List

Dr. Jill Biden has been described as President Joe Biden's greatest political asset. Like many women of her generation, she holds her commitments as wife, mother and grandmother at the center of her life. She is a professor, earned a doctorate in educational leadership, and taught at Northern Virginia Community College. She broke barriers as First Lady as the first to hold a paying job outside the White House. "Jill" is the story of this accomplished American woman.

From her earliest days dating Senator Biden, to her embrace of Biden's young sons Beau and Hunter Biden and the birth of their daughter Ashley; her role by Joe Biden's side through Senate reelection race after Senate reelection race; her years as Second Lady; to Joe's successful third run for the Democratic presidential nomination, Jill has lived in the public eye. In this deeply reported biography, Julie Pace and Darlene Superville of The Associated Press, along with writer Evelyn M. Duffy, reveal some of the private sides of Jill Biden. We come to better understand her personality, which has held the Biden family together through tragedy and good fortune alike.

Richly detailed and written with elan, a powerfully inspiring story: the first comprehensive account of the life and times of arguably the most unlikely first lady in the nation's history, an African American descended from slaves and of less-than-privileged background. Born January 17, 1964--less than six months after Martin Luther King Jr.'s March onWashington--Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama was raised on the South Side ofChicago, where her father (who would later succumb to MS) was a city water-plant worker and her mother, a secretary for Spiegel catalog. Through dogged reporting and with a deft touch, Peter Slevin brilliantly traces Michelle's life: from the conventionalities and intricacies of her family to her high school years; from her graduation from Princeton University and Harvard Law School during the charged racial atmosphere of the late 1970s and early '80s engendered by affirmative action to her stint as a corporate lawyer at Sidley & Austin in Chicago where she met Barack; from her attempts to balance life as a mother, wife, and professional woman to her grudging support of Barack's run for the presidency during which she played a crucial role in his election. Of course, the drama of the the two presidential campaigns and of the White House years are all here, even as Michelle carved out for herself a role as denouncer of inequalities, supporter of military families, fighter against obesity, and, yes, adviser to her beleaguered husband.

A biography of Hillary Rodham Clinton which focuses on her childhood, education, work as a lawyer, and involvement in her husband's political career

Lady in Red is the long-awaited collection of behind-the-scenes stories and iconic images of one of the most influential First Lady in modern history -- Nancy Reagan. Lovingly compiled by long-time close confidante and aide, Sheila Tate, the book provides a rare and much-anticipated look into the personal life of the president's wife, from her daily routines and travels as First Lady to her friendships and deep influence in the Reagan White House.

Lady in Red depicts a nuanced portrait of this graceful yet strong woman who felt it was her mission to restore a sense of grandeur, mystique, and excitement to the presidency, showcasing the various roles that Mrs. Reagan played during her years in the White House, that of Wife, Mother, Protector, Host, Diplomat, and Advisor, among others.

The book also features twenty-four pages of gorgeous color photographs, including "Nancy's Album," a collection of Mrs. Reagan's favorite photographs, which she entrusted to Sheila to share with the world after she and her beloved Ronnie had passed.

Barbara Pierce Bush was one of the country's most popular and powerful figures, yet her full story has never been told.
THE MATRIARCH tells the riveting tale of a woman who helped define two American presidencies and an entire political era. Written by USA TODAY's Washington Bureau chief Susan Page, this biography is informed by more than one hundred interviews with Bush friends and family members, hours of conversation with Mrs. Bush herself in the final six months of her life, and access to her diaries that spanned decades. THE MATRIARCH examines not only her public persona but also less well-known aspects of her remarkable life.
As a girl in Rye, New York, Barbara Bush weathered criticism of her weight from her mother, barbs that left lifelong scars. As a young wife, she coped with the death of her three-year-old daughter from leukemia, a loss that changed her forever. In middle age, she grappled with depression so serious that she contemplated suicide. And as first the wife and then the mother of American presidents, she made history as the only woman to see -- and advise -- both her husband and son in the Oval Office.
As with many women of her era, Barbara Bush was routinely underestimated, her contributions often neither recognized nor acknowledged. But she became an astute and trusted political campaign strategist and a beloved First Lady. She invested herself deeply in expanding literacy programs in America, played a critical role in the end of the Cold War, and led the way in demonstrating love and compassion to those with HIV/AIDS. With her cooperation, this book offers Barbara Bush's last words for history -- on the evolution of her party, on the role of women, on Donald Trump, and on her family's legacy.
Barbara Bush's accomplishments, struggles, and contributions are many. Now, Susan Page explores them all in THE MATRIARCH, a groundbreaking book certain to cement Barbara Bush as one of the most unique and influential women in American history.

