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First ladies, you know, we look at Michelle Obama, and we look at most first ladies, and they seem like they have it all. You know, they live in the White House, they go to state dinners, they ride on Air Force One, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. But first ladies do often feel that they are given short shrift or forgotten or left at the margins.

Certainly Nancy Reagan had an extraordinary effect on her husband. I'm truly not sure that, say, Laura Bush had that much effect on the Bush administration. She certainly, you know, seems to be a nice person who I think the public likes. But I can't really put my finger on any huge impact she's had.

The First Lady has a lot of power. I hope Hillary Clinton realizes that.

Any first lady can do whatever they want to do. In this country, people expect them to work on whatever they want or to have a career of their own.

I didn't even know I was the first female Republican campaign manager until someone pointed it out to me on Twitter, and I said that can't be true. And then I realized this must be such a small group of women. And right away, I know them all - Susan Estrich and Donna Brazile and Beth Myers - and I respect them enormously.

I'm all for having an empowered first lady who can really use that position to improve conditions, be a role model and make change.

Like Hillary Clinton before her, Mrs. Obama has always been a working woman. She is a lawyer turned hospital administrator turned political right hand. It is a unique resume.

When I joined Bill Clinton's start-up presidential campaign in 1991, I was confident that women would play an ever more important role, but I never gave a minute's thought to what would happen if we won. When we did - and I became the first woman to serve as White House press secretary - it changed my life. But it didn't change the world.