Last week America swore in our 45th President. Whole libraries exist dedicated to the lives of our leaders. Indeed any bookstore worth its salt includes a biography section dedicated to our Presidents. But what about the other leadership position in the White House? No, not the Vice President–the title that comes with no description, but a whole lot of responsibilities: the First Lady.
The History of the First Lady
Not every President has taken his oath with a wife standing by. However, the role of First Lady is filled with every new leader, by nieces, sisters, or close family friends. Even if a First Lady enters the office along with the new POTUS, but dies while he is in office, a new person always fills the position for the remainder of his tenure. First Ladies have been everything from actresses to career politicians, advocates for social change and even once taking over when the Chief became too ill to fulfill his duties alone.
In honor of this diverse and oft-overlooked post, we’ve put together a reading list of books about our First Ladies, from Martha to Michelle.
Martha Washington
America’s first First Lady, Martha Washington took the post reluctantly. Her marriage to George was her second, but instead of quiet years by his side, she wound up with the Father of our nation. Martha was so opposed to her husband becoming president that she did not attend his inauguration. For more on Martha, check out Patricia Brady’s Martha Washington: An American Life.
Abigail Adams
Abigail Adams had so much to say that she is often considered a founding mother of the United States. Her husband, the second president John Adams, did very little without first consulting her. Their letters are well-preserved and reprinted in My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams.
Martha Jefferson
The Jeffersons are the first First Family with a surrogate First Lady. POTUS Thomas Jefferson’s wife Martha passed away several decades before he took office. As a result, his devoted daughter (also named Martha) took on the role and stayed by his side until he died.
Dolley Madison
As the first social First Lady, Dolley Madison’s legacy lead to her own brand of ice cream that was sold well into the 1990s. Madison was the first and only First Lady with a seat in Congress, and helped rebuild the White House after the fire of 1812. Most notably, Madison saved the portrait of George Washington which now hangs at the Smithsonian portrait gallery. For more on her partnership with POTUS James Madison, pick up Bruce Chadwick’s James and Dolley Madison: America’s First Power Couple.
Elizabeth Monroe
Due to her poor health, Elizabeth Monroe never moved to DC. She left most of the First Lady duties to her daughter, Eliza. While she and POTUS James Monroe kept frequent correspondence while he served in Washington, all their letters were destroyed.
Louisa Adams
The sixth first lady and our next first lady have one thing in common: they are the only two to hold this position who were born outside of the United States. Louisa was plagued with poor health and depression, but she kept track of her travels and her time in the White House. Her writings have been published in a volume titled A Traveled First Lady: Writings of Louisa Catherine Adams.
Rachel Jackson
Rachel Jackson died just a few days before her husband Andrew Jackson was sworn into office. Her niece Emily Donelson took on the role of First Lady while her Uncle served as POTUS. If you’re still curious about Andrew and Rachel’s time together, you can read about their courtship in A Being So Gentle: The Frontier Love Story of Rachel and Andrew Jackson by Patricia Brady.
Van Buren, Harrison, and Tyler
The next three presidential tenures were a bit of a whirlwind. Martin Van Buren took office in 1837 and served the standard four year term, but his wife Hannah died long before he made it to the White House in 1819. Van Buren never remarried, and as such his daughter-in-law Angelica Van Buren served as First Lady instead.
William Henry Harrison took office in 1841, but his wife Anna did not join him in DC due to poor health. She was packing to move when news of his death reached her a month later.
John Tyler, Harrison’s Vice President, then took office as POTUS. His wife Letitia inherited the title of First Lady, but died while her husband was in office. Tyler remarried two years later and his new bride Julia served as First Lady until he left office in 1845. If you’re still curious about any of these First Ladies, check out the official First Lady website.
