The constitution grants no powers to the family of the president. There has not been bills passed, nor powers granted the first lady. The spouse of the president however has a very powerful position. The first lady has always had the president's ear. She has had a close intimate relationship with the president, hopefully, as she is his wife. She has visibility and name recognition. Some of the major sources of political power other than …showed first 75 words of 2269 total…

…showed last 75 words of 2269 total…are getting recognition and being acted upon, just proving the powerful influence that these women have. Sources: http://www.emory.edu/EMORY_REPORT/erarchive/1997/October/eroctober.13/10_13_97FirstLadies.html http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/EOP/First_Lady/html/HILLARY_Home.html http://www.looksmart.com/eus1/eus317836/eus317911/eus53828/eus71848/eus285850/eus172302/r?l& http://www.firstladies.org/ http://www.si.edu/nmah/youmus/ex12ladi.htm http://www.sub.uni-goettingen.de/ssgfi/aac-hist/infodata/000199.html