BOSTON — In the past few weeks, as I leafed through some newspaper columns that Eleanor Roosevelt wrote during World War II, I found myself charmed by one in which the first lady exhorted American housewives to save cooking fat.
Cooking fat? Who knew? It appears that used cooking fat contained glycerin and glycerin was used in gunpowder. So Mrs. Roosevelt made her patriotic pitch. "I have heard many a woman ask how she could do her bit," she wrote. "Here’s one very important way and don’t let’s forget it."
I know this ode to cooking fat warrants only a footnote in the legacy of the woman who spent World War II as the eyes, ears and legs of a president. Mrs. Roosevelt went to Buckingham Palace during the Blitz. She visited hospitals full of wounded soldiers. She kept the faith of civil rights during wartime. But she was also aware of the home front, right down to the kitchen.
I’m thinking about the greatest woman of the greatest generation as I watch our own first lady during these opening days of a very different war.
Before Sept. 11, Laura Bush — librarian, teacher, wife, mother — had staked out familiar ground for her tenure. The woman who once said, "I’ve always done what really traditional women do and I’ve been very, very satisfied," expected to be involved with books and school children.
If anything, a public worn out by the Clintons was relieved by the traditional Bush marriage. If anything, a public that had loved and hated Hillary let Laura go her own way. One poll showed that 64 percent of Americans liked her even though they didn’t feel they knew her.
Then terrorists attacked. Laura Bush found herself catapulted into a most public role. She was at memorials and school sites, on "Oprah" and "60 Minutes." Her demeanor was composed but genuinely stricken and just right.
A magazine dubbed her "comforter in chief" and the moniker stuck. One article after another talked about how Laura Bush’s role as first lady had changed forever.
As the weeks wore on, I began to fear a retreat. Most days, the Reuters wire service datebook entry for the first lady read: "No public events are scheduled." Then on Thursday, she chose to speak at the National Press Club on life since Sept. 11. Composed and engaging, fighting off a cough, the first lady came with pages of warm anecdotes and appreciations. She talked about patriotism and kindness, the prewar "self-indulgence" and the wartime "goodness throughout the land." She was simple and straightforward. "I get a sense of a new America," she said. "We’re a different country than we were … we’re sadder and less innocent."
The better she was, the more I waited expectantly for some hint that Mrs. Bush was ready to enlarge upon her post as comforter in chief. Ready to take on some work more tangible than uplifter in chief.
Is this likely? The first wife lives at the calming center of her husband’s life. She sprinkles her speeches with the word "calm" as a mantra. She has a strong personal inclination to privacy.
Nevertheless, the world has changed. As Kati Marton, who has written about presidential marriages in "Hidden Power," says, "we have been rudely reminded that as much as we would like to detach from the world, we can’t."
Today, many Americans are questioning the meaning of what they do, trying to reassess what’s important. I suspect this is as true inside the East Wing of the White House as outside.
Mrs. Bush told about a friend who had always felt sorry for her life in the eye of the media storm. After Sept. 11 the friend felt a pang of jealousy. "She realized and reminded me that I have a large opportunity to reach out to a large audience and help them." But in what way?
We don’t save used fat to win the war on terrorism, but we are looking for the 21st century equivalent of a victory garden. We are searching for concrete ways average citizens can practice patriotism in our daily lives.
On Thursday night, her husband called for a deeper civic engagement and volunteerism in America. I cannot imagine a temperament better suited to help hone and lead that search than the first lady’s. I can’t imagine a time better suited for Mrs. Bush to go beyond her comforting and comfort zone to the place we now call the home front.
Mrs. Bush was asked if she saw her first lady role more as Eleanor and Hillary or Bess and Mamie. She answers forthrightly, "I view my role as first lady as Laura Bush." Hear, hear.
But nearly every first lady has confronted a moment of national crisis that brings change. Not all of them take on a powerful and public responsibility. The ones who do go down in history as the great first ladies.
Ellen Goodman can be reached at The Washington Post Writers Group, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, DC 20071-9200 or send e-mail to EllenGoodman@Globe.com.
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