Sarah Polk
The straight-laced Sarah Polk served her position with very few frills. She refrained from dancing even at the inaugural ball, abstained from drinking and banned card games from the White House. “Sahara Sarah’s” discipline made her an unpopular host, but paid off in other circles, as she was a trusted adviser to her husband. John Bumgarner wrote a complete biography of her life in Sarah Childress Polk: A Biography of the Remarkable First Lady.
Taylor, Filmore, and Pierce
Margaret Mackall Smith Taylor is another First Lady lost to history. Her poor health (and total lack of interest in government) lead her to step down from most duties tied to the position, and her daughter Mary Elizabeth took on what her mother could not bear.
When POTUS Zachary Taylor passed away from a stomach ailment, Vice President Millard Fillmore stepped up to fill the position. Along with him came First Lady Abigail Fillmore. Abigail had much the same attitude toward the position as her predecessor, leaving many of the public and social elements of the role to her daughter Abby. Abigail did, however, initiate an official White House Library and tended to the garden with great care.
Jane Pierce took over the role when her husband Franklin became President in 1853. Jane continued the tradition of the reluctant FLOTUS, fainting at the news when her husband was chosen as the Democratic nominee for the position. She had three children, all of whom died before Franklin took office. This caused Jane a great deal of distress, and she spent most of her time in the White House secluded. Ann Covell wrote Jane’s biography, simply titled Jane Means Appleton Pierce.
James Buchanan: The Bachelor President
After a swath of reluctant first ladies, perhaps the White House needed a palate cleanser. Enter James Buchanan (not Barnes), who remained a bachelor for his entire life.
Buchanan may not have needed a First Lady, but America had grown used to the post being filled, and so his niece Harriet Lane filled the role for his entire time as POTUS. You can find more about her in Milton Stern’s Harriet Lane, America’s First Lady.
Mary Todd Lincoln
Mary Todd Lincoln didn’t have the option of hiding in the White House. Her husband Abraham Lincoln is still one of the most famous men to hold the title of POTUS, thanks to his leadership during and after the Civil War. But it turns out that the couple struggled as much in their private lives as they did in the spotlight, as Mary Todd suffered from a variety of psychological disorders, all of which went undiagnosed in her lifetime. You can read more about her mental illnesses in Jason Emerson’s Mary Lincoln’s Insanity: The Discovery of Her Lost Letters. If you’d like Mary’s thoughts with less editorializing, you can find her own letters and thoughts in Mary Todd Lincoln: Her Life and Letters.
Eliza Johnson
While she was alive, Eliza Johnson made herself scarce. Eliza suffered from tuberculosis until finally it took her life in 1876. While her husband was President, Eliza only made two public appearances, passing on the duties of First Lady to her daughter Martha. Jean Choate has written two books about Eliza, Unknown First Lady, and Eliza Johnson in Perspective.
Julia Grant
Julia Dent was the first First Lady who took the role from “private hostess” to “national figure”. Unlike so many of her predecessors, Julia took on the role with great enthusiasm. She enjoyed her tenure so much, in fact, that she tried to extend her stay in the White House when the 1876 election ended in dispute. She argued that even though her husband did not run for a third term, he should remain President until another election was held. You can read about this dynamic woman and how she changed the role of First Lady forever in her own words, in The Personal Memoirs of Julia Dent Grant.
Lucy Hayes
The Hayes First Ladyship was riddled with firsts. Lucy Hayes was the first to take on a public calendar independent of the President. She was the first to travel to the west coast while her husband was POTUS. She was also the first to commission portraits of past first ladies to hang in the White House along with former Presidents. While some first ladies redecorated or refurnished the White House when their husbands took office, Hayes focused all her efforts on expanding and updating the White House conservatories.
To find out more about this First Lady with a Green Thumb, check out Emily Apt Greer’s First Lady: The Life of Lucy Webb Hayes.
