The Second Lady

The Second Lady is a political thriller by Irving Wallace.

Plot

During a good-will visit to the Soviet Union, the American president's wife is kidnapped and replaced with a Russian spy who is visibly indistinguishable from the first lady. The spy was trained with the help of an American-born KGB agent who moved to the Soviet Union as a teenager.

The Soviets need a spy close to the president in order to learn the weaknesses of an American-backed regime in Africa, which is currently the focus of a stand-off between the superpowers. Some people close to the real first lady eventually realize they're dealing with a spy, but can't prove it. They do, however, stop the spy from delivering her information by surreptitiously informing her the Soviets will execute her afterwards to ensure her silence.

Ultimately, the Soviets decide to kill the president's real wife using explosives, and leave the spy in place. However, they are unaware that the KGB agent has defected and arranged for the spy to rendezvous with him and the real first lady. The plan is only partly successful - one of the women survives, but it is not clear which. The reader is left to decide whether the woman who returns to the president is indeed his real wife or the spy.

The Second

The Second is the second studio album by Canadian-American rock band Steppenwolf, released in 1968 on ABC Dunhill Records. The album contains one of Steppenwolf's most famous songs, "Magic Carpet Ride". The background of the original ABC LP cover was a shiny "foil", in contrast to later (MCA Records) LP issues and the modern CD sleeve.

Featuring a style incorporating psychedelic music as well as aggressive hard rock, the release has received critical acclaim both when it came out as well as in later years. For example, Allmusic critic Bruce Eder stated that, though "highly derivative" of their first album, The Second had "very hard and edgy" tracks with the band "in excellent form".

Track listing

All tracks composed by John Kay, except where indicated.

Side one

Side two

Second Lady

A Second Lady is a title sometimes used in reference to the wife of a vice president or a lieutenant governor, styled relative to the title of First Lady, the wife of a president or governor. Although no country grants any legal power to second ladies, their duties often include the following:

According to the United States State Department Office of Protocol, the term is considered an anachronism.

List

 Taiwan: Tsai Ling-yi

 United States: Jill Biden

Other usage

Monica Lewinsky, who was involved in a relationship with President Bill Clinton, was jokingly referred to as the "Second Lady".

See also

References