When Laura Bush moved into the White House on January 20, 2001, everyone wanted to know what kind of first lady she would be. Would she be like Mamie Eisenhower? Would she follow in Barbara Bush's footsteps? Would she be another Hillary Clinton?
"I think I'll just be Laura Bush," she would say.
On Saturday, April 30, 2005, the world got a glimpse of what that meant when she pushed aside the leader of the free world and stole the show at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner. Wearing a shimmering lime green Oscar de la Renta gown, Laura wisecracked that she was a "desperate housewife" married to a president who was always asleep at nine.
Replayed constantly on the air, the stand-up routine with its impeccable comedic timing turned the first lady into a glittering star. But while the performance catapulted her to new status, it did not answer the question of who this former teacher and librarian really is and just what role she plays in influencing her husband and shaping his administration. The Bushes are more effective than the FBI or CIA at keeping secret what goes on behind the scenes at the White House, the ranch, or Camp David.
Now, "New York Times "bestselling author Ronald Kessler draws back that curtain in the first biography of Laura Bush to be written with White House cooperation. Based on interviews with her closest friends and confidantes from childhood to the present, as well as family members and administration heavyweights like Condoleezza Rice and Andrew Card, Kessler paints a portrait of a woman who, even as she ascended to the heights of political fortune and power, never lost touch with the bedrock American values she absorbed in her youth.
In this unprecedented account, Kessler reveals:
- How Laura's opinions have brought budget changes to a range of federal agencies and have affected her husband's policies, appointments, and worldview.
- Why Laura told her press secretary in May 2001 she did not want to do any more media interviews.
- What President Bush said to Laura at the dinner table after giving the "go" for the invasion of Iraq, and what his father, former President George H. W. Bush, wrote him the next day about the war.
- What Laura's own political opinions are and what her relationship with twin daughters Jenna and Barbara is really like.
- What Laura says in private about Hillary Clinton, media attacks on her husband, and his victory in the 2004 election.
- And why Laura, at the age of seventeen, missed a stop sign and caused a fatal accident that tragically left one of her best friends dead.
"Laura Bush" a remarkable look at the private world of this famously reserved woman, as well as the beliefs and attitudes that shape it. The book will surprise readers whose knowledge of the first lady comes from cautious media interviews and speeches.
Laura Bush's approval rating stands at 85 percent. Since opinion polls first began asking about them, no first lady has received a higher rating. This moving biography is the first to penetrate the secret world of the president's stealth counselor who is one of our most admired public figures.

Betty Ford: First Lady, Women’s Advocate, Survivor, Trailblazer is the inspiring story of an ordinary Midwestern girl thrust onto the world stage and into the White House under extraordinary circumstances. Setting a precedent as First Lady, Betty Ford refused to be silenced by her critics as she publicly championed equal rights for women, and spoke out about issues that had previously been taboo—breast cancer, depression, abortion, and sexuality. Privately, there were signs something was wrong. After a painful intervention by her family, she admitted to an addiction to alcohol and prescription drugs. Her courageous decision to speak out publicly sparked a national dialogue, and in 1982, she co-founded the Betty Ford Center, which revolutionized treatment for alcoholism and inspired the modern concept of recovery.

Lisa McCubbin also brings to light Gerald and Betty Ford’s sweeping love story: from Michigan to the White House, until their dying days, their relationship was that of a man and woman utterly devoted to one another other—a relationship built on trust, respect, and an unquantifiable chemistry.

