Political Wives Who Overshadow Their Husbands

In this media and technology driven world we all live in, it's hard to find a more commanding presence than Arianna Huffington.

As the founder of The Huffington Post, Arianna created an active Internet community where anybody can share and comment upon issues and stories in a respectful manner. The Post also draws upon many topics and offers comprehensive coverage about society from many of society's key figures.

Arianna also has countless proven she can stake her own way in the world. Married to conservative Michael Huffington during his time as a Republican representative, Arianna supported the Republican party, involved in causes like Bob Dole's campaign and Newt Gingrich's "Republican Revolution."

When the Republicans moved on and could not satisfy her own views, she began to lean to the Democratic party, culminating with her endorsement for John Kerry. However, she proved her strength and independence by running as an independent candidate in the California recall election, proving that she will always use her own voice to stand by what she believes in, no matter which party it becomes affiliated with.

Eventually, Arianna found a way to take her own voice and allow it to breathe and interact with others in ways that were never done before. While all politicians command serious influence over the lives of Americans, Arianna found ways to personally connect and allow other Americans to have their say and encourage invigorating discussion.

Arianna clearly knows the world of the future and how to inspire the people to speak as the people.

Here's another political wife that did not have huge political shoulders to match. President Jimmy Carter suffered through his one-term as Presidency due to a combination of inexperience and indecision.

Rosalynn Carter, however, was incredibly active and successful within her means in politics.

At times she was Jimmy's sounding board and advisor, and other times she was a co-president of sorts.

She would often sit in on cabinet meetings, testify before Congress and travel abroad to discuss issues with foreign officials. She was also the leading advocate for mental health research and created The Carter Center Mental Health Task Force.

Currently, she serves on the board of advisors for Habitat for Humanity and is involved in other charitable organizations as well. Sure she wasn't the official leader of the nation in 1977, but she carried out all the acts that it practically made her one.

Barbara Bush was often referred to as "everybody's grandmother," and for good reason too. Her entire demeanor just exudes comfort and warmth, something that her husband George H.W. Bush was not natural in doing during his time as 43rd President of the United States.

Having devoted sixty-five years of her life to her husband and her career, Barbara is an example of a woman doing something not because she's told to, but because she loves to. She's blatantly said: "I'm fair and I like children and I adore my husband."

Her qualities as a loving mother and devoted wife also helped shape her projects and work in politics. She took on literacy as a cause from the experience of her son Neil's dyslexia and founded the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.

She's also devoted energy to finding a cure for cancer after Robin, her second child, was diagnosed with leukemia. George H.W. Bush might've had the political smarts in the family (though many claimed he lacked a unified and compelling vision), but Barbara had the heart. And both her family and the nation felt it.

Now, now, before you recoil and show disgust for anyone even remotely related to Mr. George W. Bush, it must be known Laura Bush is nothing like her husband (not really, at least).

In fact, Laura Bush is really pretty liberal.

She was a Democrat before she was married, holds to strong Democratic issues at heart and hangs out with liberal friends she's had since grade school.

She's even told Katie Couric in 2001 that she does not believe Roe v. Wade should be overturned despite then President George W. Bush's pro-life stance, carving out political independence for herself. This is a bigger move than you might imagine given her husband's stance on the issue and what it could have meant for him politically.

Also, she refused to give in to the luxuries of being First Lady (she actually despises that title and prefers to be called Mrs. Bush or Laura Bush), and instead prefers to be "ordinary". She's said that she's "indifferent" to clothes, finds interviews "boring" and that her ideal restaurant is a cheap Mexican place.

Though it's not hard to surpass George W. Bush's achievements as President, Laura Bush is still a well-deserved candidate in this list because along with her work in early childhood cognitive development, teacher preparation and recruitment and women's heart disease, she also proves that no woman is defined by the person she marries.

A individual's view is always one's own, and Laura Bush owns it with both humility and strength. The fact that she stuck by her political guns, even in the most polarizing presidency in decades, is a mark of an enormously strong woman whose achievements in paving the ways for First Lady overshadow some of her husband's legacy.

The woman who is single-handedly responsible for having an entire era named after her, Her Majesty ruled the British Empire when it was at its highest powers.

For 63 years (1837-1901), the longest ruling British monarch of all time time, Victoria commanded an empire so large that all times, the sun was up somewhere over its lands. Extremely popular with the people, she became the symbol of the British Empire and the standard of strict morality and decency.

She also was fair with politics. Proving that she wasn't a tyrannical Queen, she founded the Liberal and Conservative parties and broadened suffrage throughout her reign.

She also was a loving wife and was devastated when her husband Prince Albert died in 1862. However, after a period of deep mourning, she recomposed herself and became the idol of many Britons once again.

Her reign is associated for being a period of peace despite massive expansion of the empire. She also is associated with industrial and cultural progress. There isn't much from the 19th century that can't be defined by Her Majesty.