Mrs. Carter had the canny instincts to know that a player who courts influence requires a court. Mrs. Carter’s charismatic press secretary, Mary Hoyt, led the fight for decent East Wing salaries, despite stiff opposition. President Carter was demanding sacrifice from all Americans and turning down the heat in the White House to cut costs. Feminists like Gloria Steinem faulted Mrs. Carter for not being sufficiently outré in her activism. “She creates neither love nor hate.”Neither America nor Washington was quite ready for Mrs. Carter at the time.

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Persons: Carter, —, Mary Hoyt, Hoyt, Carter’s, Ford, ”, Kennedy, Gloria Steinem, “, Steinem, United Press International’s Helen Thomas, pettiness, Nancy Reagan, Katharine Graham, Andy Warhol, Mr Organizations: East Wing, Southern Baptist, White, United Press, Democratic Locations: Israel, Egypt, Washington, America, Wing, clogs, Georgetown, Georgia, Plains , Ga