Based on intimate in-depth interviews with all four of her children, Susan Ford Bales, Michael Ford, Jack Ford, and Steven Ford, as well as family friends, and colleagues, Betty Ford: First Lady, Women’s Advocate, Survivor, Trailblazer is a deeply personal, empathic portrait of an outspoken First Lady, who was first and foremost a devoted wife and mother. With poignant details and rare insight, McCubbin reveals a fiercely independent woman who had a lively sense of humor, unwavering faith, and an indomitable spirit—the true story behind one of the most admired and influential women of our time.

Long obscured by her husband's shadow, Claudia "Lady Bird" Johnson emerges in this first comprehensive biography as a figure of surprising influence and the centering force for LBJ, a man who suffered from extreme mood swings and desperately needed someone to help control his darker impulses.

Expertly researched and written, Lady Bird draws from rare conversations with the former First Lady and from interviews with key members of Johnson's inner circle of friends, family, and advisers. With chapters such as "Motherless Child", "A Ten-Week Affair", and "LBJ's Midlife Crisis", Lady Bird sheds new light on Mrs. Johnson's childhood, on her amazing acumen as a businesswoman, and on the central role she played in her husband's life and political career. A vital link to the Kennedys during LBJ's uneasy tenure as vice president and a voice of conscience on civil rights, Lady Bird is portrayed here as a political force, strikingly different from the somewhat minor figure depicted in previous works on LBJ. Especially fascinating today, in light of the enormous attention now focused on the private lives of our leaders, are the personal details about her marriage to a man whose extramarital affairs were widely discussed.

In this intimate portrait, Russell shows us the private Lady Bird -- not only a passionate conservationist but a remarkable woman who greatly influenced her husband, his administration, and the country.

An extraordinary American comes to life in this vivid, groundbreaking portrait of the early days of the republic--and the birth of modern politics

When the roar of the Revolution had finally died down, a new generation of American politicians was summoned to the Potomac to assemble the nation's newly minted capital. Into that unsteady atmosphere, which would soon enough erupt into another conflict with Britain in 1812, Dolley Madison arrived, alongside her husband, James. Within a few years, she had mastered both the social and political intricacies of the city, and by her death in 1849 was the most celebrated person in Washington. And yet, to most Americans, she's best known for saving a portrait from the burning White House, or as the namesake for a line of ice cream.
Why did her contemporaries give so much adulation to a lady so little known today? In A Perfect Union, Catherine Allgor reveals that while Dolley's gender prevented her from openly playing politics, those very constraints of womanhood allowed her to construct an American democratic ruling style, and to achieve her husband's political goals. And the way that she did so--by emphasizing cooperation over coercion, building bridges instead of bunkers--has left us with not only an important story about our past but a model for a modern form of politics.

Introducing a major new American historian, A Perfect Union is both an illuminating portrait of an unsung founder of our democracy, and a vivid account of a little-explored time in our history.
 

A photobiography of the first wife of a president to have a public life and career of her own. The intriguing story of Eleanor Roosevelt told by an award-winning author traces the life of the former first lady, from her early childhood through the tumultuous years in the White House to her active role in the founding of the United Nations after World War II. 140 photos.

Susan Eisenhower - writer, political analyst, public speaker, career woman - here looks back on the life of her grandmother in a tribute that coincides with the centenary of Mamie Eisenhower's birth. In this compelling biography of an army captain's wife who becomes First Lady, she paints the portrait of an independent, headstrong woman who was passionately engaged in a lifelong relationship with a man who was her utter opposite. Although Ms. Eisenhower writes with warm appreciation for her grandmother's life, she does not skirt controversy or bypass rumors. Based on a treasure trove of unpublished letters, Mrs. Ike breaks new historical ground and provides, for the first time, a rare insight into the personalities and interrelationship of two complex people. Set against the background of some of the century's greatest events, Mrs Ike is an American love story as well as a chronicle of "a simpler, perhaps nobler time" in American life - a period whose special tone has all but vanished from the contemporary scene. But the human qualities are enduring ones: Susan Eisenhower helps us to see Mamie as Ike did - a heroic and irresistible figure in her own right.

