First ladies : leading presidential historians on the lives of 45 iconic American women

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Title:

First ladies : leading presidential historians on the lives of 45 iconic American women

Author:

Swain, Susan, author.

ISBN:

9781610395663

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

xxi, 462 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Contents:

Martha Dandridge Washington / Patricia Brady, Richard Norton Smith -- Abigail Smith Adams / Edith Gelles, C. James Taylor -- Martha Wayles Jefferson / Catherine Allgor, William Seale -- Dolley Payne Madison / Catherine Allgor, Edith Mayo -- Elizabeth Kortright Monroe / Daniel Preston, Richard Norton Smith -- Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams / Amanda Mathews, Richard Norton Smith -- Rachel Donelson Jackson / Patricia Brady, Michael Henderson -- Hannah Hoes Van Buren / Patricia Brady, Michael Henderson -- Anna Symmes Harrison / Edith Mayo, Edna Greene Medford -- Letitia Christian Tyler, Julia Gardiner Tyler / Edna Greene Medford, Taylor Stoermer -- Sarah Childress Polk / Paul Finkelman, Conover Hunt -- Margaret Smith Taylor / Paul Finkelman, Conover Hunt -- Abigail Powers Fillmore / Paul Finkelman, Conover Hunt -- Jane Appleton Pierce / Ann Covell -- Harriet Lane / Ann Covell, Feather Schwartz Foster -- Mary Todd Lincoln / Richard Norton Smith, Rosalyn Terborg-Penn -- Eliza McCardle Johnson / Jacqueline Berger, Kendra Hinkle -- Julia Dent Grant / Pamela Sanfilippo, William Seale -- Lucy Webb Hayes / Allida Black, Tom Culbertson -- Lucretia Rudolph Garfield / Carl Sferrazza Anthony -- Ellen Herndon Arthur / Carl Sferrazza Anthony -- Frances Folsom Cleveland / Annette Dunlap, Taylor Stoermer -- Caroline Scott Harrison / Edith Mayo, William Seale -- Ida Saxton McKinley / Carl Sferrazza Anthony, Richard Norton Smith -- Edith Carow Roosevelt / Stacy Cordery, Kathleen Dalton -- Helen Herron Taft / Jane Hampton Cook, Lewis Gould -- Ellen Axson Wilson, Edith Bolling Wilson / John Milton Cooper, Kristie Miller -- Florence Kling Harding / David Pietrusza, Katherine Sibley -- Grace Goodhue Coolidge / Cyndy Bittinger, Amity Shlaes -- Lou Henry Hoover / Emily Charnock, Annette Dunlap -- Anna Eleanor Roosevelt / Allida Black, Douglas Brinkley -- Elizabeth (Bess) Wallace Truman / Nicole Anslover, William Seale -- Mamie Doud Eisenhower / Marilyn Irvin Holt, Edith Mayo -- Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy / Michael Beschloss, Barbara Perry -- Claudia (Lady Bird) Taylor Johnson / Betty Boyd Caroli, Cokie Roberts -- Patricia Ryan Nixon / Mary Brennan, Timothy Naftali -- Elizabeth (Betty) Bloomer Ford / Richard Norton Smith -- Rosalynn Smith Carter / Jay Hakes, Grace Hale -- Nancy Davis Reagan / Carl Cannon, Judy Woodruff -- Barbara Pierce Bush / Jeffrey Engle, Myra Gutin -- Hillary Rodham Clinton / David Maraniss, Gail Sheehy -- Laura Welch Bush / Ann Gerhart, Mark Updegrove -- Michelle Robinson Obama / Liza Mundy, Krissah Thompson.

Subject Term:

Presidents' spouses -- United States -- Biography.

Summary:

A look inside the personal life of every first lady in American history, based on original interviews with major historians for C-SPAN's yearlong history series, First Ladies: Influence and Image. This book provides an up-close historical look at these fascinating women who survived the scrutiny of the White House, sometimes at great personal cost, while supporting their families and famous husbands-- and sometimes changing history.

