First Ladies: Facts and Profiles

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Jill Biden

Early Life & Marriage to Joe Biden Born Jill Jacobs in 1951, in Hammonton, New Jersey, she grew up as the oldest of five sisters in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. At 18, after briefly studying fashion merchandising at a junior college in Pennsylvania, she married Bill Stevenson. The two began attending the […]

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 […]

Mamie Eisenhower

Mamie Eisenhower (1896‑1979) was an American first lady (1953‑61) and the wife of famed U.S. Army commander and 34th president of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower. Ike’s military career kept the couple constantly on the move‑ in fact, they wouldn’t even buy their first home until more than 30 years into their marriage. Decades […]

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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Barbara Bush – Mini Biography

Barbara Bush, noted advocate for family literacy, is also the second woman to have been First Lady to one U.S. president and mother of another. Learn more about her life and work in this mini biography.

Mrs. President: Betty Ford

Find out why historians say Betty Ford, one of our most popular—and outspoken—first ladies, probably did more for American women than any other first lady in history.

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Dolley Madison

Hear the tale of how first lady Dolley Madison risked her life to save George Washington’s portrait from a fiery fate as British troops approached the White House.

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