American Queen

[Gencor]

Mrs. Kennedy comes closest. While we didn't hear much about that side of Mrs. Kennedy, she was very political and stayed involved in democratic politics until her death. She was known for her soft spoken power and she was very ambitious for her husband. She entertained heads of state and so charmed Nikita Khrushchev, that it was said that he fell in love with her! She was so admired and so popular across the world that even President Kennedy knew that she was his best secret weapon. He took her to Paris and humbly announced that HE was the man who accompanied Mrs. Kennedy to Paris. Mrs. Kennedy was every bit involved with politics during her husband's bid for the Presidency. She was a very studied and brilliant woman who I believe was truly the only other woman of that time in history who came close to being most like Kate Chase.

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I like the booktitle "American Queen", very simple but very telling and comprehensive. It's indeed such a simple and comprehensive title, almost like a brand name, that I wonder why no other author has yet come up with it. Was there no other personality in American history that would have matched the title? Any ideas/suggestions? And who was/is your personal American Queen, and why?

PS: The only other "American Queen" I found is a steamboat: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Queen

Staying in the world of politics, I think the American public (or at least her father-in-law) was well on the way to making Jackie Kennedy our American Queen. She was not the political animal that Kate was, however.

In our star-studded American culture today, however, it makes me tremble to think what "ladies" are held in high esteem.

I think of Lindy Boggs. I think that if women were not so restrained in the 19th century, Kate Chase would have been a great Senator in much the same fashion as Mrs. Boggs. I am from Louisiana and know her history. Mrs. Boggs was a true political woman, wife and mother. She was admired by everyone who knew her and as we have a saying in the south, she was indeed a "Steel Magnolia!"