A woman of intelligence and energy, Lou Henry Hoover's talents benefited a large number of cultural and philanthropic organizations, but her distaste for publicity obscured her many achievements until now. By the time her husband reached the White House in 1929, she had already established herself as a woman with high goals. The first woman to earn a university degree in geology, she collaborated with her husband in the translation of a classic book on mining methods. During World War I, she organized assistance for American travelers stranded in Europe, campaigned on behalf of the Commission for the Relief of Belgium, and set up a boarding house in Washington D.C. for young women working in war-related agencies.

Lou Hoover served as president of the Girl Scouts during its formative years, organized the Women's Division of the National Amateur Athletic Federation to encourage public participation in sports, and raised money for a number of cultural and philanthropic organizations. As First Lady, she redecorated the White House to make it a suitable residence for a head of state, cataloging its furnishings for posterity. She founded a school for underprivileged Appalachian children and ran a private, unpublicized relief network for Americans suffering under the Great Depression. After leaving the White House, she resumed the volunteer work that remained such a treasured part of her life.

Abraham Lincoln is the most revered president in American history, but the woman at the center of his life, his wife, Mary, has remained a historical enigma. In this definitive, magisterial biography, Catherine Clinton draws on important new research to illuminate the remarkable life of Mary Lincoln, and at a time when the nation was being tested as never before.

Mary Lincoln's story is inextricably tied with the story of America and with her husband's presidency, yet her life is an extraordinary chronicle on its own. Born into an aristocratic Kentucky family, she was an educated, well-connected Southern daughter, and when she married a Springfield lawyer she became a Northern wife—an experience mirrored by thousands of her countrywomen. The Lincolns endured many personal setbacks—including the death of a child and defeats in two U.S. Senate races—along the road to the White House. Mrs. Lincoln herself suffered scorching press attacks, but remained faithful to the Union and her wartime husband. She was also the first presidential wife known as the "First Lady," and it was in this role that she gained her lasting fame. The assassination of her husband haunted her for the rest of her life. Her disintegrating downward spiral resulted in a brief but traumatizing involuntary incarceration in an asylum and exile in Europe during her later years. One of the most tragic and mysterious of nineteenth-century figures, Mary Lincoln and her story symbolize the pain and loss of Civil War America.

Authoritative and utterly engrossing, Mrs. Lincoln is the long-awaited portrait of the woman who so richly contributed to Lincoln's life and legacy.

An intimate portrait of Louisa Catherine Adams, the wife of John Quincy Adams, who witnessed firsthand the greatest transformations of her time

Born in London to an American father and a British mother on the eve of the Revolutionary War, Louisa Catherine Johnson was raised in circumstances very different from the New England upbringing of the future president John Quincy Adams, whose life had been dedicated to public service from the earliest age. And yet John Quincy fell in love with her, almost despite himself. Their often tempestuous but deeply close marriage lasted half a century.

They lived in Prussia, Massachusetts, Washington, Russia, and England, at royal courts, on farms, in cities, and in the White House. Louisa saw more of Europe and America than nearly any other woman of her time. But wherever she lived, she was always pressing her nose against the glass, not quite sure whether she was looking in or out. The other members of the Adams family could take their identity for granted--they were Adamses; they were Americans--but she had to invent her own. The story of Louisa Catherine Adams is one of a woman who forged a sense of self. As the country her husband led found its place in the world, she found a voice. That voice resonates still.

In this deeply felt biography, the talented journalist and historian Louisa Thomas finally gives Louisa Catherine Adams's full extraordinary life its due. An intimate portrait of a remarkable woman, a complicated marriage, and a pivotal historical moment, Louisa Thomas's biography is a masterful work from an elegant storyteller.

This book traces the life of the wife of first president George Washington from her childhood in Virginia, to her marriage to Daniel Parke Custis and her years as a wealthy widow, through her marriage to Washington. It highlights her role in supporting Washington through the years of the American Revolution, showing how she set standards to be followed by future First Ladies throughout American history.

