From housewives to lawyers: The lives of America's first ladies before the White House - From housewives to lawyers: The lives of America's first ladies before the White House

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Martha Washington (1731-1802) -

Tenure: 1789-1797

The inaugural first lady of the nation, Washington spent about half of the Revolutionary War at the front. Apart from raising her children, she also helped manage and run her husbands' estates.

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Abigail Adams (1744-1818) -

Tenure: 1797-1801

Like other women of the time, Adams lacked formal education. However, she was highly curious and became an avid reader. She later became the closest advisor of her husband, President John Adams. 

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Martha Jefferson Randolph (1772-1836) -

Tenure: 1801-1809

The daughter of Thomas Jefferson, Randolph managed the household and enslaved workers, both at the Monticello plantation and at her husband's plantation in Edgehill. She lived with her father at the White House, serving as an informal first lady.

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Dolley Madison (1768-1849) -

Tenure: 1809-1817

Raised in a strict Quaker household, Madison never received any formal education. However, she was renowned for her social skills, and later excelled as a White House hostess. 

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Elizabeth Monroe (1768-1830) -

Tenure: 1817-1825

Married to James Monroe when she was only 17 years old, Elizabeth Monroe didn't get any formal education. Later, due to the fragile condition of her health, many of her duties as the official White House hostess were assumed by her eldest daughter, Eliza Monroe Hay.

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Louisa Adams (1775-1852) -

Tenure: 1825-1829

Born in England and raised in France, Adams had a privileged education thanks to her influential merchant father. Thanks to her background and contacts, she worked to build connections for John Quincy Adams' 1824 presidential run, allowing for his victory.

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Emily Donelson (1807-1836) -

Tenure: 1829-1834

The first lady during the presidency of her uncle Andrew Jackson, whose wife died in 1928, Donelson was educated at the Nashville Female Academy. Married to her first cousin, Andrew Jackson Donelson, they worked for their uncle as his career in politics progressed, and he eventually attained the presidency.

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Sarah Yorke Jackson (1805-1887) -

Tenure: 1834-1837

Sarah Yorke Jackson was the daughter-in-law of President Andrew Jackson, and became the first lady when Emily Donelson fell ill. She had no formal education. 

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Sarah Van Buren (1818-1877) -

Tenure: 1838-1841

The daughter-in-law of Martin Van Buren, Sarah Van Buren was educated at the Columbia Female Academy in South Carolina and Madame Grelaud's French School in Philadelphia. She was the youngest first lady ever, assuming the role at the age of 20.

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Anna Harrison (1775-1864) -

Tenure: 1841-1841

Anna Harrison was 65 when she became first lady to her husband, William Henry Harrison. She was the oldest first lady in history at the time. As a child, she attended the prestigious Clinton Academy in East Hampton, New York, and took classes from the famed educator Isabella Marshall Graham.

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Jane Irwin Harrison (1804-1847) -

Tenure: 1841-1841

Jane Harrison was the president's daughter-in-law and was appointed to the role due to Anna Harrison's fragile health. She was the acting first lady for thirty days, as the president died in office after this time. She had no formal education. 

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Letitia Christian Tyler (1790-1842) -

Tenure: 1841-1842

The first wife of President John Tyler, she managed their plantation in Virginia while her husband progressed his political career at the state capital and in Washington, D.C. She died of a stroke in 1842, becoming the first person to die while serving as first lady.

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Priscilla Tyler (1816-1889) -

Tenure: 1842-1844

The daughter-in-law of John Tyler, Priscilla Tyler became the first lady after the death of his wife. She was previously an unsuccessful actress, and her marriage got her into the political life of the Tyler family.

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Julia Gardiner Tyler (1820-1889) -

Tenure: 1844-1845

The second wife of President John Tyler came from the influential Gardiner family. She was educated at home and at a private girls' school in New York City prior to becoming first lady.

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Sarah Polk (1803-1891) -

Tenure: 1845-1849

Wife of President James K. Polk, Sarah Polk was well-educated for a woman of her time, attending the exclusive Moravians' Salem Academy in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She was one of the first wives to take an active role in her husband's electoral process and campaign.

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Margaret Taylor (1788-1852) -

Tenure: 1849-1850

Margaret Taylor was educated at a finishing school in New York City. Shortly after, she met her future husband, Zachary Taylor. 

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Abigail Fillmore (1798-1853) -

Tenure: 1850-1853)

Married to Millard Fillmore, Abigail Fillmore was the first of the first ladies to hold a job after marriage, working as a schoolteacher.

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Jane Pierce (1806-1863) -

Tenure: 1853-1857

Pierce came from a well-off and well-connected New England family, and received a higher quality education than was available to most women at the time. Talented in music and enthusiastic about literature, she declined to pursue these further in favor of Bible study. She was married to President Franklin Pierce.