Lucretia Garfield
Lucretia made a strong impression in a short amount of time. Her husband took office in March of 1881, but was shot that September and died from the wound. In the time she was enstated, however, Lucretia made some sweeping changes in the White House in order to restore the building to its former glory. After her family left the White House to make way for the Clevelands, Lucretia instituted a Presidential Library for her husbands’ papers. Two titles of her own writings are now available, titled Crete and James: Personal Letters of Lucretia and James Garfield, and Our Home: Or the Key to a Nobler Life.
Ellen Arthur, Frances Cleveland, and Caroline Harrison
Ellen Arthur never actually saw the inside of the White House, as she died from pneumonia two years before her husband took office. Instead, Chester’s sister Mary took on the now well-established role of White House hostess. Procedures that the sibling duo put in place for social functions at the White House were used as protocol for many decades thereafter.
Frances Cleveland is a First Lady with many other ‘First’s to her name. As the youngest First lady at 21 years old, she was the first to serve two non-consecutive terms, the first presidential widow to remarry, and the first to marry in the White House. Frances was staunchly anti-feminist, but did a lot of work to alleviate poverty, and establish kindergartens in America. Annette Dunlap covers these and many other facets to this complex woman’s life in Frank: The Story of Frances Folson Cleveland, America’s Youngest First Lady.
Caroline Harrison, on the other hand, worked to raise funds for Johns Hopkins University Medical School–but only under the condition that they begin admitting women. Under Caroline’s watchful eye, the White House was carefully updated with electric lights, new floors and plumbing, and additional bathrooms. Caroline also help found the Daughters of the American Revolution. Unfortunately, her life was cut short when she contracted TB, which ultimately took her life just a few months shy of her husband leaving office. Their daughter Mary McKee took on the role of hostess in her mother’s stead. You can find more on Caroline’s life and times in Anne Chieko Moore’s Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison.
Ida McKinley
Ida McKinley’s time in the White House was tumultuous, to say the least. Having suffered the loss of her mother and two daughters in quick succession, Ida’s health eroded quickly and she endured regular seizures for the rest of her life. President McKinley went to great lengths to take care of her, changing protocols in the White House and calling off public tours to tend to her instead. When he was assassinated in 1901, they two were on tour in New York, but Ida was not by his side when he was shot. After his death, she returned to her home in Ohio where her younger sister took up the duties once tended by Ida’s doting husband. Carl Anthony attempts to capture Ida’s life in his book Ida McKinley: The Turn-of-the-Century First Lady Through War, Assassination, and Secret Disability.
Edith Roosevelt
As the first Roosevelt in the White House, Edith made it difficult to live up to her reputation. For the first time in many years, the First Lady took an active interest in the politics of the day, and voiced her opinions directly to the President. Though her tenure began with a nation in mourning following President McKinley’s assassination, Edith eventually turned the White House into a busy and popular social setting for politicians and laymen alike. Edith was also very dedicated to her six children and spent time reading with them daily.
In his book Edith Kermit Roosevelt: Creating The Modern First Lady, biographer Lewis Gould touches on these elements of her life, but also digs into the less appealing, such as her views on African-Americans, and her tense relationship with Helen Taft. For a biography from a female author, check out Sylvia Morris’ Portrait of a First Lady.
Helen Herron Taft
Washington DC is well known for its cherry blossoms in the spring. However, the trees are not native to DC, in fact, the first two were personally planted by First Lady Helen “Nellie” Taft. Nellie embodied the flapper women of her time; she was the first First Lady to drive a car, smoke cigarettes, lobby for safety standards in the Federal Workplace, and publicly support women’s suffrage. Nellie also stood opposed to her husbands views on prohibition: he supported the cause, but she did not, and she showed her cards by continuing to serve alcohol at the White House. Nellie was also the first to publish her own memoirs, titled Recollections of Full Years. Both Carl Anthony and Lewis Gould wrote biographies on her, titled The Unconventional First Lady of the Ragtime Era, and Our Musical First Lady, respectively.
