LIFE First Ladies
First Ladies
First Ladies
The Ladies through the Ages • From Martha to Jill, these are the women who made the White House their home
Leading Women • By blazing the trails, they defined the role and left their mark for all who followed
Eleanor Roosevelt
Lady Bird Johnson
BELLES OF THE BALL • INAUGURAL BASHES THROUGH THE YEARS
Martha Washington
Nancy Reagan
Florence Harding
FIRST LADY AS POP ICON • FRANK AND JACKIE LED THE HIT PARADE
Hillary Clinton
Ellen Wilson
Edith Wilson
Quiet Presence • These women entered the White House with considerable reluctance
Melania Trump
Abigail Fillmore
Mamie Eisenhower
LOOKING ABROAD • FIRST SPOUSES AROUND THE WORLD
Eliza Johnson
Elizabeth Monroe
Lucretia Garfield
Anna Harrison
Letitia Tyler
Bess Truman
Pat Nixon
Laura Bush
THEY ALSO SERVED • WHEN THERE WAS NO PRESIDENTIAL WIFE, THESE WOMEN STOOD IN
Ladies We Loved • They captured the affections of the American public, forming a special bond
Michelle Obama
Julia Tyler
Dolley Madison
Grace Coolidge
Frances Cleveland
FIRST FASHION • THESE FIRST LADIES BECAME STYLE MAVENS FOR THE NATION
Jacqueline Kennedy
Strong Opinions • These First Ladies made no secret of their sometimes controversial beliefs
Mary Todd Lincoln
Rosalynn Carter
Margaret Taylor
Ida McKinley
Helen Taft
Sarah Polk
Jane Pierce
Abigail Adams
THE HOUSE THE NATION BUILT • AMERICA’S MOST FAMOUS DWELLING HAS UNDERGONE MANY CHANGES
Betty Ford
Louisa Adams
Lou Hoover
Lucy Hayes
Family First • These mothers cared for their kids and kin in the White House
Barbara Bush
Edith Roosevelt
Caroline Harrison
Julia Grant
KIDS IN THE HOUSE • PRESIDENTIAL CHILDREN HAVE OFTEN ENTERTAINED THE NATION
Jill Biden
Dolley Saves the Portrait • During the War of 1812, British troops may have captured Washington and set the White House ablaze, but Dolley Madison was not going to let them harm the eight-foot tall painting of George Washington bolted to the dining room wall. She instructed workers to hack the canvas from its frame and give it to two New Yorkers for safekeeping.