Hoopla

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but we have a new president.

–oOo–

What a lot of hoopla surrounding President Obama’s inauguration! And not just political hoopla, but entertainment hoopla. Concert-on-HBO hoopla. People-taking-inauguration-day-off hoopla. Aretha-Franklin-hats-selling-like-hotcakes hoopla. “Find inauguration day events in your area” Internet-links hoopla.

Don’t get me wrong. I think it is symbolic that the first African American president was sworn in the day after Martin Luther King’s birthday was observed. And I wish him well. I hope that his promise of change turns out to be what this country needs. But “change” is not necessarily for the better. It’s just different. And there’s been a lot of hoopla, a lot of hype.

It’s a lot to live up to.

–oOo–

No, this is not a political column, but I do tend to comment here on what I observe…

–oOo–

So, what do you know about first ladies? There’s a great quiz on ecarta.msn.com on the women behind the men. That’s where I learned that…

Eliza Johnson taught President Andrew Johnson how to write and some math. He’d been too poor to attend school as a child.

Lucy Hayes was the first first lady to earn a college degree. The Wesleyan Female College alumna was 18 when she was graduated.

Caroline Harrison was instrumental in establishing the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She also served as that organization’s first president general.

Eleanor Roosevelt was the first white resident of Washington, D.C. to join the NAACP.

Lou Henry Hoover was the first woman to graduate from Stanford University in geology.

Martha Washington claimed that she often felt like a “state prisoner” in the presidential residence.

The National Law Journal named Hillary Clinton one of the most influential lawyers in the U.S. on two different occasions.

Grace Coolidge taught at a school for the deaf.

Jacqueline Kennedy was a photojournalist for the Washington Times-Herald prior to marrying.