Robin Givhan Quotes

I'm not wild about the term “first lady.” I'd just like to be called Laura Bush

It's easier to make fun of a first lady than for a first lady to have fun. The scrutiny is ferocious.

Ernest Hemingway did a great deal toward making the writer an acceptable public figure; obviously, he was no sissy.

Theodore Roosevelt had drawn public attention to his attractive family in order to create a bond with ordinary Americans. Eleanor Roosevelt had successfully broached the idea that a First Lady could be nearly as much a public figure as her husband.

Any lady who is first lady likes being first lady. I don't care what they say, they like it.

Obama's pop-cultural focus may seem demeaning to the office of the presidency. It may be mockable. But it is also tremendously effective.

I'm really interested in how we view the public figure, what makes a public figure, what makes a celebrity, and how images make politicians, so I take an interest in politics, but it's really an interest in the image.

For me, the only value a celebrity has, or any artist or actor or anything, is the things that they make, you know?

The history of the office of First Lady had not been kind to those with mental health issues.

Our love of Hollywood-style glamour helped elect two presidents: JFK and Reagan, who fulfilled the prophecy that a country so enamored of actors would eventually make one their president.

I do believe that actors have responsibilities.

People seem to think that I'm not aware of how people perceive me. But I'm the one that has to talk about 'Police Academy' all day long 27 years later. I'm totally aware of it.

Historically, the most favorably viewed figure in any administration is the first lady, regardless of her husband's popularity. That is largely because first ladies avoid the political fray and are ritualistically presented as a warm, human presence in the White House.

What we call 'normal' in psychology is really a psychopathology of the average, so undramatic and so widely spread that we don't even notice it ordinarily.

Peron had a wise saying. In politics, you can recover from anything except looking like a fool.

I would be a liar if I said I don't care [about my appearance]; yes, I care. I found it very difficult, when I first became well known, to read criticism about how I look, how messy my hair was, and how generally unkempt I look. The nastiest thing ever written was written by a man, and I do remember that. I wasn't looking for it either, it was just simply in the newspaper I was reading.

To be popular one must be a mediocrity.

My life with the Beatles had become a trap... I always remember to thank Jesus for the end of my touring days; if I hadn't said that the Beatles were 'bigger than Jesus' and upset the very Christian Ku Klux Klan, well, Lord, I might still be up there with all the other performing fleas! God bless America. Thank you, Jesus.

I just think Barack [Obama], he doesn't dig being asked at all. He's got a bit of an imperious nature about him. I guess nobody has told him that nobody reads newspapers anymore. That is a dying art form.

I would say that Mickey Mouse has a greater influence on the American public than Shakespeare, Milton, Dante, Rabelais, Shostakovitch, Lenin, and/or Van Gogh. Which says 'What?' about the American Public. Disneyland remains the central attraction of Southern California, but the graveyard remains our reality.

Donald Trump is seriously dark and disturbing. You can't just dismiss it as one more example of American pop culture grotesque.

Obama is seen as very, very cool. I think a lot of people find him sexy.

The First Lady is going to be criticized no matter what she does.

I have grown used to the fact that public repentance is the most unacceptable option for the modern politician.

The longer I stay in the States, the more I understand how important it is to smile and seem like a nice guy. Like Ronald Reagan. Your image seems to count more than what you do.