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Modern First Ladies: Their Documentary Legacy. INSTITUTION National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC

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Modern First Ladies: Their Documentary Legacy. INSTITUTION National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC DOCUMENT RESUME ED 412 562 CS 216 046 AUTHOR Smith, Nancy Kegan, Comp.; Ryan, Mary C., Comp. TITLE Modern First Ladies: Their Documentary Legacy. INSTITUTION National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC. ISBN ISBN-0-911333-73-8 PUB DATE 1989-00-00 NOTE 189p.; Foreword by Don W. Wilson (Archivist of the United States). Introduction and Afterword by Lewis L. Gould. Published for the National Archives Trust Fund Board. PUB TYPE Collected Works General (020) -- Historical Materials (060) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC08 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Archives; *Authors; *Females; Modern History; Presidents of the United States; Primary Sources; Resource Materials; Social History; *United States History IDENTIFIERS *First Ladies (United States); *Personal Writing; Public Records; Social Power; Twentieth Century; Womens History ABSTRACT This collection of essays about the Presidential wives of the 20th century through Nancy Reagan. An exploration of the records of first ladies will elicit diverse insights about the historical impact of these women in their times. Interpretive theories that explain modern first ladies are still tentative and exploratory. The contention in the essays, however, is that whatever direction historical writing on presidential wives may follow, there is little question that the future role of first ladies is more likely to expand than to recede to the days of relatively silent and passive helpmates. Following a foreword and an introduction, essays in the collection and their authors are, as follows: "Meeting a New Century: The Papers of Four Twentieth-Century First Ladies" (Mary M. Wolf skill); "Not One to Stay at Home: The Papers of Lou Henry Hoover" (Dale C. Mayer); "'I Want You to Write to Me': The Papers of Anna Eleanor Roosevelt" (Frances M. Seeber); "Harry's Silent Partner: The Papers of Bess Truman" (Maurine H. Beasley); "Ike Was Her Career: The Papers of Mamie Doud Eisenhower" (Martin M. Teasley); "An Enduring Fascination: The Papers of Jacqueline Kennedy" (Mary Ann Watson); "A Journey of the Heart: The Papers of Lady Bird Johnson" (Nancy Kegan Smith); "'She Deserved So Much More': The Papers of Pat Nixon" (Paul A. Schmidt); "'If There Was Anything You Forgot to Ask...': The Papers of Betty Ford" (Karen M. Rohrer); "'These Are Precious Years': The Papers of Rosalynn Carter" (Faye Lind Jensen); and "'She Saves Everything': The Papers of Nancy Davis Reagan" (Carl Sferrazza Anthony). The collection concludes with an afterword and suggestions for further reading. (NKA) ******************************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * ******************************************************************************** A Their Documentary '. Legacy .411111116, 1 I **k el) COMPILED AND EDITED BY NANCY KEGAN SMITH AND -'0.4011" MARY C. RYAN INTRODUCTION AND AFTERWORD E LEWIS L. GOULD University of Texas U S DEPARTMENT OFEDUCATION Office a Educational Aereanlv andImoranomen1 EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESINFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproducedas tved from the person ororganization originating It NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND 0 Minor changes have beenmade to improve reproduction quality RECORDS ADMINISTRATION Points of view or opinions statedin this document do not necessanlyrepresent official OERI position or policy 2 BEST COPY AVAILABLE Modern Their Documentary FIrstLegacy Ladies Modern Documentary FirstLegacyL" Ladies COMPILED AND EDITED BY NANCY KEGAN SMITH AND MARY C. RYAN INTRODUCTION AND AFTERWORD BY LEWIS L. GOULD University of Texas FOREWORD BY DON W. WILSON Archivist of the United States NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION WASHINGTON, D.C. PUBLISHED FOR THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION BY THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES TRUST FUND BOARD 1989 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Modem first ladies. 1. Presidents-United States-Wives-Archives. I. Smith, Nancy Kegan. II. Ryan, Mary C., 1960- CD3029.82M63 1988 973.9'092'2 88-15263 ISBN 0-911333.73-8 Designed by Serene Feldman Werblood, National Archives Composed in Goody Old Style by Harper Graphics, Inc., Waldorf, Maryland Printed by Walsworth Press, Marceline, Missouri. Picture Credits: cover: Nancy Davis Reagan, courtesy of The White House; Eleanor Roosevelt, credit Bachrach, Inc.; Lady Bird Johnson, courtesy of the Lyndon B. Johnson Library. P.1, Douglas Chandor, Eleanor Roosevelt (detail), 1949, courtesy White House Historical Association; pp. 4, 97, 105, 170, John F. Kennedy Library; pp. 5, 47, 51, 53, 56, Herbert Hoover Library; pp. 7, 83, 86, 89, 91, 168, Dwight D. Eisenhower Library; pp. 10, 59, 62, 65, 67, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library; pp. 13, 131, 134, 137, 140, 173, Gerald R. Ford Library; pp. 19, 28, 33, 38, Library of Congress; p. 56, credit