First Ladies [Hardcover]

Margaret Truman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 26, 1995

This well-informed, intimate look at 29 women whose lives were intertwined with those who lead and have led this country presents forthright interviews with Lady Bird Johnson, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Reagan, and others, while warmly recalling Pat Nixon and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Ms. Truman's legendary frankness is present but so, too, is a generosity of spirit. Photos throughout.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Truman's look at the nation's first ladies features capsule accounts of a selective number of women who have shared the White House with their husbands. She includes the obvious subjects such as Martha Washington, Dolley Madison, Mary Todd Lincoln, Eleanor Roosevelt and all the modern presidents' wives, along with lesser-known first ladies as Julia Grant and Julia Tyler. Although Truman, a mystery writer (Murder in the White House) provides a brief background on the women she profiles, she focuses, naturally enough, on their White House years and the roles they played in their husbands' administrations. And Truman attributes to the first ladies plenty of influence over their mates, asserting on numerous occasions that they have played major parts in changing the course of history (e.g., how Dolley Madison's courage helped her husband, and the country, recover from the War of 1812). But her light approach makes it difficult to tell whether she seriously believes her assertion that Rachel Jackson and Lou Hoover died of broken hearts because of the negative publicity about themselves and their husbands. Photos.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Truman writes about first ladies with the obvious advantage of an insider, having spent her young adulthood in the White House. Her book is a tribute to both her parents-her father urged a study of presidential wives, and her mother exemplified the role of a supportive partner. Rather than following a strict chronology and discussing every first lady, Truman draws comparisons and contrasts. Lady Bird Johnson is judged the most successful first lady; Florence Harding the least. Lucy Hayes's interest in improving the lives of the poor and Ellen Wilson's interest in slum clearance foreshadowed Eleanor Roosevelt's career. Truman concludes that first ladies should provide public support to the president but there is no single pattern to follow, and each lady needs to fill that role in her own way. Truman's work is the latest popular treatment of presidential wives, following surveys with the same title including Carl Sferrazza Anthony's two-volume set (LJ 8/90, 4/1/91) and Betty Boyd Caroli's soon-to-be updated book (LJ 9/1/87). Recommended for public libraries.
Patricia A. Beaber, Trenton State Coll. Lib., N.J.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1st edition (September 26, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679434399
• ISBN-13: 978-0679434399
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,546,297 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Charming look at our First Ladies, June 6, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: First Ladies: An Intimate Group Portrait of White House Wives (Paperback)

I LOVED THIS BOOK! Margaret Truman uses her own unique perspective as the daughter of a First Lady to share a charming look at First Ladies throughout our history.

This is a very interesting, easy-to-read book with a variety of antecdotes illustrating the different roles First Ladies have taken on.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book to read in this '96 election year., November 4, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: First Ladies: An Intimate Group Portrait of White House Wives (Paperback)

An interesting author in her own right with "first-hand" knowledge of living in the 'Big House'. Tastefully done review of little-before heard of facts and information about America's first ladies. Dolly Madison and Lou Henry Hoover were amazing women. The special qualities, strengths, and human frailities of our country's leading ladies is told in an honest, compassionate, and fascinating manner

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Political Partners, November 7, 2003

By 

James Gallen (St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: First Ladies: An Intimate Group Portrait of White House Wives (Paperback)

From her unique perspective and personal contacts with many Twentieth Century First Ladies, Margaret Truman has told their stories in a most interesting way. The brief biographies primarily cover the years each of these Ladies resided in the White House, although their roles in getting there are not overlooked.

The concept of President and First Lady as political partners is central to the book. How and to what extent each First Lady fits into this mold is carefully examined. The influence that each First Lady has had on her husband and his administration brings some surprises.

We know of the public partners, such as Rosalynn Carter and Hillary Clinton, as well as those such as Lady Bird Johnson, who would do anything to advance Lyndon's career, and Eleanor Roosevelt, the eyes and ears of Franklin, but there were others. Who would have thought of Julia Tyler, the young second wife of John Tyler who, in her year in the White House, orchestrated a whirlwind entertainment campaign to achieve the annexation of Texas. Another second wife, Edith Wilson, virtually ran the country during her husband's two year illness after his stroke. There were those, such as Julia Grant and Helen Taft, who wanted the White House worse than their husbands.

Margaret Truman does an excellent job at categorizing the First Ladies topically. Among the tragic topics are those who may have been killed by newsprint, Rachel Jackson and Lou Hoover. Maligned First Ladies, such as Mary Lincoln, and those who lived with domineering husbands, such as Grace Coolidge, get sympathetic reviews. No sympathies are wasted on the undeserving, prominently Florence Harding.

In this book Margaret Truman gives us a splendid introduction to one of the most crucial jobs in our country. I am glad that I read it. You will be too.