White House wives: Facts and fantasies

By Cookie Curci-Wright

From the moment her husband takes office as president of the United States, the first lady's life is forever changed. How she reacts to these changes can be a help or an hindrance to her husband's term in office. Since Martha Washington took her rightful place alongside hubby George as the first couple of the land, America's first ladies have been a source of interest to the American public.

Initially, the role of first lady was a social one. She was required to keep and continue White House traditions and social heritage. Easier said than done if you were Martha Washington. As the first lady to hold the job, Martha had no formal education and no precedents to follow. But she had inborn grace, good common sense and social training--sufficient tools to carve a successful niche for herself as our premiere first lady.

Martha Washington may have been the first lady of the land, but she wasn't the first to set up housekeeping in the White House. That pleasure, or displeasure, belonged to Abigail Adams. After the capital moved from Philadelphia to Washington in 1800, Abigail and John Adams were the first to occupy the White House. Washington was little more than a wilderness and Abby found life in the White House anything but pleasurable.

The executive mansion was unfinished, cold, damp and extremely uncomfortable. Without a laundry room in which to do her family's washing, the innovative Abigail took matters--or, in this case, the dirty laundry--into her own capable hands, and hung her wash in the East Room of the White House. (Martha Stewart would have been proud of this domestic engineer.) Though Abigail nagged bitterly in private to her husband, true to the code of the political wife, she never displayed her unhappiness in public.

Later, during the War of 1812, first lady Dorothea Todd Madison, better known as Dolly Madison, displayed true grit when the British invaded Washington. Rumor has it that Queen Dolly, as she was known by her friends, had a passion for quality things. It was commonly believed that she hesitated fleeing the White House in order to rescue her precious gowns and jewels, as well as the famous Gilbert Stuart painting of George Washington.

In truth, Dolly waited till the very last minute to vacate the White House, but her motives weren't mercenary ones. She remained behind to gather important state documents. On the spur of the moment, with the British nipping at her heels, Dolly grabbed the famous oil painting as she dashed for safety. Minutes after Dolly fled the White House, it was burned to the ground by British soldiers.

After the fabulous Dolly, first ladies who reigned over the White House paled by comparison. Due to illness or death, most of our early presidents took office without a wife, delegating duties to their daughters or in-laws .

Julia Gardener Tyler was a 24-year-old beauty who had the distinction as the first to marry a president while he was in office. The public was dubious about the president's May/December marriage to the young Julia, but it lasted 20 years and produced seven children. Before her death, President Tyler's first wife, Letita Christian Tyler, gave birth to seven children for a total of 14--six girls and eight boys.

Anna Tuthill Harrison holds the record for the most births by a first lady, with 10 children in all--six boys and four girls. Unfortunately, they were left fatherless when William Harrison caught pneumonia the day of his inauguration and died 31 days later.

Sarah Polk, wife of President James Polk, brought four years of sobriety to the White House. She forbade smoking, dancing, music or card playing in the executive mansion. This made for some quiet evenings at the White House and some really long, boring social affairs.

Mary Todd Lincoln was a paradox. She encouraged her husband to be thrifty in his government spending and gave the image of a woman who didn't care for frills and finery. The truth was, despite her understated appearance, Mary had a taste for the finer things in life. When her husband became president, it was the green light to spend, spend, spend, as she plunged into buying frenzies. Disgruntled Southern ladies whispered, "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear"!

Julia Grant shared a long, successful marriage with hubby Ulysses. When she died she was interred at the general's side in the famous tomb on Riverside Drive in New York City. Therefore, the correct answer to the quiz show question, "Who's buried in Grant's tomb" is--Mr. and Mrs. Grant!

Francis Folsom Cleveland holds the distinction of being the first first lady to give birth in the White House. Baby Esther Cleveland made her appearance in 1883.

Edith Galt Wilson was nurse, companion and executive secretary to her ailing husband, Woodrow Wilson. In his last days, albeit unknown to the public, she helped him make executive decisions. I wonder how first ladies have helped hubby make those tough executive choices?

