Second Lady of the United States

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Lynne Cheney, the current "Second Lady" of the United States
Lynne Cheney, the current "Second Lady" of the United States

The Second Lady of the United States is an unofficial title for the wife of the Vice President of the United States styled relatively to the formal title of the First Lady who is wife to the President and principal hostess of the White House. The title is traditionally only used during an active vice presidential term. The current Second Lady is Lynne Cheney.

There is a White House office specifically devoted to supporting the "Second Lady": it is officially known very simply as the "Office of the Wife of the Vice President."

The visibility of the wife of the Vice President has been a recent development as late 20th century and early 21st century vice presidential wives increasingly took on public policy roles that attracted a great deal of media attention. Tipper Gore, wife of former Vice President Al Gore of Tennessee, is often considered the first of modern Second Ladies. During her husband's service as a Senator, she was active in several campaigns to remove indecent material from popular American entertainment like movies, television shows and music. Gore attacked performers for use of obscene lyrics and often debated with her critics, such as Jello Biafra.

Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice President Dick Cheney of Wyoming, champions education reform citing specific failures of the American public education system. She is particularly outspoken supporter of American history education at a time when schools increasingly drop history courses in favor of science.

[edit] Partial list of Second Ladies

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