jill Biden worked as an English professor at Northern Virginia Community College. Sarah Polk and Bess Truman had jobs while their husbands were in office, while Eleanor Roosevelt wrote a daily newspaper column and hosted a radio show.

…For Their Husbands

Some First Ladies have even worked for their husbands. In January 1993, while Bill Clinton was POTUS, he named his wife Hillary as the chair of the President's Task Force on National Health Care Reform. This move came after Hillary’s success with the Arkansas education reform.

Wikimedia Commons // US National Archives and Records Administration // Public Domain

The power couple hoped she could replicate that local success on a national level. However, the Clinton Health Care Plan — nicknamed Hillarycare — was unppopular and was abandoned in September 1994.

Not Everyone Wanted the Title

Not all First Ladies wanted the role. Eleanor Roosevelt once said she had never aspired to be the president's wife — and her successor, Bess Truman, cried when she found out she would be taking over the role.

Wikimedia Commons // Abbie Rowe // Public Domain

The most famous First Lady, Jackie Kennedy, reportedly disliked being called the First Lady. She said she found the term demeaning and thought it sounded “like a saddle horse.” She asked the White House staff to call her plain old Mrs. Kennedy instead.