Helen Taft, wife of President William Taft, may not have been the most colorful first lady to grace the White House, but she's responsible for bringing a rainbow of color to Washington, D.C., in the form of cherry blossoms. Helen cajoled the Japanese government into gifting her the trees.

Eleanor Roosevelt was our most active first lady. She received more awards and honors, made more speeches, wrote more books and articles and traveled more extensively than any wife of a president (including Hillary Clinton). There have been countless biographies, films and books about her. Some suggest she was unhappy in her arranged and passionless marriage to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Others tell of a clandestine relationship she shared with her social secretary. Perhaps the driving force behind this first lady's many achievements was loneliness and the old-fashioned need to be needed.

After his successful World War II campaign, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower returned to the states where a grateful nation echoed the refrain, "I like Ike." If they liked Ike, then they surely loved Mamie. Tiny, cheerful, friendly little Mamie was the first of our presidents' wives to evoke a popular hair style. Her famous bangs set a hair fashion trend for the early 1950s. Mamie, a teetotaler, suffered from an ailment known as Menière's disease, a condition that causes a loss of equilibrium. Sometimes, because of the ailment, Mamie's walk was staggered. White House servants erroneously reported that Mamie had a drinking problem!

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy had cachet. She impressed royalty and dazzled heads of state with her beauty and ability to speak several different languages. She was admired for her courage and the principled way in which she raised her two children, Caroline and John Kennedy Jr. However, as with Mary Todd Lincoln, Jackie possessed a desire for the finer things in life. Later she married the wealthy Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis.

Claudia "Lady Bird" Johnson was given her nickname as a child by the family cook, and not by LBJ as many believe. She is revered for the way she handled the demands of her position, her dynamic husband, her home life and two teenage daughters to emerge as one of the top businesswoman of her time. Who says you can't have it all?

Pat Nixon personified the 1970s GOP idea of the perfect first lady: "Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil."

Elizabeth "Betty" Ford became our first lady through an unexpected series of events: Vice President Spiro Agnew's resignation and Nixon's subsequent resignation catapulted Ford into the presidency. Thrust into a role she was unprepared for, she developed an alcohol and drug dependency.

It was the late '70s, when public confessions and tell-all books were in vogue. Taking a page from public celebrities who confessed all to the press, this gutsy first lady admitted to the media that she suffered from a drug dependency. America learned that our first lady was human, too. She founded the Betty Ford Clinic and helped thousands to kick the habit. However, husband Gerald lost his bid for election to the puritan Jimmy Carter. Could Betty have told voters more than they needed to know ?

Nancy Reagan has long been described as passionately devoted to her husband, "Ronnie," though her relationships with her children have been somewhat estranged. On becoming first lady, she was asked by reporters if she could handle public opinion and political upheavals. Without missing a beat, the chipper first lady gave this response: "A woman is like a tea bag. You don't know her strength until she's in hot water." I'll drink to that.

Barbara Bush was criticized as our first lady for not having enough fashion pizzazz. Her white hair and faithful string of pearls were the point of many humorous barbs. True, she wouldn't give Jackie O any competition as a trend setter, but as far as George Bush, her devoted husband of 55 years, is concerned, no one can hold a candle to his precious Barbara; their four sons, two daughters and countless grandchildren agree. What woman could ask for a more valued testimony?

Hillary Rodham Clinton is our most politically oriented and controversial first lady. As an attorney she worked for Rose Law firm and was linked to the Whitewater scandal. She headed a failed campaign to reform U.S. health care. She once declared, "I'm not the old-fashioned, stay-at-home-and-bake-cookies type." During her husband's extramarital affairs, the humiliation of a public investigation headed by Kenneth Starr and her husband's impeachment hearings, she has portrayed herself as the old-fashioned, stand-by-your-man type. Not one to let any grass grow under her feet, she has her eye on a New York Senate seat.

If her adherence and tenacity are any indication, then this is just the beginning of Hillary's political career. And what does the future hold for Bubba? Well, who knows? Perhaps "first husband" of the land. Advice for Hillary: As the saying goes, behind every great man is a great woman . . . and behind every great woman is a man--waiting to trip her up!

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