First Ladies For Dummies. Marcus A. Stadelmann, PhD

Introduction

      Over the last 232 years, the United States has had 47 First Ladies. While presidents have dominated U.S. politics and history, most of our First Ladies are relatively unknown. The U.S. public might know about the most recent First Ladies, such as Michelle Obama, Melania Trump, or Dr. Jill Biden, and/or the most famous ones, such as Eleanor Roosevelt. However, most people are unfamiliar with many of the U.S. First Ladies.

      While almost every American can name the current president, significantly fewer can name the current First Lady. Public school curricula and college courses focus on the U.S. presidents and not First Ladies. Academic books and autobiographies on American presidents and their administrations are readily available and fill many shelves in bookstores. Not so for First Ladies. The first memoirs of a First Lady didn’t hit the bookshelves until the 20th century.

      However, things have been changing. First Ladies are usually more popular than presidents and receive more media attention. Now, First Lady memoirs sell better than presidential memoirs. The media, beginning in the 1960s, started to spend more time disseminating information on the virtues and shortcomings of First Ladies. Then, in the 1980s, academics even started to rank First Ladies, and for the first time, their importance in American politics became well known. Select universities even offer college courses on First Ladies, and TV specials on First Ladies have begun to appear.

      This book covers all 47 First Ladies — from the beginning of the republic in 1789 to the present time — in one place and makes it so you don’t have to read 47 separate books just to read about the U.S. First Ladies. It shows how, over time, First Ladies have changed and the institution of the First Lady has also undergone changes. This work shows the slow transformation of the office of the First Lady to a powerful institution within the White House. Some First Ladies, such as Rosalynn Carter, played such a large role in their husband’s administration that they were referred to as co-presidents.

      Clearly, the time has come to study First Ladies. I am excited to share with you the histories and stories of these unique women.

About This Book

      This book is neither a textbook nor an autobiography; it combines the best elements of both. It won’t bore you with little tedious facts or a lot of narrative. It doesn’t shower you with a mass of statistics that prove to you what you already know. The information on the First Ladies gets to the point, highlighting only the major events in a First Lady’s life.

      The book covers all 47 U.S. First Ladies in chronological order. Some First Ladies have an entire chapter to themselves; others are grouped together. I detail some basic personal information for each First Lady, and I also cover some major events that took place during her tenure.

      I designed this book to give a solid foundation on the First Ladies, whether you’re studying political science, writing a paper, or reading for pleasure. I tried to make the book entertaining by including little-known tidbits. So whether you’re a history buff, a student, or just someone interested in America’s First Ladies, this book is for you. My hope is that this book will prove one point: The history of our First Ladies is fascinating and fun.

Conventions Used in This Book

      To avoid repeating certain procedures, facts, and ideas, this book uses certain conventions. For example, I use the common abbreviations WWI and WWII to refer to World War I and World War II, respectively. I also use familiar First Lady nicknames, such as Lady Bird Johnson rather than Claudia Johnson and Pat Nixon instead of Patricia Nixon. I always list the given name first and then explain her nickname, which I then use for the rest of the chapter.

      I use the term White House for the executive mansion

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