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First Ladies: The Ever Changing Role, from Martha Washington to Melania Trump
Betty Boyd Caroli's engrossing and informative First Ladies is both a captivating read and an essential resource for anyone interested in the role of America's First Ladies. Caroli observes the role as it has shifted and evolved from ceremonial backdrop to substantive world figure. This expanded and updated fifth edition presents Caroli's keen political analysis and astute observations of recent developments in First Lady history, including Melania Trump's reluctance to take on the mantle and former First Lady Hilary Clinton's recent run for president. Caroli here contributes a new preface and updated chapters.
Covering all forty-five women from Martha Washington to Melania and Ivanka Trump and including the daughters, daughters-in-law, and sisters of presidents who served as First Ladies, Caroli explores each woman's background, marriage, and accomplishments and failures in office. This remarkable lot included Abigail Adams, whose "remember the ladies" became a twentieth-century feminist refrain; Jane Pierce, who prayed her husband would lose the election; Helen Taft, who insisted on living in the White House, although her husband would have preferred a judgeship; Eleanor Roosevelt, who epitomized the politically involved First Lady; and Pat Nixon, who perfected what some have called "the robot image." They ranged in age from early 20s to late 60s; some received superb educations for their time, while others had little or no schooling. Including the courageous and adventurous, the ambitious, and the reserved, these women often did not fit the traditional expectations of a presidential
helpmate.
First Ladies is an engaging portrait of how each First Lady changed the role and how the role changed in response to American culture. These women left remarkably complete records, and their stories offer us a window through which to view not only this particular sorority of women, but also the role of American woman in general.
Covering all forty-five women from Martha Washington to Melania and Ivanka Trump and including the daughters, daughters-in-law, and sisters of presidents who served as First Ladies, Caroli explores each woman's background, marriage, and accomplishments and failures in office. This remarkable lot included Abigail Adams, whose "remember the ladies" became a twentieth-century feminist refrain; Jane Pierce, who prayed her husband would lose the election; Helen Taft, who insisted on living in the White House, although her husband would have preferred a judgeship; Eleanor Roosevelt, who epitomized the politically involved First Lady; and Pat Nixon, who perfected what some have called "the robot image." They ranged in age from early 20s to late 60s; some received superb educations for their time, while others had little or no schooling. Including the courageous and adventurous, the ambitious, and the reserved, these women often did not fit the traditional expectations of a presidential
helpmate.
First Ladies is an engaging portrait of how each First Lady changed the role and how the role changed in response to American culture. These women left remarkably complete records, and their stories offer us a window through which to view not only this particular sorority of women, but also the role of American woman in general.
480 pages, Paperback
Published May 3, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
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September 1, 2020***
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March 7, 2021
Betty Boyd Caroli takes on a difficult task here of covering the history of generations of women + providing some context on their time + talking about the developing role of the First Lady without seeming choppy or dull. She does it very well. It’s hard to give mini-biographies of that many people without it feeling like a string of Wikipedia articles. Her research, though, goes beyond that as she makes connections between these women and the expectations of their time.
I really liked it and learned quite a bit. I took down a star because I felt her personal feelings crept in from time to time in a way that was off-putting (she seems very dedicated to an un-nuanced perspective on motherhood & portrays women focused on motherhood as disappointments which is a pretty lazy/shameful approach). There’s a lot of good stuff here, though!
I really liked it and learned quite a bit. I took down a star because I felt her personal feelings crept in from time to time in a way that was off-putting (she seems very dedicated to an un-nuanced perspective on motherhood & portrays women focused on motherhood as disappointments which is a pretty lazy/shameful approach). There’s a lot of good stuff here, though!
June 6, 2025
My husband, who doesn't listen to audiobooks, overheard a bit of this, and asked me if it was an AI reading, which I think tells you all you need to know about the narration (I responded no, but that audiobook narration had changed over the years, and he said "Production value is better now" and I said "Yes."). It's not terribly narrated - I wouldn't have finished it if it had been - but you really have to like reading about First Ladies in order to enjoy this audiobook. First Ladies have always been a topic I liked reading about - I can remember reading a nonfiction book about First Ladies in elementary school and being fascinated by their stories, and their old clothes, and the old photographs, and feeling sorry for the First Ladies I thought looked "ugly" (I'm not going to say who ten year old me thought was ugly). is the gold standard in First Ladies for me; his is a delightful mix of historical fact and tea, and I wish there was an audiobook of that book. This is mostly historical fact, but it's also not an encyclopedia entry on each First Lady either. Caroli definitely places each First Lady in the setting of the times, including what was going on with women during the same time period, and whether they were in sync with the feminism of their time or not (mostly, not). But it's light on the tea - although the last chapter, on the 2016 Melania Trump, was fascinating; having recently lived through the time period, how Melanie was perceived then and how she is likely going to be perceived by First Lady historians was really interesting, if obviously subject to change.
