PHILADELPHIA – Barbara Bush promoted literacy among the youth of the nation. Lady Bird Johnson addressed beautification. Michelle Obama tackled childhood obesity.

First ladies have a history of devotion to great causes.

Will Bill Clinton follow suit if he re-enters the White House as “first man” or will he, given his former job, write a history of his own?

“There will certainly be a lot of jokes about him redecorating the White House or hosting receptions,” laughed Cat Ritcher, a Bernie Sanders delegate from South Philadelphia. “But he’ll do much more than that.”

Delegates found humor in the “Bill for First Lady” shirts being sold around Philadelphia this week, but many agreed that Clinton has the power and prestige to take the role of spouse to the president to a new level.

“Bill Clinton was the best president in my lifetime, and if he’s willing to serve as an adviser to his wife I think the country will be all for the better,” said Marcel Groen, chairman of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, as he awaited the former president’s address in the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday.

Clinton opened his speech with the words, “In the spring of 1971, I met a girl,” and he focused his talked on the couple’s teamwork throughout their careers.

Groen said the Clintons will understand each other’s duties if they return to the White House. He also said the former president should continue his Clinton Foundation work on climate change, global health and economic development.

“He’ll continue to grow in his work and help her to grow in hers,” he said

Hillary Clinton, with her background as a lawyer and advocate for social causes, played a substantive role as first lady for her husband. In 1993, she led a task force to overhaul the nation’s health care system. Her group’s proposal ultimately stalled.

Bill Courtwright, mayor of Scranton and a Clinton delegate, said Bill Clinton should take on that kind of role, serving his wife as an adviser.

“They say behind every great man is a great woman,” Courtwright said. “Now you have a great man behind a great woman.”

Jo Ellen Litz, a Clinton delegate from Lebanon, Pa., said she hopes such a “knowledgeable” first man will continue to work with already established causes of the Clinton Foundation and adopt new ones.

“He could do just about anything,” she said, praising the economic growth that occurred while Clinton was president in the 1990s.

Sylvia Wilson, a Clinton delegate from Pittsburgh and member of the Democratic National Committee, said she is confident the would-be first man will play a critical role in a Hillary Clinton administration.

“The man is so mega-intelligent and such a wealth of knowledge,” she said, “he’ll get much more accomplished than redecorating.”

Samantha Lauriello attends Pennsylvania State University and was among a group of student reporters covering this week’s Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.