First Lady Jill Biden Strongly Supports Women's Health Research

First Lady Jill Biden just announced a major commitment of $100 million in federal funding to advance research that will advance, in her words, “a health care system that puts women and their lived experiences at the center.”

Now, three years after taking office, the first lady's announcement highlights the convening power of her platform as the president's wife.

The position of first lady and the role these women can play in an administration is often misunderstood or relegated to a “second story” in American history. But I saw the influence of this office firsthand in my years working in the White House and, over the past decade, leading an initiative at American University's School of Public Affairs that researches and promotes the legacies of American First Ladies. From both experiences, one thing is clear: don't discount the influence of the president's wife.

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First Ladies have long been asked to champion causes relevant to the well-being of Americans, particularly public health. The question for every first lady is how to prioritize requests, leverage her podium to better serve the public, and drive social advances to meet changing times.

Caroline Harrison, as first lady in the 1890s, was asked to help raise funds for Johns Hopkins Medical School. In particular, she agreed, but on one condition: the institution must admit women.

Dr. Biden joins her modern predecessors who have led positive changes in our nation's public health, especially women's health. Take Laura Bush's leadership of the “Heart Truth” campaign, a public-private partnership aimed at addressing heart disease, the leading cause of death among women. Together with the fashion industry, Mrs. Bush and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched the Red Dress Campaign, raising awareness in homes across the United States and recruiting brands like Coca-Cola to take up the cause.

It's also worth putting Dr. Biden's work in the context of Betty Ford, who addressed the stigma around both breast cancer and addiction during and after her time in the White House. When she passed away in 2014, President Barack Obama honored her legacy by saying, “Ms. Ford helped reduce the social stigma surrounding addiction and inspired thousands to seek much-needed treatment.”

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In fact, her outspokenness on issues previously kept behind closed doors paved the way for greater social awareness and better medical treatments, a fact Dr. Biden will acknowledge with the unveiling of a new US Postal Service stamp. to honor Betty Ford at a White House ceremony next year. week.

On women's health – a broad issue with tangible implications for American women – Dr. Biden has now identified her own powerful platform. Her commitment reflects an awareness of a cultural moment in which women face the relative lack of research on their unique health challenges. She has responded to and amplified experts' advice that these types of investments “would change everything.”

Her rollout of the historic ad has smart tactics behind it, including framing private sector partners as key to achieving measurable success, giving the message a bipartisan appeal, similar to what we saw from Laura Bush in “Heart Truth.”

Leveraging a little-known division of a sprawling government agency is a reminder that government tools serve a valuable role when deployed strategically and in partnership with startups and innovators who can take the risks necessary to advance life-changing discoveries.

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First Ladies have long been asked to champion causes relevant to the well-being of Americans, particularly public health. The question for every first lady is how to prioritize requests, leverage her podium to better serve the public, and drive social advances to meet changing times.

The results schedule for next year is ambitious, and Dr. Biden is certainly keenly aware of the timing of her announcement, as the State of the Union and Super Tuesday approach.

Women now vote more than men, and in an election year, the impact of Dr. Biden's voice should not be underestimated. For this first lady, who did not feel pressure to choose a single issue when she entered the White House but instead chose to be open to addressing all the issues that require her attention, she has made this decision on her own terms. . For all of us who champion the role of first lady, it is the latest example of the power of this unique office to change lives throughout our history.

Anita McBride, former chief of staff to First Lady Laura Bush, is one of the longest-serving women in White House history, with experience in three administrations in the East and West wings. She is co-author of “Remember the first ladies: the legacies of the women who made American history” and co-founder of the First Ladies Association for Research and Education (FLARE).