Ellen and Edith Wilson
Ellen Wilson was Woodrow’s wife when he took office, but died only two years into his first term. The love letters between the two were numerous, and are now collected in a book titled The Priceless Gift. Almost two years after she passed, Woodrow fulfilled her wishes and remarried a young woman named Edith Bolling Galt. Edith went on to effectively act as the Executive Branch of government when Woodrow suffered a stroke in 1919. She decided what issues made their way to the President, as well as when they reached him. Edith wrote about her life in My Memoir, and the letters between herself and President Wilson are gathered in The Courtship Letters of Woodrow Wilson and Edith Bolling Galt. Can’t get enough Edith? Neither can we! Check out Madam President: The Secret Presidency of Edith Wilson for a third-party view of her time in the White House.
Florence Harding
Florence Harding had the misfortune of marrying one of the least popular Presidents in all our country’s history. Regardless of his reputation, Florence put her best foot forward even as numerous scandals were uncovered in her husband’s name. While Warren’s adultery and bribery were exposed, Florence worked with veterans and rallied for causes as varied as the League of Nations, fighting against animal experimentation, and ending racism in America. You can find out about these topics and much more in Katherine Sibley’s First Lady Florence Harding: Behind the Tragedy and Controversy.
Grace Coolidge
Grace Coolidge was not a fan of the spotlight. However, as First Lady, she was very active with popular organizations such as the Red Cross. She penned her autobiography, though it appears it was not published until 1993. The “First Lady of Baseball” spent more time away from DC than in it, choosing to stay behind when her husband’s political career began as Governor of Massachusetts. For more on this quiet couple, check out Ishbel Ross’ Grace Coolidge and her Era, or Robert H. Ferrell’s The People’s Lady in Silent Cal’s White House.
Lou Hoover
A rather active outdoors-girl from early on, Lou Hoover’s most loved organization was the Girl Scouts of America. Lou was raised in the outdoors, riding horses and hunting with her father. Her marriage began in a severely feminist way for her day, with a delay on the wedding festivities so that she could complete her education while Calvin worked as an engineer in Australia. Lou’s complete life story is told in several books, all (appropriately) by female authors. Biographers Anne Allen, Nancy Young, and Nancy Colbert wrote An Independent Woman: The Life Of Lou Henry Hoover, Lou Henry Hoover: Activist First LadyLou Henry Hoover: The Duty to Serve, and , respectively.
Eleanor Roosevelt
One of the most famous and easily quoted First Ladies, many books have been written about Eleanor Roosevelt. Not only did Eleanor pen her autobiography, but a volume of her historic radio broadcasts was published in 2014. Blanche Cook took on this amazing first lady’s life and times, but could not limit herself to one volume on the subject, and instead published a total of three.
Bess Truman
In stark contrast to her predecessor, Bess Truman stayed away from politics as much as possible. In her time as First Lady, she only held one press conference, during which she made it very clear that she was entirely uninterested in politics and the spotlight that came with it. President Truman found her one night throwing many of the letters they’d exchanged into a fireplace. However, she missed almost 200 of them, which were eventually discovered by her grandson and published in a book titled Dear Harry, Love Bess: Bess Truman’s Letters to Harry Truman.
Mamie Eisenhower
Swinging back to a First Lady who enjoyed the spotlight, Mamie Eisenhower set off a nation-wide trend of “Mamie” pink clothes, household appliances and interior decorating. She was also famously frugal, cutting out coupons and passing them out among White House staff. Mamie’s recipe for “Million Dollar Fudge” became popular nationwide after it was reproduced in several publications. Mamie’s granddaughter pays tribute to her powerhouse lifestyle in Mrs. Ike, and historian Marilyn Holt completed the first “scholarly” biography on her in Mamie Doud Eisenhower: The General’s First Lady.
Jacqueline Kennedy
As far as famous First Ladies go, Jackie Kennedy may take the top position. Many books have been written about almost every aspect of her life, including before and after her brief stint in the White House. Of course, the entire Kennedy family is bathed in limelight, but Jackie’s legacy as a fashion icon and devoted mother and wife heighten her personal story.
