AMERICAN FIRST LADIES
Their Lives and Their Legacy
edited by LEWIS L. GOULD
GARLAND PUBLISHING, INC. NewYork S^London 1996 Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction:The First Lady as Symbol and Institution Lewis L. Gould
MarthaWashington 2 Patricia Brady
Abigail Adams 16 Phyllis Lee Levin
Dollej Madison 45 Holly Cowan Shulman
Elizabeth Monroe 69 Julie K. Fix
Louisa Adams 80 Lynn Hudson Parsons CONTENTS
Anna Harrison 98 Nancy Beck Young
LetitiaTyler 109 Melba Porter Hay
Julia Tyler 111 Melba Porter Hay
Sarah Polk 130 Jayne Crumpler DeFiore
Margaret Taylor 145 Thomas H. Appleton Jr.
Abigail Eillmore 154 Kristin Hoganson
Jane Pierce 166 Debbie Mauldin Cottrell
Mary Todd Lincoln 174 Jean H. Baker
Eliza Johnson 191 Nancy Beck Young CONTENTS
Julia Grant 202 John Y. Simon
Lucy Webb Hayes 216 Olive Hoogenboom
Lucretia Garfield 230 Allan Peskin
Frances Folsom Cleveland 243 Sue Severn
Caroline Scott Harrison 260 Charles W. Calhoun
Ida Saxton McKinley 211 JohnJLeJfler
Edith Kermit Roosevelt 294 Stacy A. Cordery
Helen Herr on Toft 321 Stacy A. Cordery
EllenAxsonWilson 340 Shelley Sallee CONTENTS
Edith BollingWilson 355 Lewis L. Gould
Florence Kling Harding 368 Carl Sferrazza Anthony
Grace Goodhue Coolidge 384 Kiistie Miller
Lou Henry Hoover 409 Debbie Mauldin Cottrell
J Eleanor Roosevelt 422 Allida M. Black
Bess Truman 449 Maurine H. Beasley
Mamie Eisenhower 463 Martin M. Teasley
Jacqueline Kennedy 416 Betty Boyd Caroli
Lady Bird Johnson 496 Lewis L. Gould CONTENTS
Patricia Nixon 520 Carl SJerrazza Anthony
Betty Ford 536 John Pope
Rosalynn Carter 556 Kathy B. Smith
Nancy Reagan 583 James G. Benzejr.
Barbara Bush 608 Myra Gutin
Hillary Rodham Clinton 630 ^
Lewis L. Gould
65 1 AppendixA-.The Siena College First Lady Polls, 1982, 1993
65 5 Appendix B: Presidents and First Ladies, 1789-1994
6JJ7 Contributors
663 Portrait Credits
665 Index
• ix •