First, Lady Bird Johnson. Born Claudia Alta Taylor in Karnack, Texas, in 1912. A family nurse called her "pretty as a lady bird" and the nickname stuck. She is best known in Texas for the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and for her championing of the use of native plants in landscaping, but she was also a fierce advocate for women's rights, lending her support to the War on Poverty and the Equal Rights Amendment.
My second First Lady is another Texan, Barbara Bush, and that choice is very personal--I've met her more than once and admire her enormously. She's witty and warm and charming, she's a huge reader, and she's spent her life doing everything she can to promote literacy.
Reds, do you have a First Lady you admire? Tell us who and why!
INGRID THOFT: My choice would be Hillary Clinton, but Michelle Obama is also at the top of my list. Hillary was a First Lady who wasn’t afraid to take on health care as her cause, a cause that proved divisive. However, she didn’t let that deter her from enacting real progress in the form of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (better known as CHIP these days.) I recently heard Hillary speak, and she pointed to this program as an example of not letting perfection be the enemy of good. She noted that when universal healthcare was shot down that might have been the end of the push for affordable health insurance for Americans. However, she decided to work with both Democrats and Republicans to put CHIP into place, and millions of children received insurance as a result. I admire Hillary for her wisdom, her courage, her strength and her restraint. When her character has been disparaged again and again, she’s taken the high road (just as Michelle suggested!)
RHYS BOWEN: When I was young I was so impressed with Jackie Kennedy.
HALLIE EPHRON: I know so little about former First Ladies. Pat Nixon and her cloth coat. Nancy Reagan and her astrologist. Lady Bird and her billboards. Seemed like being First Lady turned them cardboard cutouts whose main function was to stand by the president and make him look like a human being. I thought Hillary was heroic for trying to remake healthcare.
In my opinion, no one's done it with as much grace as Michelle Obama. I was smitten by her relationships with Barack and her daughters. And let's not forget the clothes! And easy, given that she got to stand beside a man who made it easy to stand by.
HANK PHILIPPI RYAN: Can you even imagine? Every single thing you do, or say, or wear. Every single sidelong glance, or closed eyes or lifted eyebrow. Your shoes, your child-rearing, your arms, the actions of your husband, the books you read and the color of your lipstick, foibles and hobbies and passions. ALL under the microscope every single moment. Are you smart enough, pretty enough, wise enough, patient enough, impatient enough, caring enough, too caring, deferential enough, not deferential enough...Ahhh. I admire them all, absolutely for bearing up under that.
DEBS: Hank, I absolutely agree. I can't imagine how hard it would to subject yourself to that sort of scrutiny and criticism--not to mention the First Ladies who put their own careers on hold!
JENN McKINLAY: Hank, I could never. I swear like a sailor, play pranks with my sons that would be fodder for all the judgy types, and am about as far from a fashionista as a woman can be. Ingrid and Rhys, count me in on the Michelle Obama fan club. I simply adore her. But there is one first lady, who lived before my time, whose words echo in my head with great regularity. Eleanor Roosevelt. She said, "You must do the thing you think you cannot do." I turn to this quote in times of self doubt and it has always guided me through it.
LUCY BURDETTE: This was my comment too, Hank, only you said it so much more eloquently. Serving as First Lady is an impossible job. You didn't choose the job. You aren't being paid for it. Your freedom to live a normal life is gone. And if you don't adore your husband or agree with his positions, you sure better be a good actress!
That said, I loved Michelle's grace and dignity and sense of humor, and admire many other of these women, as well. It's been interesting to go on several tours of the Little White House here in Key West as research for DEATH ON THE MENU. Harry Truman spent a lot of time here--and did important work here too, often with other government figures and the press in attendance. But Bess Truman did not love it, so she often didn't come. And that didn't seem to bother anyone! Can you imagine that happening these days?
DEBS: Lucy, I was so sorry I didn't get to see the Truman White House when I visited Key West. I can't wait to read DEATH ON THE MENU so I'll be up to snuff the next time!
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I'm going to go back in time a bit - a hundred years, to be exact. I've always been fascinated by Edith Bolling Galt Wilson, the second wife of Woodrow Wilson. Edith was the widow of a socially prominent but somewhat inept businessman when she was introduced to the also-widowed Wilson. She was forty-three and he was fifty-nine and they fell deeply in love, despite a swirl of rumors that they must have been having an affair before Ellen Wilson's death (some even speculated that the two had done away with the first Mrs. Wilson - clearly the Alex Jones conspiracy-monger types aren't a new phenomenon.)