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Harriet Lane (1830-1903) -

Tenure: 1857-1861

Harriet Lane was the first lady to her uncle, President James Buchanan, who supervised her education in private school, completed by two years at the Visitation Convent in Georgetown. 

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Mary Lincoln (1818-1882) -

Tenure: 1861-1865

Born into a wealthy, slave-owning family, Mary Lincoln came to oppose slavery in adulthood. Well-educated, after finishing-school in her late teens, she moved to her sister in Illinois, where she met her future husband, Abraham Lincoln. 

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Eliza McCardle Johnson (1810-1876) -

Tenure: 1865-1869

The wife of President Andrew Johnson, Eliza McCardle Johnson attended school and received basic education as a child. She married at the age of 16, making her the youngest to marry of all the first ladies.

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Julia Grant (1826-1902) -

Tenure: 1869-1877

Julia Grant was educated and attended the Misses Mauros' boarding school in St. Louis with the daughters of other affluent parents. She met her future husband, Ulysses S. Grant, through her brother, who was his classmate. 

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Lucy Hayes (1831-1889) -

Tenure: 1877-1881

The wife of President Rutherford B. Hayes, Lucy Hayes was the first First Lady to have a college degree. While in college, Lucy wrote essays on social and religious issues. 

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Lucretia Garfield (1832-1918) -

Tenure: 1881-1881

Lucretia Garfield was well-educated for a woman of her day and enjoyed translating Greek and Latin. Knowledgeable of Washington politics, Garfield was a regular adviser for her husband, President James A. Garfield. 

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Mary McElroy (1841-1917) -

Tenure: 1881-1885

Acting first lady to her brother, Chester A. Arthur, Mary McElroy attended the progressive Emma Willard School. At one point, she even taught at a private school in Edgecombe County, North Carolina.  

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Rose Cleveland (1846-1918) -

Tenure: 1885-1886

Receiving a formal education in her youth, Cleveland rejected traditional gender norms and aspired for jobs in a variety of literary and academic positions. The first lady to her brother, Grover Cleveland, she used her platform to support women's suffrage.

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Frances Cleveland (1864-1947) -

Tenure: 1886-1889 and 1892-1893

The only first lady in US history to have served in the role during two non-consecutive terms, Frances Cleveland was educated at Wells College in Aurora, New York. She married Grover Cleveland after graduating, while he was the incumbent president. 

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Caroline Harrison (1832-1892) -

Tenure: 1889-1892

The daughter of a college professor, Harrison was well-educated. She married Benjamin Harrison in 1853 and worked as a music teacher while he engaged in a legal and political career. 

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Mary Harrison McKee (1858-1930) -

Tenure: 1892-1893

The daughter of Benjamin and Caroline Harrison, McKee became the acting first lady after her mother's death. Like her mother, she was also well-educated. 

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Ida McKinley (1847-1907) -

Tenure: 1897-1901

Ida McKinley worked as a cashier at her father's bank, which is where she met her future husband, William McKinley.

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Edith Roosevelt (1861-1948) -

Tenure: 1901-1909

The second wife of Theodore Roosevelt, Edith Roosevelt got most of her early education from tutors, and later attended Miss Comstock's private school. A New York socialite, Roosevelt developed a lifelong sense of strict religious morality during her education. 

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Helen Herron Taft (1861-1943) -

Tenure: 1909-1913

Well-educated, Helen Herron Taft attended Miami University, and briefly the University of Cincinnati. As a young adult, she worked for her father in his law office. She also worked as a French teacher before marrying William Howard Taft.

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Ellen Axson Wilson (1860-1914) -

Tenure: 1913-1914

An artist, Ellen Axson Wilson studied at the Art Students League of New York before her marriage to Woodrow Wilson. She was the third first lady and the most recent to die during her tenancy.

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Margaret Woodrow Wilson (1886-1944) -

Tenure: 1914-1915

The oldest daughter of Woodrow and Ellen Axson Wilson, Margaret Wilson served as the first lady until her father remarried. She was educated at Goucher College in Baltimore, and was trained in piano and voice at the Peabody Institute of Music.

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Edith Wilson (1872-1961) -

Tenure: 1915-1921

The second wife of Woodrow Wilson, Edith Wilson was educated primarily at home and spent two years at preparatory schools in Virginia. Although she came from an affluent family, her formal education remained extremely limited. 

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Florence Harding (1860-1924) -

Tenure: 1921-1923

A talented pianist, Florence Harding studied at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. Afterward, she worked as a piano teacher. When she married Warren G. Harding, she helped manage his newspaper, the Marion Star, serving as a partner and advisor to him, including his career in politics.