Bettmann Newsphotos; pp. 71, 75, 76, 80, Harry S. Truman Library; p. 101, courtesy CBS News; pp. 109, 112, 115, 118, Lyndon B. Johnson Library; pp. 121, 124, 127, 129, Nixon Presidential Materials Staff; pp. 143, 147, 150, 151, Jimmy Carter Library; pp. 155, 158, 161, 163, The White House. TABLE OF CONTENTS vii FOREWORD Don W. Wilson 1 INTRODUCTION MODERN FIRST LADIES: AN INSTITUTIONAL PERSPECTIVE Lewis L. Gould 19 MEETING A NEW CENTURY: THE PAPERS OF FOUR TWENTIETH-CENTURY FIRST LADIES Mary M. Wolfskill 47 NOT ONE TO STAY AT HOME: THE PAPERS OF Lou HENRY HOOVER Dale C. Mayer 59 "I WANT You TO WRITE TO ME": THE PAPERS OF ANNA ELEANOR ROOSEVELT Frances M. Seeber 71 HARRY'S SILENT PARTNER: THE PAPERS OF BESS TRUMAN Maurine H. Beasley 83 IKE WAS HER CAREER: THE PAPERS OF MAMIE DOUD EISENHOWER Martin M. Teasley 6 97 AN ENDURING FASCINATION: THE PAPERS OF JACQUELINE KENNEDY Mary Ann Watson 109 A JOURNEY OF THE HEART: THE PAPERS OF LADY BIRD JOHNSON Nancy Kegan Smith 121 "SHE DESERVED SO MUCH MORE": THE PAPERS OF PAT NIXON Paul A. Schmidt 131 "IF THERE WAS ANYTHING YOU FORGOT TO ASK . THE PAPERS OF BETTY FORD Karen M. Rohrer 143 "THESE ARE PRECIOUS YEARS": THE PAPERS OF ROSALYNN CARTER Faye Lind Jensen 155 "SHE SAVES EVERYTHING": THE PAPERS OF NANCY DAVIS REAGAN Carl Sferrazza Anthony 167 AFTERWORD THE HISTORICAL LEGACY OF AMERICAN FIRST LADIES Lewis L. Gould 176 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING 179 CONTRIBUTORS 180 INDEX 7 FOREWORD he wives of the presidents of the United States have begun to emerge recently as subjects for serious scholarly investigation on their own merits. A number of factors have led to this increased attention to the role and position of the first lady. Nancy Reagan's fame and her visibility as a force in her husband's administration, coupled with her advocacy of measures to curb drug abuse, have focused public concern on what the wife of a president may properly do. The rise of women's history has led researchers to consider the contributions of such figures as Lucy Webb Hayes, Mary Todd Lincoln, and Edith Roosevelt to the tradition of first ladies. Students of the presidency have also begun to realize that the men who have held the nation's highest office were husbands, fathers, and individuals with complex, emotional lives. Leaving their wives out of what presidents did produced an incomplete record, and presidential scholars have moved, sometimes very slowly, to address this issue. The growth of presidential libraries during the 1970s and 1980s has been a positive force in providing a rich body of source material regarding what modern first ladies have done. In some instances, the Social Files in these repositories contain thousands of boxes of documents and letters that disclose how individual first ladies functioned and how the American public responded to their work. For years, society has regarded first ladies as models of what women should be and how they should act. As separate collections, the Social Files are important sources for discovering how women were perceived in the United States in this century. As a collective resource, the files dramatically expand the range of primary documentation. An exploration of the records of first ladies will no doubt elicit diverse insights about the historical impact of these women on their times. Interpretive theories that explain modern first ladies are still tentative and exploratory. All scholars in this new field recognize the central place of Eleanor Roosevelt as an activist model for the presidential wives who followed her, but despite the shelves of books on Mrs. Roosevelt, many phases of her own rich life have yet to be fully investigated. The contributions of her twentieth-century predecessors also need to be more intensively examined. The first ladies who immediately followed Eleanor Roosevelt reacted to her example by stressing their own individual styles. Bess Truman, Mamie Eisenhower, and Jacqueline Kennedy made a point of saying that they were not Mrs. Roosevelt. Lady Bird Johnson built upon Mrs. vii FOREWORD Roosevelt's example during her environmental campaigns. The accomplish- ments of Pat Nixon, Betty Ford, and Rosalynn Carter will be tracked and discussed in light of the activist model as writers look at the sources about them in the presidential libraries. Some general propositions have emerged as possible ways of understanding the increased attention paid to first ladies. Their role as a partner of the president has often been suggested as a key to their popular influence with American citizens. An alternative argument is that their arrival into the public spotlight has been a function of the overall rise of the power of women in national life. Since first ladies are a form of political celebrity, it is credible to regard their fame as one way that society comes to terms with women who have visible influence in areas where men have usually dominated. None of these expla- nations have yet been tested in a systematic way because the whole field remains in a formative and preliminary stage. That is why the availability of so much. fresh documentary evidence in the Social Files of these women representsex- citing opportunities for analysis and debate about modern first ladies.
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