The First Ladies: Wrapping Up
Today's post about Michelle Obama completes my February project on the First Ladies. I hope you found it as informative as I did. I knew very little of these women, and was continually impressed as I learned more about each first lady's character, strength, intellect, education, interests, commitment to family, accomplishments and the causes that they were passionate about. I enjoyed this learning experience much more than I expected that I would. I think what I was most pleasantly surprised about is about how most of these women were ahead of their times and so enlightened in many leading moral issues of their time, most notably in the field of civil rights and equality. Even the ones portraying the strongest ambitions appeared to be motivated by reasons of some cause larger than themselves or their husband's political careers. The nation appears to have been well served by those who have occupied this unelected but very significant position.
Because I decided to limit this project to 28 days, some first ladies were not profiled. These were:
1. Martha Jefferson: the wife of Thomas Jefferson died 18 years before her husband became president and was not included for this reason. [Subsequently written up here.]
2. Rachel Jackson: Andrew Jackson's spouse died in between her husband's election and his inauguration.
3. Hannah Van Buren: like Martha Jefferson, she also died 18 years before her husband became president.
4. Anna Harrison: I omitted her because her husband was only President for 31 days. [Subsequently written up here.]
5. Letitia Tyler [Subsequently written up here] and 6. Julia Tyler [Subsequently written up here]: I didn't know which of John Tyler's two wives during his Presidency merited more of a profile and omitted them both from selection.
7. Abigail Fillmore: I think it was just a numbers game. There were other first ladies who seemed more prominent and Abigail wasn't in the top 28. [Subsequently written up here.]
8. Harriet Lane: I left her out because she wasn't the wife of a President, though I believe that her biography in filling this role for James Buchanan would have been an interesting one. [Subsequently written up here].
9. Eliza Johnson: Like Abigail Fillmore, Eliza missed the cut because of numbers. She probably would have merited a biography in a month with 31 days. [Subsequently written up here.]
10. Lucretia Garfield: She was left out because her husband spent less than a year in office, though I think hers would have been an interesting story to tell. [Subsequently written up here.]
11. Ellen Arthur: She died the year before her husband became President, but her life is an interesting one, particularly because of her being a southerner married to a Yankee during the civil war and because of the tension that existed at times in her marriage.
12. Caroline Harrison: I regret not including her in the group. Her illness and death had a unique effect in the campaign of 1892 that inspired a moment of civility in an otherwise vicious sport. [Subsequently written up here.]
13. Edith Roosevelt: She is one of the two biggest regrets in hindsight of first ladies left off this list. [Subsequently written up here.]
14. Ellen Wilson [previously written up here] and 15. Edith Wilson: I wasn't certain which of Woodrow Wilson's wives deserved a bio in this series. though I have previously written about Ellen in this community. [Edith was subsequently written up here.]
16. Florence Harding: I regret not writing about "the Dutchess". Her reaction to her husband's infidelity and the suspicion that she had a part in his unexpected death make for good reading. [Subsequently written up here]
17. Mamie Eisenhower: I most regret forgetting to include her in this series. She was first lady for two terms and had her own unique 1950's take on the role. [Subsequently written up here]
If there is anyone on this list that you have a keen interest on knowing more about, leave a comment and I'll try and write a post about her at some point in time. I may do that in any event for my own education.
My project in March will be to pay tribute to those brilliant authors and historians who write about Presidents. Every day I'll try and post an excerpt from a biography of a President so that you can get a take on some aspect of a President's life from someone other than me.
Thank you for reading the series on the first ladies and for your insightful comments.
Because I decided to limit this project to 28 days, some first ladies were not profiled. These were:
1. Martha Jefferson: the wife of Thomas Jefferson died 18 years before her husband became president and was not included for this reason. [Subsequently written up here.]
2. Rachel Jackson: Andrew Jackson's spouse died in between her husband's election and his inauguration.
3. Hannah Van Buren: like Martha Jefferson, she also died 18 years before her husband became president.
4. Anna Harrison: I omitted her because her husband was only President for 31 days. [Subsequently written up here.]
5. Letitia Tyler [Subsequently written up here] and 6. Julia Tyler [Subsequently written up here]: I didn't know which of John Tyler's two wives during his Presidency merited more of a profile and omitted them both from selection.
7. Abigail Fillmore: I think it was just a numbers game. There were other first ladies who seemed more prominent and Abigail wasn't in the top 28. [Subsequently written up here.]
8. Harriet Lane: I left her out because she wasn't the wife of a President, though I believe that her biography in filling this role for James Buchanan would have been an interesting one. [Subsequently written up here].
9. Eliza Johnson: Like Abigail Fillmore, Eliza missed the cut because of numbers. She probably would have merited a biography in a month with 31 days. [Subsequently written up here.]
10. Lucretia Garfield: She was left out because her husband spent less than a year in office, though I think hers would have been an interesting story to tell. [Subsequently written up here.]
11. Ellen Arthur: She died the year before her husband became President, but her life is an interesting one, particularly because of her being a southerner married to a Yankee during the civil war and because of the tension that existed at times in her marriage.
12. Caroline Harrison: I regret not including her in the group. Her illness and death had a unique effect in the campaign of 1892 that inspired a moment of civility in an otherwise vicious sport. [Subsequently written up here.]
13. Edith Roosevelt: She is one of the two biggest regrets in hindsight of first ladies left off this list. [Subsequently written up here.]
14. Ellen Wilson [previously written up here] and 15. Edith Wilson: I wasn't certain which of Woodrow Wilson's wives deserved a bio in this series. though I have previously written about Ellen in this community. [Edith was subsequently written up here.]
16. Florence Harding: I regret not writing about "the Dutchess". Her reaction to her husband's infidelity and the suspicion that she had a part in his unexpected death make for good reading. [Subsequently written up here]
17. Mamie Eisenhower: I most regret forgetting to include her in this series. She was first lady for two terms and had her own unique 1950's take on the role. [Subsequently written up here]
If there is anyone on this list that you have a keen interest on knowing more about, leave a comment and I'll try and write a post about her at some point in time. I may do that in any event for my own education.
My project in March will be to pay tribute to those brilliant authors and historians who write about Presidents. Every day I'll try and post an excerpt from a biography of a President so that you can get a take on some aspect of a President's life from someone other than me.
Thank you for reading the series on the first ladies and for your insightful comments.