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Grace Coolidge (1879-1957) -

Tenure: 1923-1929

Grace Coolidge graduated from the University of Vermont in 1902 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in teaching. She then joined the Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech in Northampton, Massachusetts, where she would teach deaf children to communicate by lip-reading. She married Calvin Coolidge in 1905.

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Lou Henry Hoover (1874-1944) -

Tenure: 1929-1933

Fluent in Mandarin and well-versed in Latin, Lou Henry Hoover also had a degree in geology from Stanford University. She was one of the first women in the US to hold such a degree. After graduating, Hoover volunteered with the Red Cross to support American soldiers during the Spanish–American War. She married Herbert Hoover in 1899. 

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Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) -

Tenure: 1933-1945

Raised in an affluent family, Eleanor Roosevelt was educated by private tutors until the age of 15, when she was sent to Allenswood, a girls' school in England. Before marrying Franklin D. Roosevelt, she was active in the New York Junior League, a women's organization, teaching dancing and calisthenics.

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Bess Truman (1885-1982) -

Tenure: 1945-1953

Bess Truman graduated from Independence High School in the same class as her future husband, Harry S. Truman. She later studied language and literature at Barstow, a girl's finishing school in Kansas City, Missouri. Married in 1919, she would spend the following years managing the Truman household and working in her husband's offices as his political career advanced.

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Mamie Eisenhower (1896-1979) -

Tenure: 1953-1961

Raised in a wealthy household, she graduated from the Wolcott School, a private school for girls, in 1915. That fall, she met Second Lieutenant Dwight D. Eisenhower. They were married the following year. 

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Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929-1994) -

Tenure: 1961-1963

Jackie O enrolled at Vassar University in 1947 and studied abroad in Paris, France, before transferring to George Washington University, where she earned a degree in French literature. After college, she worked as a photographer for the Washington Times Herald. During that time she met JFK. 

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Lady Bird Johnson (1912-2007) -

Tenure: 1963-1969

Well-educated for a woman of her era, Lady Bird Johnson worked as a manager and an investor. After marrying Lyndon B. Johnson in 1934, when he was just starting out in politics, she used some of her inheritance to bankroll his congressional campaign. She then ran his office while he served in the Navy.

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Pat Nixon (1912-1993) -

Tenure: 1969-1974

While attending college at the University of Southern California, Pat Nixon worked as a pharmacy manager, typist, retail clerk, and even as an extra in movies. After graduating, she worked as a high school teacher and later as a government economist.

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Betty Ford (1918-2011) -

Tenure: 1974-1977

Betty Ford was a professional dancer with Martha Graham's concert group in New York City, and also worked as a fashion model for the John Robert Powers firm. When she returned to her hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan, she worked as a fashion coordinator for a department store and taught dance to children with disabilities. 

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Rosalynn Carter (1927-2023) -

Tenure: 1977-1981

Before Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter got involved in politics, they helped run his family's business in Plains, Georgia. She managed the accounts of the peanut, fertilizer, and seed company.

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Nancy Reagan (1921-2016) -

Tenure: 1981-1989

Just like her husband, Nancy Reagan was also a professional actress before she moved to the White House. She starred on Broadway and later made a transition to the big screen, acting in 11 films from 1949 to 1956.

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Barbara Bush (1925-2018) -

Tenure: 1989-1993

Barbara Bush went to boarding school at Ashley Hall in South Carolina, and during a dance when she was only 16, she met George H. W. Bush. They became engaged a year and a half later. She briefly attended Smith College while Bush was fighting in World War II. They married when she was 19. 

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Hillary Clinton (1947-) -

Tenure: 1993-2001

After attending law school at Yale, Hillary Clinton went to work for the Children's Defense Fund in New Bedford, Massachusetts. She later served as a lawyer for the congressional committee investigating President Richard Nixon. Clinton later taught law, ran legal clinics, and co-founded Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. Since her husband's presidency, she has gone on to lead a successful political career of her own. 

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Laura Bush (1946-) -

Tenure: 2001-2009

Laura Bush worked for several years as an elementary school teacher and children's librarian before marrying George W. Bush. 

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Michelle Obama (1964-) -

Tenure: 2009-2017

Michelle Obama joined the Chicago law firm Sidley Austin in 1988, where she met Barack Obama. She subsequently worked in nonprofits and as the associate dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago.

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Melania Trump (1970-) -

Tenure: 2017-2021

Melania Trump was working as a model when she met Donald Trump. She has modeled in her native Slovenia, Milan, Paris, and New York.

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Jill Biden (1951-) -

Tenure: 2021-

Jill Biden has been an educator for more than three decades. Since 2009, she has been an English professor at Northern Virginia Community College, and is believed to be the first wife of a vice president or president to hold a salaried job during the majority of her husband's tenure.

Sources: (The White House) (White House Historical Association) (ThoughtCo.) (Yahoo Finance)

See also: Major scandals involving American First Ladies

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