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First Ladies

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Betty Ford

Early Life Elizabeth “Betty” Anne Bloomer was the third child, and only daughter, of William Bloomer, Sr. and Hortense Neahr. Elizabeth’s father worked for the Royal Rubber Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her mother was related to a wealthy Grand Rapids furniture manufacturing family. Did you know? Politics played a key role in Gerald and […]

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US first lady Laura Bush smiles after being greeted by Gila Katzav, the wife of Israeli President Moshe Katzav, at the president house in Jerusalem Sunday, May 22, 2005. Mrs. Bush arrived in Israel for a one-day visit, that will include the Palestinian town of Jericho, from Jordan where she attended the World Economic Forum conference on the Middle East on Saturday. (Photo by Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images)

Laura Bush

Laura Bush (1946-) was an American first lady and the wife of George W. Bush, 43rd president of the United States. As a former public shool teacher and librarian, Laura Bush championed the causes of education and literacy before and during her time in the White House. As first lady, she helped create the National […]

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Jacqueline Kennedy at the launching of the USS Lafayette submarine.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Jacqueline Lee Bouvier: Early Life and Marriage Jacqueline Lee Bouvier was born on July 28, 1929, in Southampton, New York. Her parents, Janet Lee and stockbroker John “Black Jack” Bouvier, divorced in 1942, and Jackie’s mother married lawyer Hugh Auchincloss. After a privileged childhood spent in New York City, East Hampton, Virginia and Newport, Rhode […]

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First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of Abraham Lincoln.

Mary Todd Lincoln

Mary Todd Lincoln’s Early Life  Born Mary Ann Todd on December 13, 1818, in Lexington, Kentucky. Born to a prominent slaveholding family, Mary Todd Lincoln was raised primarily by her strict stepmother. The well-to-do Mary Todd had many suitors (including Abraham Lincoln’s future political rival, Stephen Douglas). In 1839, she left home to be near […]

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Dreaming of a White (House) Christmas: 17 Photos

Christmas at the first residence has evolved from an understated, intimate affair in 1800 to an all-out media event.

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Gilbert Stuart portrait of Louisa Adams

How the First Foreign-Born First Lady Tackled Her Critics

Louisa Adams did not step foot on American soil before her 26th birthday—the same age as the second foreign-born first lady, Melania Trump, when she came to the United States nearly 200 years later.

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Martha Washington. (Credit: VCG Wilson/Corbis/Getty Images)

Why Martha Washington Was the Ultimate Military Spouse

She spent nearly half the Revolutionary War at her husband’s side.

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Portrait of former US First Ladies, seated from left, Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon, Rosalynn Carter, and Betty Ford and, standing from left, Nancy Reagan and First Lady Barbara Bush, as they pose together at the opening of the Ronald Reagan Library, Simi Valley, California, November 4, 1991.

Why Being the First Lady Can Be the Second Hardest Job in the Nation

There are many ways to be a modern first lady.

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