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Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Bayport Public Library	973.099 SWA	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Hardwood Creek Library (Forest Lake)	973.099 SWA	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Oakdale Library	973.099 SWA	Searching... Unknown
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	973.099 SWA	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Stillwater Public Library	973.099 SWA	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

A look inside the personal life of every first lady in American history, based on original interviews with major historians

C-SPAN's yearlong history series, First Ladies: Influence and Image , featured interviews with more than fifty preeminent historians and biographers. In this informative book, these experts paint intimate portraits of all forty-five first ladies -- their lives, ambitions, and unique partnerships with their presidential spouses. Susan Swain and the C-SPAN team elicit the details that made these women who they were: how Martha Washington intentionally set the standards followed by first ladies for the next century; how Edith Wilson was complicit in the cover-up when President Wilson became incapacitated after a stroke; and how Mamie Eisenhower used the new medium of television to reinforce her, and her husband's, positive public images.

This book provides an up-close historical look at these fascinating women who survived the scrutiny of the White House, sometimes at great personal cost, while supporting their families and famous husbands -- and sometimes changing history. Complete with illustrations and essential biographical details, it is an illuminating, entertaining, and ultimately inspiring read.

Author Notes

Susan Swain is C-SPAN's co-CEO and, in addition to her senior management role at the network, has been an on-camera host for C-SPAN for more than thirty years, interviewing public officials, historians, and journalists for the public affairs network. The Presidents is her ninth book project with C-SPAN and PublicAffairs. She lives in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Stories of Martha Washington knitting socks at the front, Elizabeth Monroe saving Lafayette's wife from the guillotine, and Grace Coolidge's soap-throwing raccoon offer an unusual perspective on the women who helped strengthen the country through social and diplomatic networking, personal projects, and other forms of support. Taken from a 2013-14 C-Span series, this chronological account engages pairs of historians-including the exceptional Carl Sferrazza Anthony-in discussing the personality, marriage, passions, and legacy of each first lady, resulting in a fluid, conversational style. These changing voices add depth and expertise, though they also have the occasional habit of refuting elements of previous chapters, especially in instances regarding symbolic "firsts," a term often shown to be subjective. While the public only paid attention to cyclical White House restoration projects and glamorous social events, the first ladies' sisterhood frequently included mourning deceased children and mentoring or otherwise supporting one another. This accessible account replaces stodgy depictions of stuffy, untouchable first ladies with the relatable, often tragic stories of the determined women who made it up as they went along, to the benefit of their husbands and country. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Review

Selections from the popular yearlong C-SPAN series exploring the lives of the first ladies, each offering conversational, somewhat truncated viewpoints by various historians.C-SPAN history consultant and author Richard Norton Smith and moderator and senior manager Swain paired up to create the TV endeavor; this book is the severely edited version. Each first lady appears in an official picture circa her husband's presidential era, and two historians take turns delineating her biography, not necessarily chronologically. A final word from each briefly discusses the lady's "legacy." Due to the need to preserve verbatim the historians' remarks, the editing makes for clunky, disjointed reading, with the effectmore or less intentionalof a conversation rather than a history text. However, each historian offers a depth to his or her subject that helps flesh out these fairly mythical figures who inhabited the White House and give a sense of where she came from and what was truly important to her. These ladies were thrust into a national role, and how they used it to grow is fascinating: Abigail Adams was a prolific and significant writer of letters that provide enormous insight into the Revolution and early national period; savvy entertainer Dolley Madison had to "pinch-hit" as hostess in widower Thomas Jefferson's administration, laying the important connections she would need for her husband's subsequent presidency; Sarah Polk was unusually well-educated in her mid-1800s era and served as her husband's "genuine political partner" (the couple was also the first to be photographed); Lucretia Garfield was the first to keep a diary of her White House days and not to destroy her papers. Several were second wives, most had children, and many lost children, while all were "helpmates" in some fashion. Among the contributing historians are Edith Gelles, Gail Sheehy and David Maraniss. Though presented in a stilted fashion, all the portraits are rendered with sympathy and detail. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Extrapolated from C-SPAN's special yearlong history series, First Ladies: Influence & Image, these minibiographies each feature an official portrait and contributions from two noted historians. Because more than 50 historians were featured throughout the series, the tone and the perspective of individual entries and excerpts vary from First Lady to First Lady. Though the book contains a wealth of interesting facts and anecdotes, readers searching for more comprehensive coverage of each subject will be disappointed. Casual browsers who can move beyond the distracting, clunky transcript-like format will appreciate this attempt to highlight the unique contributions of presidential wives to their husband's life, politics, and administration. This collective biography provides a digestible introduction to the 45 women who labored behind and beside the American presidents.--Flanagan, Margaret Copyright 2015 Booklist

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Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Kirkus Review

Booklist Review

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