Completely updated through the inauguration in January 2009, First Ladies, Third Edition covers all the women who have held this esteemed "office" since the founding of the United States. Featuring a new profile of current first lady Michelle Obama, this revised edition includes updates and additions to the profiles of Laura Bush, Nancy Reagan, Rosalynn Carter, Barbara Bush, and Hillary Rodham Clinton. New sources have also been added to the further reading lists throughout and to the bibliography.

An in-depth introductory essay traces the history of the first lady, including changes in the idea of what a president's wife should do and be, and how such notions have been affected by society's changing ideas about the role of women. Arranged chronologically by term of presidency, each biographical entry includes a detailed biography emphasizing each first lady's life during the presidency, as well as a chronology, appendixes, and suggestions for further reading. Appendixes listing White House hostesses, first lady "firsts," and first ladies' reflections; a general bibliography; and an index round out this comprehensive edition.

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onasis: The Untold Story is the first book to document Jackie's thirty-one-year struggle with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Here is the woman as she has never been seen before. Barbara Leaming explores the seemingly magical world of Jackie's youth, her fairy-tale marriage to a wealthy and handsome senator and presidential candidate and her astonishing transformation into a deft political wife and unique First Lady. This spirited young woman's rejection of the idea of a "safe marriage" as the wife of some socially prominent but utterly predictable man led her to JFK and, in time, international fame. But the trauma of her husband's murder would damage her far more than has been known. Until now.

While the life of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis has been examined and scrutinized countless times, it is only now that we can truly understand the woman behind the facade, the untold story of this iconic woman.

The story of Abigal Adams who was so much more than the wife and mother of presidents. As a witness to the gathering storm of the Revolutionary War, she was close enough to the scene to give first-hand reports to her husband and other leaders, creating a new government. She also wrote about what it was like to be a woman in colonial times when women were not educated but were called on to make life or death decisions for their children, run farms for their husbands when they were away and live with the fear that childbirth could mean death.

America's first ladies are forty-three remarkable women whose individual stories and causes reflect the history of all American women.

This is the first comprehensive biography of the first ladies for young readers. Edited by Edith P. Mayo, curator of the First Ladies exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution, this essential volume not only documents the lives of the presidents' wives (or official hostesses), it explores the achievements of these significant women in the White House and beyond.

Young readrs will be especially drawn by the book's eleven highlighted entries about issues important to American women, and by one hundred twenty-seven pieces of art and their captions, which tell a visual history of their own.

The Smithsonian Book of the First Ladies draws heavily on original source material. It includes images from the Smithsonian, the Library of Congress, and a host of other diverse collections; four general introductions give an overview of the major events of each historical period.

Part women's history, social history, and American history, this accessible reference book is important reading not just for young women, but for anyone interested in the story of our country.

From Martha Washington to America's newest first lady, meet the 46 exceptional women who made their mark on the White House in DK Eyewitness Books: First Ladies. See how the role of the First Lady has evolved from being a gracious hostess to encompassing humanitarian work and even policy making.

Did you know Dolley Madison rescued state documents and a painting of George Washington as British troops set the White House on fire? Filled with amazing facts, full-color photographs of personal mementos, family pictures, and campaign memorabilia, DK Eyewitness Books: First Ladies is a visual tour through US history. See Mary Todd Lincoln's mourning cape, Edith Wilson's tiara, Eleanor Roosevelt's writing desk, Pat Nixon's party favors, and more. Learn how Florence Harding, Hillary Clinton, and Michelle Obama redefined what being a First Lady meant and involved themselves in causes to create social change and new policies.

Discover which first lady is the only one to hold an honorary seat on the floor on Congress, why Jackie Kennedy won an Emmy award, and which first lady met her husband on a movie set. DK Eyewitness Books: First Ladies has a colorful reference section with infographics, facts, timelines, and information about historic places to visit.

Now revised and updated, DK Eyewitness Books: First Ladies tells the stories of our nation's first ladies and shows readers how each woman influenced the history of the United States.