Be Best (public awareness campaign)
Be Best was a public awareness campaign launched by Melania Trump, the then-First Lady of the United States, in May 2018. The initiative aimed to address critical issues affecting children and young adults, focusing on three main pillars: well-being, online safety, and opioid abuse. Through Be Best, Trump sought to encourage positive choices among youth and promote existing programs designed to support their emotional, physical, and social development.
The campaign included various outreach efforts, such as school visits, discussions on cyberbullying, and initiatives aimed at combating opioid abuse. Despite these activities, Be Best faced criticism for its perceived lack of concrete achievements and clear policy objectives. Skeptics pointed out that the initiative often appeared to merely highlight pre-existing government programs rather than introducing new solutions. Additionally, Melania Trump's emphasis on online safety was questioned due to her husband’s public use of social media, which included instances of cyberbullying. After Donald Trump’s presidency concluded in January 2021, the Be Best campaign was effectively wrapped up, with its website archived shortly thereafter.
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Be Best (public awareness campaign)
Be Best was a campaign to raise public awareness about online bullying and the impact of opioids on children and young adults. It was launched in 2018 by then-First Lady Melania Trump as her signature campaign during her husband’s term as president. The campaign and Trump were criticized for being ineffective because the initiative seemed to lack drive and focus beyond raising awareness of existing programs.
Public awareness campaigns and social causes have been a part of the First Ladies’ platforms for decades. While the role of First Lady was not defined in early American history, over time it evolved. Wives of presidents used the opportunities the White House provided to weigh in on political issues, promote presidents’ programs, and raise awareness of issues close to their own hearts. In modern times, First Ladies have embraced signature programs and campaigns with varying degrees of success.
Background
First Ladies of the United States are the wives—and in some cases, other female relatives or friends—of the President. While the office of president has roles and duties defined in the founding documents of the nation, no such structure was offered for spouses. Presidents’ wives or surrogates served as hostesses of official events and entertained guests. Many times individuals or groups would petition First Ladies for help with causes, and many First Ladies answered the call. Mary Todd Lincoln, for example, promoted help for formerly enslaved Americans that included education and employment. Helen Taft raised awareness of unsafe working conditions and helped to get health and safety legislation through Congress.
The first First Lady to have a staff paid for by the federal government was Edith Roosevelt, who hired a social secretary to manage her office. The staff of the First Lady grew during the Hoover administration when Lou Hoover used her own funds to hire more secretaries. The size of the First Lady’s staff continued to grow through the twentieth century as needs arose. Events such as the White House Easter Egg Roll and public tours of White House Christmas decorations required months of planning, and the First Lady was often invited to speak at events that kept her busy.
Early First Ladies often employed a secretary or assistant and worked out of a sitting room in the residential areas of the White House. The building was expanded in the early twentieth century with the addition of the West Wing, which houses the president’s office and staff, and the East Wing. Eleanor Roosevelt, who lived in the White House from 1933 to 1945, initially operated out of the residence, but with the completion of the East Wing she took over some of the new offices there for her two secretaries. Later First Ladies continued to work out of the residence while their staffs used the East Wing. During the 1970s, Rosalynn Carter was the first First Lady to have her own office in the East Wing, and from that point forward the suite was known as the Office of the First Lady. In 1978, her husband, President Jimmy Carter, approved the law that provided funding for the First Lady’s staff.
In addition to exerting influence over presidential policies, First Ladies began to develop and promote signature campaigns. First Lady Laura Bush, a former teacher and librarian, promoted education, libraries, and the national parks. First Lady Michelle Obama, who had worked as a lawyer and hospital administrator, developed a platform of healthy eating and exercise to fight childhood obesity. She advanced an overhaul of federal school nutrition requirements.
Overview
When Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, Melania Trump opted to remain in New York City for several months after his January 20, 2017, inauguration. She said she wanted their son to complete the school year before moving. As a result, she did not embark on many of the traditional actions of First Ladies for some time. She revealed her signature campaign, Be Best, on May 7, 2018, almost a year after she moved to Washington, DC.
