Dear Erica Ross,
I am not the President of the United States, just an amid reader of
political and historical literature, so my answer is not based on
personal experience.
My answer is divided into several levels. First, the sociological
level. In modern post-industrial societies, so we have learned, people
who work very hard do that on the expense of their family-life. In
other words, a demanding job such as the Presidents' affects his
family life: he has less time to spend with his family, due to his
many other commitments. However, that is no different from an MD, a
Police Officer or a manager - anyone who works very long hours and who
has practically no "free time".
The second part of my answer is dedicated to the historical-political
meaning of Presidency, and its affect on family life. Different
Presidents acted differently with their family. Two US President -
John Adams and George Bush, evidently inspired their sons to try the
same and become Presidents. In other words, our first evidence is that
being a President probably doesn't affect your family life in a way
that would turn your children away from politics.
Grover Cleveland, twice President, married in the White House (1886)
and had a baby born there. These examples may demonstrate that a
President may have time not only to maintain already existing
marriage, but to work on building a new family and raising a baby.
Other Presidents were less known for maintaining healthy family life.
Almost every 20th century President was linked to a woman, which was
not his wife, most notoriously President Clinton, who lied under oath
about his affair. Some historians claim that President Jefferson, too,
had an affair - it is not totally proven
(http://www.political-tips.com/TipNL.asp?Tipid=57758).
Some wives and children are not to ecstatic about the involvement in
politics. Reagan's biography "Dutch" claims that his first wife left
him because of his involvement in politics. His second wife, Nancy,
was very active First Lady. His daughter, on the other hand,
embarrassed her father more than once, posing nude for Playboy
magazine and opposing his politics. (See
http://www.political-tips.com/TipNL.asp?Tipid=71666)
Many First Ladies were also involved in their husband's work, to one
extent or the other. Most famously, President Wilson's wife, who was a
decision maker after her husband fell ill and couldn't function.
(see http://www.political-tips.com/TipNL.asp?Tipid=23029)
Presidential children, on the other hand, are not always too pleased
with the attention. Both the Bush twins and Chelsea Clinton tried to
emphasize, without success, that they are private individuals, not
celebrities, and have not chosen (unlike their parents) to be on the
spotlights. The Bush twins, doing stupid things every third college
kid in America does, such as drinking before the age of 21, were
highly criticized - I am sure they didn't enjoy it.
To sum up, I think that the affect depends on the President, since
they are all human beings. However, the media attention to family
members affects them also (think what would have happened to poor
Cleveland wife and baby if they lived under the modern media's
attention). Some like it and some don't.
I used http://www.political-tips.com/ and scanned through "US
Politics" and also checked out my history books.
I hope that helped. Please ask for clarification if you need any
further information. |
