THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 11, 1994 TAG: 9407110109
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALEC KLEIN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA LENGTH: Long : 123 lines
Susan Allen glides down the halls of parliament, paying little heed to the swarm of bodyguards and attendants trailing her every public move.
Thousands of miles from home, she appears at ease in an exotic land - a picture of grace, a soft smile welcoming the camera. Yet in a quiet moment after midnight, away from the orbit of attention, she lowers her guard ever so slightly:
``I have to tell somebody what I'm doing all the time. That's very frustrating. I tried to explain it to my brother the other day . . . `Remember how when we were very young and we couldn't wait to get older so we wouldn't have to tell our parents?' ''
Few details go unmonitored, unrecorded in the public life of Susan Brown Allen. Of late, even more eyes have been trained on Virginia's first lady.
Last week, Allen returned from a seven-day excursion to the sub-Sahara, where she led a delegation of business and administration officials on a trade and tourism mission. Never before has the wife of a Virginia governor crossed continents to lead such a high-profile state visit.
Just six months into her husband's administration, Allen is no longer following the traditional script of a first lady; at 33, she is taking a more prominent role. A fiercely devoted wife, she sold her husband to voters on the campaign trail last year. Now she's marketing Gov. George F. Allen's ideas.
``She has skillfully carved out a niche for herself as a saleslady, which she is,'' said J. Scott Leake, a staff adviser to Republican lawmakers.
``I just try very hard hopefully not to make too many blunders,'' she said.
Allen is a former hotel marketing director from Albemarle County who looks the part of a striking Laura Ashley country belle.
For public consumption, she deftly presents herself as a '90s version of a '50s woman, carving out issues of substance but keeping her husband and children above all else - with the help of a nanny, a cook and a butler at the mansion.
She wants to be taken seriously. But she also wants people to think of her more as a loyal Barbara Bush than a take-charge Hillary Clinton.
``I have a very unique position,'' she said. ``I'm not actually part of the administration. I do not sign legislation. I do not formulate policy.''
But Allen does set a tone.
Despite her want for privacy, she has barnstormed across the commonwealth, pushing tourism, crusaded for children's welfare and placed her mark on the governor's mansion.
The stately grounds have been adorned with a lemonade stand and swing set for her two children, 6-year-old Tyler and 3-year-old Forrest. Tourists gawk at the playthings, but the symbolism is unmistakable: family values.
``Certainly, there's a bit of (public relations) spinning going on, but on the other hand, it seems to really embody what their beliefs are,'' said political scientist Robert D. Holsworth of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.
Even as Allen assumes a larger public role and crafts a wholesome image, she remains almost impenetrable. ``You're always on guard,'' she said, ``because you learn quickly, very early on that it's very easy to get burned.''
Allen is uncomfortable talking about her own background, offering details like little album snapshots:
A middle child born in Florida. A girl of modest dreams who ran for a modest post in her fifth-grade student government. A cheerleader and horseback rider. A graduate of the University of South Carolina.
``My life is much more interesting now,'' she says.
One subject seems to evoke a passion for the past - her father, who served two tours as a Marine in Vietnam.
``I remember every night, my mom crying at the dinner table watching the TV to see if my father's helicopter had been shot down.''
This glimpse Allen has shared with the media. But she is private about her emotions. She keeps a diary to which even her husband is not privy. ``It's sort of for my own keeping,'' she said.
Allen makes no secret, however, about two of her frustrations - inaccurate press reports on her husband and Democrats who have tried to pull a legislative sleight of hand on her GOP family man.
``He, perhaps, keeps a cooler head,'' she says.
``She's intensely calm,'' the 42-year-old governor says.
``She's the ideal political wife,'' says Barbara K. Moak, deputy secretary of administration whom the first lady calls ``mom.''
``I have wrinkles and gray hair from being in politics,'' Allen says.
She doesn't like her voice, either. But for a woman who once modeled wedding gowns, it may be only natural to note imperfections - and to strive to do things right under the public glare.
To date, Allen has managed with few missteps. In Africa, however, she caused some ripples. She did not attend a luncheon in Botswana, a small nation bordering South Africa, where other delegation members toasted the opening of Virginia's first trade office on the continent.
``Where is the first lady?'' a high-ranking Botswana official whispered.
Allen was sightseeing and meeting local dignitaries hours away in Gold Reef City, a tourist haven on the outskirts of Johannesburg.
The first lady's presence was also missed in Soweto, one of the most infamous living symbols of South Africa's fallen policy of apartheid. ``It bothered me because I wanted everyone to know'' about Soweto, said Linda Byrd Hardin, a delegation member and head of the state NAACP.
Allen said she knew. ``I've been there (six years ago), I've seen the horrible conditions,'' she said. ``But I also came here on a mission to promote tourism.''
The trip was largely a ceremonial affair, full of brief meetings and tours. But Allen also helped establish a link between tour operators in South Africa and Virginia, which could ultimately mean revenue and jobs back home, a central theme of her husband's term in office.
``I had full confidence Susan could do the job just fine,'' said a proud governor.
For all of her public exposure, Allen is vigilant of her family's privacy.
``There's one quote by Jackie O . ,'' Allen said. ``She said something about how her family was the most important thing and how she was going to try to make sure her children had a normal lifestyle. I know exactly how she feels.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff color photo by ALEC KLEIN
``I have a very unique position. i'm not actually part of the
administration. I do not sign legislation. i do not formulate
policy.''
Virginia first lady Susan Allen, right, with a gift for South
African dignitaries during her recent visit there.
KEYWORDS: PROFILE
by CNB