When she became pregnant with John Jr. and had to stay home from the campaign trail, she answered questions and kept up correspondence with constituents via a syndicated newspaper column titled Campaign Wife. John Jr.’s birth via C-section was covered obsessively by the press, in what is now considered the first major public interest in the Kennedy family.
While John Kennedy was President, Jackie focused her efforts on the arts in America–preserving as well as funding new artistic endeavors across the nation. John died before she could complete her project of a Department for the Arts, however, she stayed active in creating the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Barbara Leaming’s Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: The Untold Story and Sarah Bradford’s America’s Queen are great books for an overview of Jackie’s life. You can also find more on Jackie’s life post-White House in Jackie as Editor: The Literary Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Reading Jackie: Her Autobiography in Books.
Lady Bird Johnson
Claudia Alta “Lady Bird” Johnson earned her nickname in infancy, though it appropriately predicted where her priorities would fall as First Lady. In addition to breaking ground as the first First Lady to interact directly with Congress, hire a Press Secretary for herself, and hold a solo electioneering tour, First Lady Johnson campaigned heavily for natural preservation and beautification.
While in the White House, Lady Bird kept a diary which she published just a year after her husband left office. Biographer Lewis Gould highlighted Lady Bird’s interest in nature in his book Lady Bird Johnson: Our Environmental First Lady. Michael Gillette compiled the results of almost 20 years of personal interviews with the First Lady, in Lady Bird Johnson: An Oral History.
Pat Nixon
Pat Nixon worked with a variety of volunteer organizations, and encouraged her fellow Americans to do the same. Her Thanksgiving feasts in the White House hosted first a group of senior citizens without families, and then wounded servicemen. She worked very hard to make the White House and Presidential family more accessible to the public, offering public tours for the first time and commissioning pamphlets in multiple languages about each room in the mansion, so that visitors could learn more about the artifacts therein.
Pat Nixon was the first First Lady to speak in favor of the Equal Rights Amendment, encouraged her husband to elect a woman to the supreme court, and generally believed women should take an active interest in politics. Pat’s daughter Julie Nixon-Eisenhower details her mother’s life in Pat Nixon: The Untold Story. You can find more on her in Mary Brennan’s Pat Nixon: Embattled First Lady.
Betty Ford
When Gerald Ford took over the Office of President following Nixon’s resignation, it became immediately clear that his wife was the more popular of the two. Betty Ford, for all the criticism she caught from her fellow republicans, was easily one of the most candid First Ladies in history. During her time in the White House and, indeed, until her death, Betty was a vocal supporter of women’s rights including abortion and healthcare.
Additionally, Betty was open about drug and alcohol use, speaking honestly about her own struggles with addiction. She spoke about her sexual relationship with the President, admitting that they shared a bed and had sex “as often as possible”. Betty penned two biographies: The Times of My Life, and Betty: A Glad Awakening. The first was published before she entered treatment for her addiction, the second deals with the addiction and treatment almost exclusively.
For a third-party view of Betty’s life, check out Candor and Courage in the White House, by John Robert Greene.
Rosalynn Carter
Rosalynn Carter was allowed into her husband’s meetings with Congress. She did not participate in proceedings, but took notes so that she would be well-informed when traveling, meeting dignitaries, and representing her Husband. The major cause that she focused on was mental health in America, seeking to remove the stigma related to mental illness.
Like Betty before her, Rosalynn’s approval rating skyrocketed even as her husband’s sank, thanks in part to her active support of women’s rights and healthcare. Find out more about First Lady Carter’s active participation in the Presidency in Scott Kaufman’s Rosalynn Carter: Equal Partner in the White House.