December 21, 2023
If you are interested in a broad overview of First Ladies of the Unites States and what that role entails, this might be a book for you to pick up. I do not have a large interest in US history, but this was decently interesting and I did learn more about what a First Lady does, other than make public appearances. The book briefly discusses all of the First Ladies up to Melania Trump, so it does have recent material in it. This wasn't my favorite book of the month, but it wasn't terrible by any means.
January 28, 2025
This book was such an interesting read, and I’d definitely recommend it! I learned so much, and the author does an amazing job fitting a lot of history into a short book. It covers all the First Ladies (except for Dr. Jill Biden, but I expect she’ll be in the next version published), giving a great overview of their lives and showing how the role has evolved over time. It highlights how different each First Lady was and the unique ways they approached the role. It’s a fascinating read for anyone curious about the impact these women had on their husbands’ presidencies and on history as a whole.
June 21, 2020
A fascinating and insightful history of the role of the First Lady of the United States and the lives of the women who occupied this role from the late eighteenth century to the present day. Caroli does not only provide a succession of short biographies but discusses how each First Lady became part of wider American discussions about the role of women in public life. Caroli identifies overarching themes and generational changes over time and highlights the connections between First Ladies including the rivalry between Edith Roosevelt and Helen Taft and the friendship between Laura Bush and Michelle Obama. The book excels at highlighting the achievements of lesser known first ladies including the political instincts of Sarah Polk and the educational achievements of Lucy Hayes, the first future First Lady to graduate college and Grace Coolidge, the first future First Lady to receive a BA from a co-educational post secondary institution. Lou Hoover emerges as strong personality, setting the stage for the achievements of Eleanor Roosevelt. A really interesting read, highly recommended.
June 26, 2019
Very interesting to learn more about the women behind the presidents and the roles they played. I felt it was attacking President Trump, than learning more about Melania, which is why I gave it only 4 stars.
May 25, 2022
Every First Lady (and a few White House hostesses) gets a thumbnail sketch. The book is nearly 500 pages long, so it's author Betty Boyd Caroli's challenge to represent each woman fairly, but in a succinct way to hold the reader's interest over this 240+ year journey. I appreciate how difficult that must be. However I have gripes with how the First Ladies I'm most familiar with -- Mary Lincoln and Jacqueline Kennedy -- were handled. Without the context of the tragedies they faced, their behavior could be judged in too harsh a light.
• Mary was certainly not a helpmate to Lincoln by the time of his death. Her life had been filled with so much pain and loss by that point that she was too fragile. But did Mary hinder President Lincoln in any way, as the author implies? OH, PLEASE! He won the Civil War, preserved the Union and signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Exactly what more would Betty Boyd Caroli have him accomplish? Solve the mystery of Stone Henge?
• She makes no reference to the August 1963 death of Patrick Bouvier Kennedy. A baby born to a First Lady died before she could even bring him home from the hospital. Trying to recover from grief away from prying public eyes, Jackie took the "Greek vacation" Ms. Caroli casually refers to, and that fateful trip to Texas in November 1963 was literally The First Lady's first official engagement after her baby's death. To not put her "Greek vacation" in context is to make Jackie seem like a frivolous jet setter, and that is misleading and unfair. Within little more than 90 days, Mrs. Kennedy lost her baby, her husband and her home, and she had to deal with the eyes of the world upon her.
Still, this book is entertaining and held my interest. I learned a great deal. Ida McKinley and Pat Nixon turned out to be more sympathetic and interesting than I ever knew, and I will look for more about them. If we could grant 1/2 stars, I'd give 3.5.
• Mary was certainly not a helpmate to Lincoln by the time of his death. Her life had been filled with so much pain and loss by that point that she was too fragile. But did Mary hinder President Lincoln in any way, as the author implies? OH, PLEASE! He won the Civil War, preserved the Union and signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Exactly what more would Betty Boyd Caroli have him accomplish? Solve the mystery of Stone Henge?
• She makes no reference to the August 1963 death of Patrick Bouvier Kennedy. A baby born to a First Lady died before she could even bring him home from the hospital. Trying to recover from grief away from prying public eyes, Jackie took the "Greek vacation" Ms. Caroli casually refers to, and that fateful trip to Texas in November 1963 was literally The First Lady's first official engagement after her baby's death. To not put her "Greek vacation" in context is to make Jackie seem like a frivolous jet setter, and that is misleading and unfair. Within little more than 90 days, Mrs. Kennedy lost her baby, her husband and her home, and she had to deal with the eyes of the world upon her.
