Anita McBride is an internationally recognized expert on the legacies of American first ladies and operations of the White House. She serves as an Executive in Residence at the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at the School of Public Affairs at American University in Washington, DC, where she leads the First Ladies Initiative. She is the co-author of Remember the First Ladies: The Legacies of America’s History-Making Women and a first-of-its-kind textbook, U.S. First Ladies: Making History and Leaving Legacies (2023), filling a critical gap in academic literature on the study of first ladies and their impact on politics, policy and global diplomacy. She also co-authored, with her daughter, a children’s book, First Ladies Make History, published by the White House Historical Association. She is a founding member of the First Ladies Association for Research and Education (FLARE), a national organization affiliated with American University’s School of Public Affairs, which promotes research and education about the lives, contributions, and lasting legacies of U.S. First Ladies.

McBride is Co-Chair of In Pursuit, a national initiative of More Perfect in partnership with Substack, launched to mark America’s 250th anniversary. This project features essays by presidents, first ladies, justices, historians, and civic leaders that reflect on lessons of U.S. leadership and connect our history to the pursuit of a more perfect union.

McBride is a highly sought after speaker and media expert on first ladies, presidential transitions and White House operations and has appeared on all major network and cable news outlets and in national print media. She also has served as a consultant to HBO’s Emmy-award winning series, Veep.

McBride’s expertise on the White House and the influence of first ladies was acquired through her two decades of experience serving in senior roles under Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush in the White House and U.S. Department of State. She also served as Chief of Staff to First Lady Laura Bush, where she directed the first lady’s work on a wide range of global and domestic initiatives. McBride is one of the longest-tenured women in White House history.

McBride is active in a number of organizations serving in leadership roles including as a board officer of the White House Historical Association where she Chairs the Association’s biannual Presidential Sites Summit – a convening of 200+ presidential historic sites from across the nation to promote civic education and the understanding and appreciation of presidential history. She is a member of the Government Affairs committee of the United States Semiquincentennial Commission (America 250), the congressional entity established to help plan the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. McBride is also a member of the Committee of Scholars of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum and on the National Advisory Board for the National First Ladies Library.