The First Lady is almost as much important to the American history and tradition as the President. The First Lady needs to be respectable, presentable, smart, intelligent, and so on. So far, America has had some great First ladies. And we are eager to see what Melania Trump will do on the job. In that spirit, we take a look back at some fun and interesting facts, and what former first ladies were able to do.
– Martha Washington, for example, was the first president wife to receive the title “Lady” by the press. She was called “Lady Washington”. Same as her husband, she appeared on a US postage stamp, becoming the first First Lady to do that
– Abigail Adams, on the other hand, was rarely called a Lady because of her sharp tongue. During her tenure, she was more known as Mrs. President. But she was very important, and she urged her husband to remember the ladies when he was writing the nation’s Declaration of Independence. As far as firsts go, she was the first one to be mother and a wife to a president, the first one to live in Washington, and part of the longest married Presidential couple. She and John Adams were married for 54 years
– Edith Wilson was very independent, and she had her own car. When President Wilson suffered a stroke in 1919, Edith took over. Many still do not know which decisions were made by Edith, and which by President Wilson
– Dolley Madison was the only First Lady to be given an honorary seat on the floor of the Congress
– Louisa Adams was the first one to be born in a foreign country, England. Melanis succeeds her as a foreign born First Lady
– We had a wife and a mother of a president, but Anna Harrison was a wife and a grandmother of a president. She was a First Lady for a brief period, because her husband died just a month after the inauguration. So she never lived in the White House
– Abigail Fillmore was the first First lady that worked and earned a salary before getting married. She worked as a school teacher
– Lucy Hayes banned all alcoholic beverages from the White House. She was also the first one to host an Easter Egg Roll on the lawn of the White House
– Frances Cleveland is still the youngest first lady. She became a first lady at the age of 21, and she is the only bride to get marry and give birth in the White House
– Caroline Harrison was the first one to use electricity and have a Christmas tree inside the White House. And she was also the second one to die in the White House
– Helen Nellie Tart was the first one to own and drive a car, and she also was the first one that rode in the inaugural parade. She also was the first to smoke cigarettes and publish her memoirs
– Florence Harding was the one that cultivated and understood the Washington media. She openly campaigned for her husband, and was the first one to vote, operate a movie camera, and invite Hollywood stars to the White House. But the tip of the iceberg is that she was the first one to be openly accused of poisoning her husband
– Eleanor Roosevelt took the media thing to the next level. She was de facto the first blogger. Eleanor hold regular press conferences, but she also wrote a newspaper column titled “My Day”, describing her political ideas and political life. In addition to daily and monthly column, she hosted a weekly radio show
– Jacqueline Kennedy, or Jackie Kennedy as most know her, was the first First Lady that hired a press secretary. She was also the first White House curator, and won an Emmy Award for her TV tour of the White House. And she is the only woman whose husband died while in office to be present for the inauguration of the next president
– Pat Nixon, Richard Nixon’s wife took the White House tours to the next level. She organized tours for deaf and blind. But she was mostly remembered as the first one to wear pants in public. Before that, First ladies wore only dresses in public
– Nancy Reagan worked as a professional actress, and she appeared in a movie. She also appeared in a music video that served as an anti-drug abuse message
– Barbara Bush is the second First Lady that was a wife and a mother to a president. She wrote memoirs, like many other first ladies, but was the first one to do it from her dog’s perspective
– Hillary Clinton hosted the first White House webcast. She could have made history in so many levels. But she lost the presidential race. However, she is still the only first lady elected to public office
– Laura Bush was the first one to give birth to twins, and she was also the first one that substituted her husband in the weekly radio address
– Finally, Michele Obama, same as her husband, is the first African-American First Lady. Aside from Jackie Kennedy, probably no other First Lady was as fashionable and stylish as Michele.
