First Ladies

Louisa Catherine Johnson was born in London, England, in 1775, to an English mother and a father born in England’s American colonies. The family relocated to France after the Revolutionary War broke out, but returned to London in 1781. Louisa and her sisters were brought up like ...read more

1. Richard Nixon Long before anyone called him “tricky,” the man who would become the 37th U.S. president was seriously smitten. In 1938 Richard Nixon, then a young lawyer, landed a part in a community theater production. Fellow cast member Pat Ryan, a high school teacher, ...read more

Betty Ford (1918-2011) was an American first lady (1974-77) and the wife of Gerald Ford, the 38th president of the United States. Ford realized the power of her position as first lady early on, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly after her husband took office. Her ...read more

Laura Bush (1946-) was an American first lady and the wife of George W. Bush, 43rd president of the United States. As a former public shool teacher and librarian, Laura Bush championed the causes of education and literacy before and during her time in the White House. As first ...read more

The journalist and socialite Jacqueline Lee Bouvier married John F. Kennedy, then a freshman U.S. senator from Massachusetts, in 1953. In 1960, Kennedy became the youngest man (and the first Catholic) to be elected president of the United States. As first lady, Jackie Kennedy ...read more

Mary Todd Lincoln was born December 13, 1818, in Lexington, Kentucky. She was the first lady of the United States from 1861 to 1865, while her husband Abraham Lincoln served as the 16th president. Happy and energetic in her youth, she suffered subsequent ill health and personal ...read more

Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson was the wife of Thomas Jefferson. Born in Virginia in 1748, she died at the family’s Monticello home on September 6, 1782, several months after giving birth to her last child and 19 years before her husband became the third president of the United ...read more

Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson (1912-2007) was an American first lady (1963-69) and the wife of Lyndon Johnson, the 36th president of the United States. A strong believer in her husband’s political talents, Lady Bird used her own inheritance to fund his early campaigns, and overcame ...read more

As the wife of one president, George H.W. Bush (1989-1993), and the mother of another, George W. Bush (2001-2009), Barbara Bush holds a unique position in American political history. Born in 1925, she married at the age of 19 and devoted much her time to raising her five children ...read more

Julia Grant (1826-1902) was an American first lady (1869-77) and the wife of the American Civil War general and 18th president of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant. A devoted wife, Julia Grant often joined her husband at his military postings, including several trips to the ...read more

Thelma “Pat” Nixon (1912-93) was an American first lady (1969-74) and the wife of Richard Nixon, the 37th president of the United States. As first lady, Pat Nixon encouraged Americans to donate their time and service to volunteerism, continued preservation efforts begun by Jackie ...read more

Elizabeth “Bess” Truman (1885-1982) was an American first lady (1945-53) and the wife of Harry S. Truman, the 33rd president of the United States. An intensely private woman, Bess reluctantly agreed to attend political events with her husband throughout his career. but rarely ...read more

Abigail Adams was one of only two women to have been both wife and mother to two U.S. presidents (the other being Barbara Bush). Often separated from her husband due to his political work, the self-educated Abigail oversaw the family’s household and largely raised their four ...read more