Be Best was described as a focus on issues facing children in modern times and encouraging them to make good choices. The initiative’s three main pillars were well-being, online safety, and opioid abuse. Melania Trump said the campaign would boost programs that already existed to help children’s healthy emotional, physical, and social development. The kickoff event included representatives of schools around the country that had implemented programs such as antibullying campaigns.
The Office of the First Lady reported a number of events were held to promote the well-being of children. Among these were Trump visits to schools, promotion of national parks, and meetings including a sickle cell roundtable discussion and a meeting with the President’s Task Force on Protecting Native Americans in the Indian Health Service System.
To promote the pillar of online safety, Trump visited a tech company in Seattle, Washington, to talk about helping children stay safe online, spoke about cyberbullying, met with students, and addressed the Parent Teacher Association Legislative Conference.
To raise awareness of the opioid abuse crisis, Trump promoted legislation to reduce opioid use during pregnancy, spoke at several events, visited hospitals to hear about babies born with a condition called neonatal abstinence syndrome, and hosted a discussion about community resources and other recovery tools.
The Be Best page on the White House website offered links to organizations and agencies including the American Red Cross, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Federal Trade Commission. While some remained active after Donald Trump left office on January 20, 2021, other links were discontinued.
Two years after Be Best’s introduction, media reports found little had been accomplished. The campaign had no legislative or policy goals and activity over the first twenty-four months was largely limited to highlighting government programs. Trump said she had appointed more than twenty ambassadors from government agencies for the program, but her office refused to release information about them.
From the start, Trump’s Be Best pillars attracted skepticism. She was particularly pilloried for her statements about cyberbullying, because her husband was known for using social media, notably Twitter, to call out and berate his opponents. Trump rarely spoke about the president’s cyberbullying activities. After her husband lost reelection in 2020, Trump wrapped up her Be Best campaign. She released a video in January 2021 highlighting Be Best events shortly before the website was archived.
Bibliography
“Be Best.” Trump White House Archives, 18 Jan. 2021, trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/bebest/. Accessed 10 Feb. 2021.
Bennett, Kate. “Melania Trump’s ‘Be Best’ Falls Short of Goals at 2nd Year Mark.” CNN, 7 May 2020, www.cnn.com/2020/05/07/politics/melania-trump-be-best-anniversary/index.html. Accessed 10 Feb. 2021.
Costello, Matthew. “The Origins of the American ‘First Lady.’” The White House Historical Association, 3 Mar. 2017, www.whitehousehistory.org/the-origins-of-the-american-first-lady. Accessed 10 Feb. 2021.
“The First Lady & Her Role.” George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, www.georgewbushlibrary.smu.edu/The-President-and-Family/Laura-W-Bush/The-First-Lady-and-Her-Role.aspx. Accessed 10 Feb. 2021.
“First Lady’s Office.” The White House Museum, www.whitehousemuseum.org/east-wing/first-ladys-office.htm. Accessed 10 Feb. 2021.
Lee, Bruce Y. “Melania Trump Tweets About ‘Be Best’ Legacy, After Twitter Suspended President’s Account.” Forbes, 17 Jan. 2021, www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2021/01/17/melania-trump-tweets-about-be-best-legacy-after-twitter-suspended-presidents-account/?sh=3bdae59b30f0. Accessed 10 Feb. 2021.
McCammon, Sarah. “One Month Later, What’s Become of Melania Trump’s ‘Be Best’ Campaign?” National Public Radio, 7 June 2018, www.npr.org/2018/06/07/617642736/1-month-later-whats-become-of-melania-trumps-be-best-campaign. Accessed 10 Feb. 2021.
Nolan, Emma. “Melania Trump Releases Video Reflecting on Legacy of Her White House Work.” Newsweek, 15 Jan. 21, www.newsweek.com/melania-trump-best-legacy-white-house-first-lady-1561979. Accessed 10 Feb. 2021.
Wu, Nicholas. “Melania Trump Marked One Year of ‘Be Best.’ What Is It, and What Has It Accomplished?” USA Today, 7 May 2019, www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/05/07/melania-trump-what-her-be-best-initiative-what-has-done/1129033001/. Accessed 10 Feb. 2021.