Nancy Reagan
Dubbed her husband’s unofficial protector after an attempt on his life, Nancy was well known for her devotion to Ronald. Her time in the White House was often compared to Jackie Kennedy’s thanks to her fashion sense and preference for a glamorous lifestyle. Nancy’s major campaign as First Lady was the “Just Say No” program, an anti-drug movement still active across the country.
In her memoir My Turn, Nancy talks about her relationships with her husband and her children, her battle with breast cancer, and her time in the White House.
Barbara Bush
Continuing what was by that time a tradition, First Lady Barbara Bush chose a cause close to her heart and worked towards it during her tenure in the White House. Barbara’s cause was family literacy, and she encouraged parents to read with their children regularly to end the cycle of illiteracy in America. She continues to this day to work with the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, though her children have officially taken over as co-chairs.
The White House staff found First Lady Bush to be the friendliest and most easy-going First Lady up to that point, and the American people agreed. While Barbara spoke often about literacy and her pets and gave to charities, she was silent on more controversial issues and believed that the Republican party should not have official stances on Homosexuality or abortion. It was this neutrality that made her more appealing to a wide audience.
Barbara published her memoir in 2010, two years after her son George W. Bush left the Presidential office.
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Despite her post-graduate degrees and years fighting for women’s rights and healthcare reform for children, Hillary Rodham Clinton became one of the most controversial First Ladies when she chose to stay by her husband’s side through the Lewinsky Scandal. After Eleanor Roosevelt, Hillary was the second most politically active First Lady. She was the first to have her own office in the West Wing in addition to the traditional First Lady office in the East Wing.
Hillary went on to run for President twice–the first time losing the Democratic primaries to Barack Obama, and the second losing the general election to Republican candidate Donald Trump.
Many books are now on the market about various elements of Hillary’s life and campaigns, but she has also written several books about herself. Perhaps the most all-encompassing is her book Living History, published in 2004.
Laura Bush
Following in her Mother-in-law’s footsteps, Laura Bush was also among the most popular First Ladies. Laura also focused on literacy, but more heavily on education starting early and maintaining quality throughout a student’s life. After the tragedy of 9/11, Laura emphasized the importance of talking with children about the events, saying:
“[W]e need to reassure our children that they are safe in their homes and schools. We need to reassure them that many people love them and care for them, and that while there are some bad people in the world, there are many more good people.”
Laura also worked to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS and Malaria around the world.
First Lady Bush published her memoir Spoken From the Heart the same year as her mother-in-laws. For more on Laura’s legacy as first lady, see Beatrice Gormlee’s Laura Bush: America’s First Lady.
Michelle Obama
In 2008, Michelle Obama became the first African-American first lady. She and her husband Barack paved the way as the first non-white couple to serve as President and First Lady in the White House. As First Lady, Michelle created the “Let’s Move” initiative, encouraging families and especially children to get active together. She also insisted on all vegetables and fruits served at the White House to come from gardens on the White House grounds, which she frequently tended herself.
Michelle supported equal rights for women and the LGBTQ+ community, and promoted bills that supported her husband’s political priorities such as healthcare reform and economic stimulus bills. Both Michelle and her husband spent a great deal of time getting to know veteran and active military families all over America.
Michelle was well known as First Lady for her support of the arts and arts education. Perhaps the most specific example of this is her support of the musical Hamilton, a hip-hop show with a diverse main cast that reflects the current melting pot of the American population. For a biography on her life from Chicago to DC, check out Peter Slevin’s Michelle Obama: A Life, or Liza Mundy’s Michelle.
An Overview of the First Ladies
Still haven’t gotten enough the women that keep our country running? There are plenty of books that give a sweeping overview of the position. Pick up Margaret Truman’s First Ladies, Kate Andersen Brower’s First Women: The Grace and Power of America’s Modern First Ladies, and Cokie Roberts’ Ladies of Liberty: The Women who Shaped Our Nation for starters. For even MORE, you can visit the official First Ladies website, the White House History page, or the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
