Before Hillary Clinton, there was Rosalynn Carter

Since occupying the White House as first lady in the 1990s, Hillary Clinton has served as a senator and secretary of state. But the fierce criticism she encountered as first lady still shapes the rhetoric of her detractors. Because of her feminist-inspired and activist approach to the first-lady position, some accused her of being co-president; others called her Lady Macbeth; and Rush Limbaugh famously denounced her as a “feminazi.”

Betty Ford and Rosalynn Carter faced similar hostilities during the 1970s. Until then, the public had viewed the first lady’s responsibility as primarily social. So when Ford and Carter lobbied heavily for the Equal Rights Amendment, they were condemned. Ford’s endorsement was anticipated, and it was curtailed by an abbreviated presidency. But Carter’s took many off-guard—provoking the religious right that would become Clinton’s nemesis. Carter’s largely forgotten story marks the beginning of the bitter controversy over faith and feminism in the White House—and sheds light on the gendered nature of some of the accusations against Clinton.

Born in Plains, Georgia, in 1927, Carter hardly seemed a ready-made feminist. She married Jimmy at 18, had three sons in six years, and was a stay-at-home wife and mother. She was so shy that the feisty Lillian Carter feared her eldest son had wed a shrinking violet.