America’s First Ladies: A Historical Encyclopedia and Primary Document Collection of the Remarkable Women of the White House

This is an extremely straightforward book with a clear but narrow focus. It covers US presidential wives who have served as First Ladies (sometimes quaintly called “Mrs President”), whilst their husband was in office. But taken strictly, this term “US presidential wives” involves certain exclusions. First, wives who died before their husband took office and who were therefore never able to function as First Ladies – for example, Rachel Jackson who died late in 1828 three months before Andrew could be inaugurated; second, women whom the ex-president married after his departure from White House – for example, Caroline Fillmore, Millard’s...