A chapter co-authored by the Department of Strategic Communication’s Joshua Bentley, associate professor, and Russell Mack, instructor, has been published in the book, “Media Relations and the Modern First Lady: From Jacqueline Kennedy to Melania Trump.” The book examines communication strategies used by the first ladies and their teams to manage the press, public interest in their private lives and to shape their public image. The two Strategic Communication faculty members were selected to write the chapter, titled “The Boss’s Wife: Exploring Nancy Reagan’s Complicated Role as Homemaker, Protector, and Advocate,” on Nancy Reagan in part because Mack previously worked in the Reagan White House.
Dr. Bentley visited the Reagan Presidential Library during Spring Break 2019 to look at archival documents related to Nancy Reagan and her press secretaries.
The Schieffer College awarded Bentley and Mack a Dean’s Teacher/Scholar Opportunity Grant which helped fund their research and Bentley’s travel to the Reagan Library to view the archives.