Edith was prepared for the sort of social hostessing First Ladies were called upon to perform; what she got instead was WWI. She flung herself into supporting the effort (and setting an example) with "gasless Sundays, meatless Mondays, and wheatless Wednesdays" at the White House. In a move that may remind you of Michelle Obama, she set a flock of sheep to graze on the White House grounds, to free up the manpower mowing took, and then had the sheared fleeces auctioned off to benefit the Red Cross.
But she's best known for what she tried to most keep under wraps - stepping in for her husband after he suffered a devastating stroke in 1919. From then until the end of his term in 1921, she read every legislative paper and piece of correspondence sent to the president, dealt with the ones she didn't think her husband needed to bother with, and condensed the rest into easy-to-digest summaries to suit Wilson's weakened condition. She always described herself as a mere steward for her husband's work, but members of the Executive branch tacitly acknowledged she was, in reality, running the show.
She was politically active in the Democratic Party for the rest of her life. Born in the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant, she was an honored guest at JFK's inauguration, and died at the ripe old age of 89 in 1961. Hurrah for Edith Wilson!
DEBS: Julia, I love this story about Edith Wilson! I had no idea! I was hoping we'd learn some things we didn't know about First Ladies, and I had great fun hunting up the photos.
READERS, do you have any great stories about First Ladies to share?
I can’t imagine how anyone lives under the sort of spotlight the First Lady endures.
ReplyDeleteLike Julia, Edith Wilson stands out for me. How can you not admire a woman with that much strength of character?
In the mid-1970s, a multi-episode television series called First Ladies Diaries focused on Martha Washington, Rachel Jackson, and Edith Wilson. The Edith Wilson drama, which focused on Edith’s taking on the duties of the executive branch following the president’s stroke, won four Emmy awards.
Joan, I would love to have seen that. Wonder if there are any copies of it floating around?
DeleteI was tickled this morning to open an email from Half Price Books advertising rare First Lady memoirs and biographies. Check it out, and if anyone buys one, let us know!
http://halfpricebooks.com/featured-collectibles/first-ladies/
The National Broadcasting Company produced the series . . . unfortunately, I’ve never been able to find a copy.
DeleteI knew the information about Edith Wilson and am fascinated at the Reds' take on the situation. At the time, it was a scandal because her detractors charged that an unelected woman, Edith, was actually acting as president. They believed that Wilson's state of health made him unable to properly carry out his duties, and that this was being kept secret because constitutionally presidential duties should have been turned over to the vice-president. They said that Edith was power hungry! So we think nasty politics is new? Not so much.
DeleteThanks for that info about Edith Wilson, Julia. I had no idea. I also vote for Michelle Obama, with a nod to Eleanor Roosevelt. Yesterday I read a review of a new novel featuring Eleanor and her friend and lover, Hicks, that I want to read. And yeah, BE First Lady? No thanks!
ReplyDeleteEleanor Roosevelt for me. She has always been a heroine of mine. Fast forward her life into the present day and you have to wonder how our expose culture would have treated her, her relationship with her husband, and much of the great work she did. First ladies today have to fight battles on many fronts, and as Lucy said, these women did not seek the job.
ReplyDeleteMy second favorite, Dolley Madison. A courageous woman with a great sense of history.
I have always been fascinated with First Ladies (what will happen when we have a 'First Gentleman'? Ha!). I've read many non-fiction and fiction books that featured them and I've loved the exhibit at the Smithsonian with their inaugural gowns. There are a lot of unknown stories about these women and many of them were indeed unprepared and perhaps unsuited to public life. Some became recluses, some were ill (physically or mentally) and therefore not able to handle much of the responsibilities. Sometimes a daughter or niece stepped in to be a public substitute. Some had many children to tend while living in the White House (Edith Roosevelt, Teddy's wife). Some had none. Some were more of an influence on their husbands than anyone imagined. Grover Cleveland married his ward, Frances, while in the White House. She was over 25 years his junior. Some were well educated and some not.
