France's new First Lady, keen to remain a journalist despite her tie to President Francois Hollande, has drawn inspiration from one of the most popular American women of the 20th century, Eleanor Roosevelt.
"A journalist First Lady is nothing new," Valerie Trierweiler, Hollande's partner, said in her first article for weekly magazine Paris Match since he was elected president on May 6.
"Naturally, you need to look across the Atlantic to discover this unique case, instead of crying scandal."
The 47-year-old Trierweiler, who has worked for more than 20 years as a journalist for the magazine, has struck a deal to keep her job but switched from covering political affairs to arts and culture.
Paris Match says the new focus on book and arts reviews will avoid any conflict of interest with her personal life as the unmarried partner of 57-year-old Hollande.
Her choice of first book to review, "Eleanor Roosevelt - First Lady and Rebel", could hardly have been more relevant.
Trierweiler, a twice-divorced mother of three who has said she doesn't want to be boxed into the role of "second fiddle, first lady" - focused on the independence of a woman who refused to live silently in the shadow of US wartime President Franklin Roosevelt.
"This mother of six comes to terms with having sometimes different opinions than FDR and refuses to be reduced to silence," wrote Trierweiler about Eleanor.
She went on to explain how America's First Lady began writing for various publications before embarking on a syndicated daily newspaper column that chronicled her life at the White House.
"Not only did the whole American press find no grounds for controversy, but quite the reverse, thanks to this chronicle she wrote until her death, Eleanor became extremely popular," Trierweiler wrote.
A Harris Interactive poll published last month found that three out of four people found Trierweiler "independent" but only a third said they found her "close to the people."
Some media outlets have dubbed her the "Iron Lady", and caricaturists have portrayed Hollande as under her thumb.
作为法国新一任第一夫人,弗朗索瓦?奥朗德总统的女友乐于继续当一名记者,因受到20世纪美国最有影响力的女性之一——美国前总统罗斯福的妻子埃莉诺的鼓舞。
瓦莱丽?特里埃维勒在奥朗德5月6日当选后的首篇发表于《巴黎竞赛画报》杂志的文章中称:“第一夫人是记者并不新奇。”
“你只需看看大西洋的另一头,你就会发现这种独特的例子原本就存在,没必要大惊小怪。”
现年47岁的瓦莱丽任该杂志的记者已有二十多年。她与该杂志达成协议,继续担任记者,但是报导的方向由政治转为艺术和文化。
《巴黎竞赛画报》称,瓦莱丽的关注方向转为书籍和艺术评论,这将避免与她作为奥朗德女友的个人生活产生利益纠葛。奥朗德现年57岁。
她选择评论的第一本书籍是《埃莉诺?罗斯福——第一夫人和叛逆》,这本书与她的个人处境再相似不过了。
瓦莱丽离过两次婚,生育了三个孩子,曾表示不愿被禁锢于“第一夫人这个次要角色”。她在评论中重点关注埃莉诺的独立。埃莉诺拒绝安静地生活在美国战时总统富兰克林?罗斯福的阴影下。
瓦莱丽提到埃莉诺时写道:“这位六个孩子的母亲不得不接受自己和罗斯福有时候意见会相左,而她拒绝保持沉默。”
她还解释道这位美国前第一夫人如何开始为多家出版物写稿,在那之后又为报业联盟的一家日报写专栏,记述自己在白宫的生活。
瓦莱丽写道:“美国出版界不仅没有从中发现争议之处,而且恰恰相反,正是这部她一直坚持写作直到去世的编年史书,让埃莉诺变得十分受欢迎。”
上个月哈里斯互动民意机构发布的一项调查报告发现,四分之三的人认为瓦莱丽“很独立”,但只有三分之一的人觉得她“亲民”。
一些媒体报道授予她“铁娘子”的称号,讽刺漫画家将奥朗德画成了“妻管严”,被瓦莱丽管得死死的。