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 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 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 •