She will not appear on an episode of "The West Wing" as Mrs. Bartlet, but Sally Renfro, a junior in College of Arts Sciences, was playing the role of the real first lady for the cameras of NBC on Friday morning before the inauguration.
Renfro was recruited by friend and fellow AU student Kate Black, a senior in the School of Communication, who was serving as a runner for NBC's pool coverage of the Inauguration.
"They needed stand-ins, and I happened to be the right height for Laura Bush," Renfro said.
At a five-feet, six-inch height and playing her part under the lights and cameras of NBC, Renfro wore a "sandwich board" sign that read "Mrs. Bush" in large letters for the camera operators to recognize. Dozens of eyes of the tourists in the Capitol crypt were also focused on the "acting first lady" Friday morning. Snapping a photo with the "acting first family" was popular with the tourists after the event.
"We were kind of the center of attention for a while," Renfro said of the many flash bulbs that were pointed her way as she made the ceremonial walk through the crypt.
Each television network staged their own walk of the first family to-be and other major Inaugural participants through the crypt of the Capitol, down two flights of stairs to the door where the Bush's would emerge onto the Inaugural platform the next day.
The NBC camera operators cleared the path of people as Renfro began her stroll.
"It was awesome, like the parting of the Red Sea," she said.
The atmosphere, even though she was wearing a sandwich board sign, culminated the most "awe-inspiring" walk of Renfro's life, she said.
"I can't imagine what it would be like to be the first lady, to live that life," Renfro said.
As she proceeded though the crowd of tourists through the crypt, Renfro said her first thought was how "way cool" her experience was, then she thought "don't look at the camera," and finally as she approached the first set of stairs, she thought "don't fall!"
That was one thought that Renfro speculated also ran through the mind of Mrs. Bush during her walk on Saturday. Renfro said that Bush's experience must have been what she felt herself, magnified by an entire country's attention.
The most impressive part of the experience, Renfro said, was how excited the crowd of tourists was about the staged event.
"They were excited enough about the whole [Inauguration to come] to cheer on people who were wearing sandwich boards," she said.
Renfro's thoughts on the new first lady are focused primarily on how different she is from Hillary Clinton.
"She represents a different kind of woman," Renfro said.
One style of first lady is not necessarily better than another, she said, but they are just different.
Renfro was particularly impressed with Mrs. Bush's public denouncement of the idea of overturning Roe v. Wade last week.
"I just find it intriguing that as supportive she is of her husband, she still says what she thinks," Renfro said.
Renfro's interest in politics is about as deep as how it affects her, she said. She interned with Congressman Jerry Moran, R-Kan., last year. Renfro is an officer in the Resident Hall Association and a member of the Air Force ROTC on campus, as well.
Brian Benenati, an SOC senior, was also recruited for the staging. He played the role of Chief Justice William Rehnquist and of President Bush's walk down the steps toward his limousine after the swearing-in for the NBC crew.