ReplyDeleteAs to favorites, I really like Abigail Adams. Plus, being from Texas and loving 'her' wildflowers, Lady Bird Johnson. I also am partial to Laura Bush, a former librarian, and her help in starting book festivals. So, when will there be a 'First Lady Day'? LOL
Kay, I love Laura Bush, too, and have met her as well, when George W. was governor and they hosted a morning coffee at the governor's mansion for the attendees at the Texas Book Festival. Laura is so natural an down to earth, and how can anyone not love a librarian??
DeleteI admire Barbara and Laura Bush for promoting literacy. Was Abigail Adams the first First Lady to live in the White House? I remember seeing a drawing of her drying laundry in one of the large rooms. Life was different then. LOL. I'm with you, Jenn and Hank, there's no way I'd stand up to the continual scrutiny of being First Lady.
ReplyDeleteAbigail Adams,an outstanding woman in her own right and
ReplyDeleteAbigail Adams who was an outstanding personality in challenging times.As was Eleanor Roosevelt, who I do remember from my childhood. (My grandmother was a great admirer)Michele Obama for sure. Dazzled by J. Kennedy when I was very young and impressionable! There was a tv series a long time ago, inspired by the memories of someone who worked at the White House through many administrations. Anyone else remember it? Intersting views of the first ladies from behind the scenes.
I had no idea about Edith Bolling Galt Wilson! And of course how could I have forgotten Eleanor Roosevelt who set the bar high for all who come after.
ReplyDeleteI have always been fascinated by the women behind the men, including our First Ladies, so I'm going to give a shout out to some less high-profile women who have held that position. Betty Ford showed great courage in her day for going public with her battle with breast cancer (breasts were not spoken of in polite society back then) and later alcoholism. Rosalyn Carter gave us an early role model for a woman who was openly her husband's intellectual equal and partner in all aspects of his life.
ReplyDeleteBut the First Lady who has had the strongest impact on my personal life these past few years? Mamie Dowd Eisenhower. A few years back I bought a house that was built in 1960 and saw very little updating over the years. It was a perfectly normal looking brick rancher on the outside, but inside? It was PINK. Pink walls, pink countertops, pink appliances, even the carpet in one of the bedrooms was pink. Why, I asked myself as I rapidly renovated, why in the world were the lovely people who built my house so obsessed with pink? The answer? Mamie Eisenhower.
Mamie met Ike when he was still at West Point, and spent most of her adult life in one Army camp or another, surrounded by a shade of Army green/olive drab that not even the brief burst of avocado love we saw in the 1970s could make fashionable. So Mamie rebelled. As First Lady she decreed that pink was a refined, ladylike color, and millions of women followed her example. The post-WWII housing boom brought a wave of pink across the American heartland and, in my house, that tide never ebbed. So, go Mamie! I honor your spirit of rebellion, and I promise never to replace that giant pink toilet.
Gigi, I adore your pink bathroom. The pink kitchen before it was renovated, not so much...:-) But people actually wanted those retro-pink appliances! Do you suppose anyone collects the next generations "avocado" green and "harvest" gold?
DeleteSo that's why, Gigi! Post-divorce I lived in a ranch house built in 1962 (the only house I've lived in in New England that wasn't an antique)for five years and the pink bathroom was something to behold.
DeleteI had no idea all that bathroom tile was Mamie Eisenhower pink! It's so iconically '50s, it's become hot again, although now it's called Millennial Pink. I had a dear friend whose mother, now 94, still lives in the little house her husband bought her in the early fifties. She has NEVER remodeled, and her kitchen and bath are swoonworthy. I pray that when she goes, the house doesn't sell to someone who yanks everything out to make it white on white on white.
DeleteThere are stores that sell retro appliances including the gold, green, and "cocoa" brown ones of the 1970's. My house in the 1970's had "cocoa" brown appliances. And those appliances are still around, attesting to how good products were made back then, our cocoa brown refrigerator still chills beer in the shop of a local lawn service. (It is 45 years old.)
DeleteYes, our upstairs bathroom has a turquoise toilet. It is fabulous.
DeleteI'm not sure we're far enough away from avocado green and harvest gold for them to be cool again, but I did think the pink appliances were worth saving. I sold them to a vintage picker who was married to a guy who restored old appliances. I was happy to know they would end up with someone who appreciated them. A bit of the pink Formica counter top lives on, reused to form the base of one of the rebuilt cabinets. You can't see it, but I know it's there.
DeleteCount me in with those who could never BE a First Lady.
