Hostess of Leviathan

There is no more blatant expression of the monarchical view the American public has towards the presidency than the "office" of the "First Lady", traditionally held by the president's wife.  This occurred to me this morning while watching the CBS morning news (by accident of course).  A shallow puff piece for former First Lady and Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, began with the tag line, "For the first time in more than three decades, Hillary Clinton is waking up as a private citizen." This was followed by me re-swallowing my breakfast. 

I can understand not considering her a "private citizen" during her tenure as Secretary of State and Senator, but the math only works if we are considering the First Lady of the united States and the First Lady of Arkansas as public non-citizens, or whatever the opposite of "private citizen" is.  Maybe I'm the only person in the world whom this bothers, but I seriously doubt that it is in the spirit of the framers' intentions to hold the president and his family in such high public esteem.  Building them their own palace was the beginning of the end.