Still, this book is entertaining and held my interest. I learned a great deal. Ida McKinley and Pat Nixon turned out to be more sympathetic and interesting than I ever knew, and I will look for more about them. If we could grant 1/2 stars, I'd give 3.5.
March 6, 2020
Interesantísimo. Lo comencé incluso con escepticismo: ¿por qué debería resultar interesante para alguien que no es estadounidense, la historia de las esposas de los presidentes de ese país? Pero en realidad me sorprendió y el agrado e interés fueron en aumento. No solamente es un recorrido muy bien documentado y narrado, a través de las vidas de las Primeras Damas de Estados Unidos, sino un análisis bastante bueno del papel de la mujer a lo largo de la historia de ese país e, incluso, del mundo. Con información profundas y muy bien estructurada, Boyd nos ayuda a entender cómo el desarrollo de las mujeres y sus conquistas sociales y políticas se reflejan en el rol que la esposa del presidente jugó en cada período, tanto en la sociedad como en el gobierno. y también nos permite ver que es una dinámica de dos vías, pues también resalta la manera en la que mujeres diferentísimas, de orígenes, personalidades y educaciones tan diversas, le han dado forma a la figura de la Primera Dama y, con ello, influido en el papel de la mujer en los Estados Unidos. Una gran lectura.
May 12, 2020
This is a very interesting book about the history and evolution of the roles of First Ladies. I found myself the most interested in the First Ladies of my lifetime. The book only covers the first two years of Melania Trump's role. I would liked more information on her as she is always maligned by the media. As far as the early First Wives, it was interesting to see how they confirmed to the mores of their times. Some didn't allow drinking in the White House, some stressed motherhood, some were very outgoing and great hostesses. Some stayed in the background. I was also interested in Mary Todd Lincoln. She is often portrayed so badly and I think this was a fair portrayal of her. If you're curious about the First Ladies, this is a very good book.
December 13, 2021
This is a thorough, interesting account of all the First Ladies of the USA. (It was finished in 2018 so does not cover Dr. Jill Biden.) Since their role is undefined officially, they have some leeway in how they choose to fulfill it. Of course their husband's views and their own personalities and interests come into play. With the popularity of TV and now social media,citizens expect to know more about their leader's spouse-----and the wives have often been more popular than the men they married as their term(s) play out.(Laura Bush). These women are a very diverse group,as is our nation. Some shied away from publicity,some sought and relished it. Often they were of higher education and/or social-economic class than their husband.
November 24, 2024
I really enjoyed this book but one downfall of a text that does cover so many women is that their lives and personalities tend to meld together. It becomes difficult to remember which woman was responsible for each tenure in office and their overall experiences get lost in the crowd. I do appreciate the completeness of the book though in particular the references made to compare the terms of one to another. It also helped me to perhaps be inspired to read about other women in particular. I was not aware of some of the amazing lives of some of these women and I may read biographies on them later based on this book.
February 2, 2022
This book was so dull and long. It probably didn’t help that I listened to the audiobook which was 20 hours long. The author was biased and bent on finding uninteresting facts. I definitely learned some things but I feel like it could have been so much better than it was! Disappointed that it took so much time and wasn’t that great.
July 15, 2019
Interesting and intriguing. It was nice to read about First Ladies and have them in the spot light for once. I can’t imagine the roles they play behind the scene. Behind every great man, stands a great woman.
March 16, 2021
I've read a lot about First Ladies but still learned some things from this book. It is a good one volume source to get insights into how the role of First Ladies reflected their times and changed over the years.
June 8, 2021
4/5 stars: if you’re looking for a concise summary of every first lady of the united states.. this is it. fairly neutral and above all, packed with biographical info, each woman’s influence and reputation.
5/5 extra star for the superb bibliography! my academic heart is happy
5/5 extra star for the superb bibliography! my academic heart is happy
August 18, 2022
I liked this book, which gave a bit of information about each First Lady. I liked that the author also discussed general trends for the different time periods. This is an interesting book and could inspire you to read more about particular women who spark your interest.
March 7, 2024
Interesting overview of the first ladies. I appreciated how the author went a little more in-depth about some of the lesser-known women. I would have tweaked the organization and structure a little bit, but otherwise, it was good.
January 14, 2020
Well written, good information. Technically, this is a DNF as I read only the parts I needed for research.
January 24, 2021
Really great, interesting read about our First Ladies and what they were like and what they accomplished. It's not something you'd ever know otherwise.
February 2, 2023
Interesting read because I knew nothing about most of these women. The role of the first lady evolved, along with the roles of women in society. Interesting read.
March 5, 2023
Great book. It gives a clearer sense of history based on the personal narratives of Americas first ladies.
June 22, 2023
3.75/5
August 23, 2024
Very interesting and well documented short biographies of all First Ladies through Michelle Obama.
January 28, 2025
Great book about the first ladies
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