ReplyDeleteI admire Barbara and Laura Bush for promoting literacy. Michelle was incredibly graceful. Eleanor Roosevelt for sure (my girl used that quote for her swimming senior night "advice to underclassmen"). Jackie Kennedy also carried herself with grace, considering the stories that were told about her husband then and later.
I've seen the display with their gowns. Breathtaking.
Mary/Liz
Oh, I would love to see those gowns! Is it a permanent display?
DeleteIt's at the American History Museum of the Smithsonian and as far as I know, it is a permanent display. And so very interesting.
DeleteI"ve seen the gowns, too. A fabulous exhibit.
DeleteI agree that the gowns exhibit is both interesting and beautiful.
DeleteI admire most First Ladies. Their job is to be perfect in every way, please every single one of us, and put up with a spouse who is often, not always, a megalomaniac. Or a bumbling idiot. Or unfaithful. Or a crook. They can't all be married to Barack is all I'm saying!
ReplyDeleteOne First Lady who comes to mind, not yet mentioned, is Betty Ford. She brought breast cancer out of the dark and into the light, and we should all be grateful to her for the lives this saved.
Yes, Betty Ford!!! It's hard to realize now what a huge deal it was to speak up about breast cancer. Or, later, alcoholism! A brave woman.
DeleteBetty Ford was a feminist and a support of the ERA. She was often booed down by those who did not support the legislation. When interviewed for a magazine article, afterwards she commented to another reporter that they asked her "everything" except how often she and the president had sex. Which caused that reporter to ask her the question and she famously replied "as often as possible!" Women just did not say stuff like that in public!
DeleteI recently listened to the audiobook of Dead Wake by Erik Larson. The courtship of Edith Wilson was one plot stream.
ReplyDeleteI got to meet the Clintons when they first came to office. They both worked so hard! We went to one of the Christmas parties. There were three that day. The family stood by a tree while people lined up to have a photo taken. Smiling and looking perfect for endless hours.
I love Eleanor Roosevelt-- put visiting Val-kill on your list (her own home in Hyde Park).
I adore Michelle Obama.
I was thinking that too, I got the first gentleman! Or first… I guess that’s what it would be. That’ll be so interesting! Who would be the role model for that relationship, do we know?
ReplyDeleteHmm, yes, so interesting, Hank. I know very little about the husbands of any of the women who are prominent in politics today. Would the First Gentleman have to have social skills? Host state dinners? Decorate the White House?
DeleteExactly! It's going to be ver-ry interesting. I do hope we're around to see it, sigh.
DeleteI admire many of these women who served but were also heavily criticized. One of them, Rosalind Carter, is still serving, building Habitat houses with her husband, supporting mental health initiatives, and quietly making appearances at schools all across Georgia.
ReplyDeleteYes, I admire both the Carters for their continuing work with Habitat. They really care about helping people.
DeleteOh, yes yes, good call!
DeleteDoes anyone know if Hillary Clinton was the first First Lady to have a prominent career of her own?
ReplyDeleteEleanor Roosevelt, although I'm not sure if she got paid for it. She became the first US Representative (now called Ambassador)to the UN, and held the position from '47 to '51.
DeleteThis was such a great post, Debs. I had no idea about Edith Wilson, Julia. Fascinating. I'm going to look for the documentary Joan mentioned. Very inspiring stories.
ReplyDeleteEveryone is familiar with Texas bluebonnets, but in the photo of Lady Bird Johnson, she is sitting in a field of Indian Blanket, another of the glorious native plants she championed. It's a joy to drive Texas highways in the spring and see Lady Bird's legacy.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with that! Spring in Texas is my favorite season. I'm so ready for the wildflowers.
DeleteI'm with Hank. It is a thankless job, and I admire all the women who have done it so well.
ReplyDeleteAnother very interesting first lady is Florence Harding. She was ferociously smart and ambitious - two qualities her husband lacked - and through him she pretty much did all the things she would have done, had she been born a man.
ReplyDeleteHarding had purchased a struggling newspaper after completing his education at 18. When he married Florence a few years later, she was five years older - a very noticeable difference in those days - and was from a prominent moneyed family. The obvious conclusion was that he married her for the bucks, but I suspect she married him because the very handsome and charming Harding made the perfect front man for her ambitions.
