Eight of the over 19,000 Ukrainian children abducted and forcibly removed from their home country by Russia since the start of Vladimir Putin’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine were recently returned, thanks, in part, to the efforts of Melania Trump.

Outraged like many by the blatant exploitation of innocent children, Mrs. Trump penned a personal letter to Putin that was delivered during the Alaska Summit in August. A simple but unanticipated gesture, her letter and subsequent communication helped reunite the children with their families in Ukraine. However, thousands of Ukrainian kids are still missing — stolen from their families and their homeland in a systematic attempt by Putin to erase their Ukrainian identity. Let’s not forget that the International Criminal Court went so far as to issue an arrest warrant in 2023 for both Putin and his Children’s Rights Commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, for their horrific assault on Ukraine’s children.

Like other first ladies before her, Mrs. Trump’s actions make a difference. The role of first lady follows no rulebook but does transcend history. Over more than two centuries, first ladies’ influence has expanded to include more responsibilities and more opportunities to lead, research from the George W. Bush Institute has shown.

Doing what is right isn’t always what's easy — and that’s especially true now as Putin callously attempts to manipulate the narrative.

But illustrations abound of the incredible and individualized leadership of first spouses in other consequential times and on other controversial issues. They range from small acts of empathy to flagship programs:

• Barbara Bush’s

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