First Ladies, Betty Boyd Caroli
First Ladies, Betty Boyd Caroli
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First Ladies
The Ever Changing Role, from Martha Washington to Melania Trump

Author: Betty Boyd Caroli

Narrator: Susan Ericksen

Unabridged: 20 hr 37 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/29/2019


Synopsis

Betty Boyd Caroli's engrossing and informative First Ladies is 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 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."

About Betty Boyd Caroli

Betty Boyd Caroli is the author of Lady Bird and Lyndon: The Hidden Story of a Marriage That Made a President; First Ladies: Martha Washington to Michelle Obama; Inside the White House; and The Roosevelt Women. She has been a guest on Today, The O’Reilly Factor, Lehrer NewsHour, Al Jazeera, Booknotes with Brian Lamb, and many others. A graduate of Oberlin College, Caroli holds a master’s degree in Mass Communications from the Annenberg School of the University of Pennsylvania and a PhD in American Civilization from New York University. She currently resides in New York City and Venice, Italy.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jackie on October 07, 2011

I never thought I would be this into a history book that didn't involve a heinous crime but holy cow did I enjoy this! I learned so much about the role of the first lady and what that entails, as well as the women who have held it. Some of their little known stories were deeply moving and inspiring,......more

Goodreads review by Julie on June 30, 2012

The author clearly conducted in-depth research and brought together a huge store of facts to write this epic. Unfortunately, it contains all the hallmarks of a rough draft – an immense project that didn't get the final polish that makes a text digestible for its audience. I don't just mean typos, th......more

Goodreads review by Leslie on September 05, 2016

Writing about First Ladies is tricky. You can't leave anyone out -- but then it devolves into a collection of Wikipedia articles. The women in the role have varied so much it seems impossible to pull out common threads or insights. This books does a much better job than most in providing analysis an......more

Goodreads review by Evelyn on April 21, 2013

In addition to providing interesting information about our First Ladies, this book was like looking backwards through a telescope at our nation's history. The roles of our first ladies changed as the culture, times and customs changed. As my life span has covered the time period from Eleanor Rooseve......more

Goodreads review by Susan on May 04, 2015

For me this book was an interesting glimpse into the lives of American First Ladies. Not only did I enjoy reading about all of them, I also enjoyed learning about the evolution of the role and its place in establishing women's rights in the States. I do agree with another poster who indicated at tim......more