She began managing the paper's circulation department, turning it into a profitable enterprise. She took Harding's interest in Republican politics and managed his runs for state office, the senate, and eventually the presidency. Once he was in the office, Florence helped him pick out cabinet members, wrote speeches for him, and continued to be his chief political advisor.
Alas, poor Florence! For all her efforts, Harding was a lousy chief executive. He's primarily known today for the Teapot Dome scandal and for being the first president (that we know of) to father an illegitimate child in the White House. Not just during his tenure, but in the residence itself. In a closet. Apparently the Secret Service had to hold back Florence from breaking the door down and assaulting the President.
Julia, I had no idea! Fascinating!
DeleteOh, what an amazing image. Yeesh.
DeleteEdith Wilson! I had no idea that she was essentially the president for a few years. Thanks for the education, Julia!
ReplyDeleteRhys--"And in four years she never put a foot wrong. "
ReplyDeleteWhat about the other 4 years?
Libby Dodd
I admire First Lady Betty Ford. It took a lot of courage for her, in the 1970's, to admit for all the world to hear that she had problems with alcohol and drugs, and for her to then seek help for those problems. At that time people just didn't publicly admit to having those kinds of problems, they kept them secret. Her going public encouraged many people to admit they had a problem with addiction and get help for it. She also talked about and helped remove the stigma of someone needing professional help for mental illness. Additionally she raised awareness for breast cancer prevention when she went public about having a mastectomy. She was a feminist and a strong supporter of the Equal Right Amendment. She did not shy away from any controversy. She had a very interesting life before she married President Gerald Ford (she was a dancer and a model), put her own spin on being First Lady of the Land, and continued to have an interesting life after the Fords retired from public life. She was a definite force alongside her husband.
ReplyDeleteYou are SO right about that. It was incredibly brave.
DeleteFirst, what Hank said about being a First Lady, how hard to constantly measure up. And, all the first ladies that have been mentioned made their mark in their own unique ways. Julia, I'm now fascinated with Edith Wilson and want to read more about her. I didn't know she essentially had to become the President. Debs, your mention of Lady Bird Johnson and her involvement in women's rights and the war on poverty reminded me that she was much more than her "Beautification" projects. However, Lady Bird's work in the beautification of America was an admirable one, too, I remember the results of the Highway Beautification program, as I began driving during the time it was implemented. With my love of reading, Barbara Bush's and Laura Bush's work in literacy made an impression on me. I've attended three of the National Book Festivals in D.C. that Laura Bush started, and attending them is what led me to attending my dream gathering of Bouchercon.
ReplyDeleteEach of the First Ladies already mentioned have left their mark in a strong, positive way. It's hard to single out one that I admire most. Eleanor Roosevelt always comes to mind when I think about favorite First Ladies. "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent" is but one of the great quotes from this amazing woman. She had to endure such ugly comments about not only her work, but directed at her personally. I think Eleanor's time as First Lady gave voice to this position as something more than window dressing. Not that it was ever just window dressing, but he outspokenness was new and brought the role out from behind the scenes. And, she held her head high throughout the criticisms and harsh personal comments, hence the quote I've noted. I have to add Michelle Obama as my second most admired for what she had to put up with as First Lady. Never has a First Lady had to endure more in the way of outright disrespect than Michelle, and she did it with a dignity and grace equal to a super power.
I so agree about Michelle, Kathy.
DeleteI am also a big Eleanor Roosevelt fan and was interested when I came across some of her correspondence with Frances Parkinson Keyes, whose books first my mother and then I enjoyed. Keyes was from a preppy Boston/NH family and married a much older man who was governor of NH and later a US senator. She and Eleanor were on different sides of the aisle. However, Frances was less into the divisive issues of the era (immigration and communism) that others of her party and, in fact, as editor of the Daughters of the Revolution (DAR) magazine she removed some of the prejudicial language then used. She and Eleanor developed a acquaintance through DC political society but also because both were members of the DAR, and it appears that Frances recruited Eleanor to write some articles for the magazine. However, when singer Marian Anderson was not allowed to perform in Constitution Hall (owned/managed by the DAR), Eleanor Roosevelt resigned her membership at once (helping to arrange the singer's performance elsewhere) and Frances several months later.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother used to rage about Eleanor's lonely childhood and adolescence, her dreadful mother-in-law, and philandering husband but at least Eleanor did not let these things prevent her from doing great good.
What a great story, Constance. I'll look up Frances!
Delete